This document summarizes a presentation on using traditional knowledge for sustainable development in Africa. It discusses that Africa has a rich body of traditional knowledge accumulated over generations, but this knowledge is being threatened by rapid changes from imported economic models. It argues that higher education institutions should work to institutionalize traditional knowledge by incorporating it into curricula from primary to higher education and establishing dedicated traditional knowledge centers. Protecting the rights of indigenous communities over their traditional knowledge is also an important issue that African nations need to address as they shape their future development agendas.

1. IAU 2014 International Conference
Iquitos, Peru, 19-21 March 2014
Blending Higher Education and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development
Plenary II: The Role of Higher Education in Promoting Sustainable
Development
“Using Traditional Knowledge for Achieving
Sustainable Development in Africa”
Goolam Mohamedbhai
Honorary President, International Association of Universities
Former Secretary-General, Association of African Universities
Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Mauritius

2. Outline of Presentation
 What is Traditional Knowledge?
 Africa and the MDGs
 Traditional Knowledge and Africa’s Development
 Threats to Traditional Knowledge in Africa
 Institutionalising Traditional Knowledge
 Indigenous Knowledge Rights
 Future Development Agenda

3. What is Traditional Knowledge (TK)?
 “Knowledge that a local or indigenous community has
accumulated over generations of living in a particular
community to achieve stable livelihoods”
 Other commonly used terms:
 Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) (common in SSA)
 Local Knowledge (LK)
 Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK)
 TK can be in craftsmanship, medicine, languages,
performing arts (music, dance), agriculture, etc.

4. Africa and the MDGs
 According to 2013 MDG Report, Africa will not achieve
several of key MDGs by 2015 (e.g. reduction in: poverty,
undernourished children, child and maternal mortality)
 Development in Africa heavily supported by foreign
assistance, mainly from North
 External funding accompanied by imported knowledge
 Africa should use technological experiences of North, but
should also embed traditional knowledge in its
development strategies

5. TK and Africa’s Development (1/2)
 Africa has rich body of TK or IKS, used for hundreds of years
to solve developmental & environmental problems
 IKS widely used in rural areas – where 60% of SSA’s
population live & where development challenges are greatest
 Well-documented examples of positive impact of TK on
Africa’s development exist
 For example, cases documented by World Bank in its
Indigenous Knowledge for Development Programme (IKDP)
launched in 1998 (see next slide)
 TK can also assist Africa in coping with climate change e.g. in
Nigeria, TK of weather forecasts used by farmers to
complement crop-planning activities

6. TK and Africa’s Development (2/2)
WB’s IKDP Documented Cases (about 93 published as IK
Notes) include:
 Improving primary education using local language in
West Africa
 Provision of primary health care to reduce child mortality
in Eritrea & maternal mortality in Uganda
 Empowering women in Senegal to help eradicate female
circumcision
 Helping communities in Mozambique to manage coastal
natural resources
 Using traditional medicinal plants in Zimbabwe to treat
malaria

7. Threats to TK in Africa
 TK always transmitted verbally by one generation to
another; difficulty for older generation to communicate
their beliefs & practices to younger, scientifically-educated
one. When older generation passes away, knowledge lost
 Reticence in using TK by scientists, politicians and
development experts: TK considered anecdotal & not
scientifically supported
 TK being wiped out because of rapid changes due to
imported economic, cultural & political developmental
models
 Urgent need for protecting, documenting, studying &
widely disseminating TK in Africa to promote
development – HEIs are ideally positioned to do this

8. Institutionalising TK (1/2)
 Few African countries have incorporated TK in their
National Development Plans; National Councils on S&T
rarely undertake TK activities
 TK to be integrated into curricula from primary thru to
secondary & higher education
 Some work done by African universities on TK (e.g.
traditional healers, medicinal plants), but work rather
disparate and difficult to sustain
 African Journal on IKS, Indilinga, published bi-annually in
South Africa – mainly papers from SA
 Need to embed IKS in all university teaching, research &
outreach activities. Best achieved through a dedicated IKS
centre

9. Institutionalising TK (2/2)
 Some unis have set up dedicated IKS centre e.g.
 Centre for Scientific Research, IK & Innovation (CesrIKi) at
Univ of Botswana
 CoE in IKS at North-West Uni, in collaboration with Unis of
Limpopo & Venda in South Africa (NWU runs a Bachelor in
Indigenous Knowledge Systems)
 Institute of IK at Mbarara Uni of S&T, Uganda
 Another model: creation of a local/national centre e.g.
 CEIKS in Ghana, which also covers West Africa
 Similar centres in Cameroon, Madagascar & Nigeria
 DST/NRF IKS CoE, with hub at Uni KwaZulu Natal, Durban

10. Indigenous Knowledge Rights
 Protection of rights of indigenous people over their TK an
important issue
 Indigenous communities concerned about appropriation
of their knowledge by researchers, in and out of Africa,
without permission or respect for customary law & little
benefit to them
 Under WTO, copyrights and patents are accelerating use
and privatisation of indigenous knowledge
 But IPR (appropriate for commercial inventions and
granting exclusive rights) is not appropriate for TK
 Protecting rights & privileges of TK holders is complex –
Africa should learn from experiences in other regions

11. Future Development Agenda (1/2)
 Global support for IKS in Africa seems to be waning
 World Bank’s IK Development Programme stopped in 2006
 Nuffic (Netherlands) created an IK Unit in early 1990s; regular
reports, especially on Africa, published; activities ceased in
early 2000s
 Donors & development agencies must support Africa’s
development through IKS
 In shaping post-2015 development agenda for SSA, it is vital
to integrate IKS in development process
 As key development actors, African HEIs must incorporate
IKS in their Strategic Plans

12. Future Development Agenda (2/2)
 African Development Bank’s Strategy for Higher Education,
Science & Technology (2008) supports IK and specifically
mentions:
 Study impact of IK in local economies
 Mainstream IK in curricula at all education levels
 Identify capacity need for protecting & commercializing IK
 Brazil, China & India are assisting Africa in its development
& all have rich and long tradition of IKS
 IKS could be a fruitful area of collaboration between HEIs
in Africa and these countries, specifically for:
 Protection /promotion of IKS through institutionalisation
 Translating research on IKS into national policies
 Protection of indigenous knowledge rights

13. THANK YOU