PAPER PRESENTED AT THE HALF DAY SEMINAR TO CELEBRATE AFRICAN UNIVERSITY DAY AT CBU, NOVEMBER 10, 2000

 

THEME:    AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES AND THE CHALLENGE OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND APPLICATION IN THE INFORMATION AGE

 

TITLE OF THE PAPER:       AN ANALYSIS OF INDIGENOUS TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: ITS IMPACT ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE INFORMATION AGE

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The end of the nineteen nineties has seen a decade of celebration for western European civilization.  The western European World celebrated in 1992 five hundred (500) years since Christopher Columbus "discovered" America.  Exhibitions depicting the voyage of this arguably the most well known explorer were mounted in America, Spain and Portugal and perhaps some other western European countries" museums and libraries.  Even on the British Broadcasting Corporation, there was a six part series of music believed to have been sang by Columbus and his men during their sojourn to and from their successful mission.  Indeed, Columbus is claimed, with some justification, to have opened what is now known as the American continent - North and South America - to Western European civilization.  Hence, the Europeans' fond reference to this world as the "new" world as opposed to the 'old' continent of Europe.

 

Now compare this vivid infon-nation about Columbus's "discovery" and exploits that took place five centuries ago with the quotation taken from the book entitled: The African Genius: an introduction to African Social and Cultural history by Basil Davidson.  He writes:

 

"Once upon a time, Ananse Kokrofu, the Great Spider of venerable memory, grew bothered about the state of wisdom in the world.  People were not looking after it

properly.  So far as Ananse could tell from his experience of mankind, which was not small, a great deal of wisdom was getting lost.  Yet even of living people lacked the wit to respect wisdom as they should there would be future generations, Ananse argued, who would be glad to use every bit they could.  So he made up his mind to collect all the wisdom in the world and store it for safe keeping at the top of a tree.

 

In due course, the elder say, Ananse did indeed finish collecting the world's wisdom.  He packed all this in a gourd and began to climb a tall palm.  Halfway to the top he got into difficulties: he had tied on the gourd in front of him, and it hampered his climbing.  At this point his son Ntikuma, who was looking up from below, called in a shrill young voice: 'Father, if you had all the wisdom in the world up there with you, you would have tied that gourd on your back.' This was too much even for Ananse, who was tired from long labour.  He untied the gourd in a fit of temper and threw it down.  It broke and the wisdom was scattered far and wide.  After a while people who had leamt their lesson came and gathered in their own gourds whatever each could find; it is this that explains why a few people have much wisdom, some have a little, but many have none" (Davidson, 1969).

 

This is what a recent work on traditional knowledge says with regard to Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK):

 

"ITK is indeed knowledge that refers to the whole system of knowledge which includes concepts, beliefs and perceptions, folklore and attitudes, and the processes whereby it is acquired, augumented, stressed and transmitted" (Chambers, 1983:83).

 

For example, there is no doubt that ITK is paramount in mixed cropping, knowledge of the environment and very much dependent upon rural people's abilities to observe and discriminate.  This type of knowledge of course compliments modem scientific knowledge.  I noticed when I was growing up in the village under the tutelage of my grandfather that the strength of his knowledge lay in his faculties of observation, good memory for detail and transmission through teaching, apprenticeship and story-telling in the same way the elders did while telling the story of Amanse to Davidson.  My grandfather had obviously accumulated this knowledge through a long association with nature and the environment in which he was brought up.  He did not travel to far away places as I have done.  His survival and that of the entire community was dictated by the utilization of his ITK.  Unfortunately, this knowledge was not recorded to ensure its continuation in order for me to have access to thirty years later.  More about this problem in due course.

 

Davidson adds his own comment to this very highly dramatised situation by suggesting that the gourds of wisdom about the African past are large in number, even multitudinous, but few of them hold very much, while many prove on inspection to contain little or nothing.  He observes that it is also true that the last thirty years or so have proved especially fruitful in the genuine collecting of wisdom about Africa in two great fields of enterprise: those of historical discovery and sociological research (Davidson, 1969).  Ananse's concern for the collection of the world's wisdom not only for the present generation but also for future generations' access to and utilization of this wisdom and Dividson's own admission that the African past was full of wisdom that had largely been neglected until very recently set the stage for the arguments I have decided to put across in this lecture.  I admit that the subject matter is quite involving.  I shall, therefore, endeavour to briefly outline what Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) means in the context of an African envirom-nent South of the Sahara and see how the issues raised and suggestions made link up with my concern over the emergence of an information society in Zambia and what challenges they pose in the new millenium.

 

INDIGENOUS TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE (ITK): Operative Definition

According to Robert Chambers, Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) can variously be described as "people science, ethno science, folk-ecology, and village science or simply local knowledge" (Chambers, 1983).  In my opinion, ITK implies knowledge originating from and naturally produced within a local community and emphasizing the practical nature or applicability of much of this knowledge.  It is indeed local knowledge that is very much contrasted with modem and imported scientific knowledge.

 

"In recent years, the value of the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, and particularly their traditional environmental knowledge, has been recognised.  This has unleashed a flood of research.  Some of the research has been undertaken by scientists working alone, but the most innovative responses to this trend have been developed by indigenous researchers working in collaboration with western scientists.  They recognised early on that the main objective was not simply to collect reals of audio or video tape as a form of folklore, but to catalogue this information so that it could be compared from one region or culture to other regions and other cultures, and, even more, so that it could be brought to bear on policies for sustainable development in remote and typically fragile ecosystems" (Johnson, 1992).

 

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF ITK

 

Like Europe in the Dark Ages, African Indigenous Technical knowledge has its roots in magic then superstition which of course ends in science once it has passed certain stages of refinement through rigorous experimentation.  As Davidson has clearly argued, the sages of African antiquity had certain ideas concerning evolution, life, science, medicine, agriculture, hunting, fishing, social Organisation, etc.  In the context of my own upbringing, I am indeed a living witness because I was schooled in this type of thought by my own grandparents when I was young.  The wisdom that Ananse was at pains to collect and store for future generations was there.  My grandfather showed me medicinal plants while in the bush hunting or fishing.  He could tell which was fertile soil and which was not.  He indicated to me if there was going to be enough rain for planting certain leguminous crops.  And he exhibited tremendous wisdom in settling disputes among his people in the village.  My grandfather was a village headman possessing the greatest knowledge and wisdom that I still admire to this day despite my access to modem scientific knowledge obtained through education and recorded information resources.  Alas, my grandfather's wisdom and knowledge disappeared with his demise.  In the meantime, this type of knowledge was despised by the Europeans who came to my country Zambia, in the later half of the 19th century as missionaries, colonial administrators, business entrepreneurs and even scientific researchers.  This is what Michael Adas has in mind when he observes:

 

"European attitudes toward other peoples were shaped by contrast between their own technology (knowledge) and that of Afiicans and Asians.  This is an an important issue in today's world for technology is still the first measure of development.  Machines as the measure of men is an examination of the writings of Englishmen and Frenchmen about Africa, India and China" (Adas, 1989)"

 

It is this argument that runs throughout Davidson's book quoted so much in the book I am currently writing.  Indeed, African science or knowledge has been buried in the sands of time because there have been no records written to support Odhiambo's view that

 

"Science is not new to Africa: science has always been in Aftica and Africa has always been in science, ever since the dawn of society".

 

Nevertheless, Odhiambo is of the view that:

 

"The work of Melaku Worede in the conservation of genetic resources, as well as other recent "discoveries" in crop breeding, agroforestry, food technology, and mathematics, clearly show that sophisticated scientific principles have for generations been part-and-parcel of African cultural traditions".

 

Odhiambo continues, this time stressing the complimentary nature of ITK and modem scientific knowledge systems, when he suggests:

 

"Herein lies one of the most compelling challenges and opportunities of science in Africa: to rationalize, learn from, and then enhance by modem scientific methods the traditional practices of African (Indigenous Technical Knowledge) in agriculture, medicine, and other technological areas for higher productivity and a better life" (Odhiambo, 1991).

 

Odhiambo's views on science in Africa give me a major boost in my desire to embrace ancient wisdom as a critical tool for development activities in tropical African countries and for giving credibility to my assertion that an information society in Zambia must utilise indigenous information resources for development observed in chapter I of my forth coming book.  To support this argument, it is pertinent to look at what The London Financial Times of July 7, 1986 suggests with regard to modem management theories and approaches when it observes:

 

"While almost all today's top-selling authors encourage the leadership approach, they cannot claim credit for the underlying idea.  The originators of the two contrasting views about the nature of working humanity were two men whose works have outsold the books of all today's management gurus put together, not least because they lived nearly 2,500 years ago" (Financial Times (London), 1986)

 

 

Needless to say these two men were the Greek thinkers, Plato and Aristotle.  As we can see from this brief historical analysis of ITK, one gets the impression that modem scientific knowledge has its roots in ancient wisdom.  The only problem is that African ITK was suppressed by the arrival on the continent of a much stronger ancient wisdom stored in print, libraries, museums and currently on electronic media.  This is the modem scientific knowledge that is open and subject to further research (Long, 1991).  We have to generally acknowledge that we owe to the Greeks, if not the special tenets, at least, the general mental tools of science.  Unfortunately, not must can be said on what modem science owes to African ancient wisdom.  This is the theme of the debate that follows.

 

INDIFENOUS TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE - PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

 

Granted, I am a product of two types of educational systems - the traditional and the western type of education.  In both types of educational systems, I have been exposed to two knowledge systems again, the ITK system and the modem western scientific knowledge system.  My assessment of the two knowledge systems is that somewhere on this planet there might be a secret cosmic centre of universal science or knowledge deposited in libraries, museums and laboratories.  This view is supported by historical records and legends.  This is what Ananse had in mind when he attempted to collect and store all the world's' wisdom.  Western thinkers and information specialists who seem to share Ananse" vision include Paul Otlet, with his plan for a universal system of documentation; H.G. Wells, whose proposal for a world encyclopedia appears to have intellectual connections with the ideas of Vannevar Bush, and more recently, Eugene Garfield, with his concern for the indexing and citation aspects of information storage and dissemination.

 

The late and distinguished information science scholar, researcher and teacher, Manfred Kochen, even talks about WISDOM (World Information Service for the Development of omniscient Man) as a system that, if implemented, could develop into a social organ which could eventually supplant the minds of intellectuals, a kind of community mind that may be the next stage in the evolution of the mind.  This is the point elaborated in my next scholarly work.

 

As has been the argument so far, none of the writings of these western thinkers and information specialists acknowledges a debt to the vision of Ananse.  Perhaps, they never knew of it; for Ananse's great idea, unlike those of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the exploits of Columbus, was never preserved in any permanent record and retrievable fonnat until Davidson recorded it in his book some 30 years ago.  It was, therefore lost, in the same way as the other ITK from Sub Saharan African science have been lost for ever.  Such ideas, wisdom, knowledge, ITK and African science have been lost for ever.  Such ideas, wisdom, knowledge, ITK and African science could never be subjected to rigorous scrutiny and analysis, since no science could be built on some ancient knowledge that is not open and accessible.  An information society in Zambia in the new millennium must inevitably demand that rural knowledge and information is organised and managed in such a way as to ensure its accessibility, utilization and transmission.

 

 

My own analysis of the problem relating to African ITK revolves around the following issues:

 

1.       We must acknowledge that wisdom and knowledge are universal and there is obviously common thread in their applicability regardless of their country of origin.

 

2.       African countries possess ITK, but this is scattered among rural and illiterate communities.  I strongly contend that time has come for information workers especially those in a county like Zambia to embark on collecting this ITK which has hitherto been ignored to be part of our universal wisdom and knowledge.  This is what the story of Ananse urges us to do.

 

3.       We are aware that African wisdom and ITK were destroyed by the coming of colonialism since Africans were told that they had no history, no culture of their own and hence had nothing to offer in sustaining the development of their societies.  Chief Nkula of the Bemba people in Zambia referred to this point during the "Ukusefya pa N'gwena" traditional ceremony in Kasama during the month of August 1999.

 

4.       Subsequently, the so-called educated African abandoned his own traditional wisdom and knowledge and became a slave of foreign ideology, knowledge, wisdom, etc., to the detriment of future generations.  This is what Martha Johnson writes about when she makes this very poignant observation:

 

"For thousands of years, aboriginal peoples around the world have used knowledge of their local environment to sustain themselves and to maintain their cultural identity.  Only in the past decade, however, has this knowledge been recognised by the Western Scientific Community as a valuable source of ecological information.  Today, a growing body of literature attest not only to the presence of a vast reservoir of information regarding plant and animal behaviour but also to the existence of effective indigenous strategies for ensuring the sustainable use of local natural resources" (Johnson, 1992:3).

 

5.       Now, there is a serious danger that technology transfer which includes knowledge and information transfer would be dominated by foreign wisdom making it even more difficult for African information experts to seriously meditate on what our contributions should be to our determination to rescue ITK from complete obliteration by the more dominant modem scientific knowledge.

 

CONCLUSION: IMPLICATION FOR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

 

Modem information management almost invariably involves the application of very advanced infon-nation and communication technology.  The problem with ITK is that it is currently not recorded and is scattered all over rural communities.  The task of an information manager in an academic institution situated in a developing country like Zambia is: to identify where ITK can be found, collect it and store it next to modem scientific knowledge.  At the same time, such a manager must be involved in the dissemination of this type of knowledge to, unfortunately, an academic user community that has very little regard for this knowledge.  To convince a researcher or scholar at any University that ITK is both a necessary component of universal knowledge as well as a contributor to development activities is indeed a daunting task for an academic librarian in a developing country.  The AAU recognizes this.  Hence, the importance of this year's African University Day theme.

 

Despite this, it is my contention that modem information and communication technology can positively be used to harness and manage ITK in order to support, amplify and accelerate research and development programmes in an academic institution.  At the Copperbelt University, there is a division for non print media in the library.  This division will form the nucleus for the collection and storage of ITK using whatever appropriate information and communication technology available.  In addition, the library is in charge of printing.  In this, we intend to urge researchers and scholars to use this facility in documenting their research findings especially if such findings have to do with ITK as defined in this chapter.  Since we are a young institution, we have an opportunity to use this wisdom and philosophy and apply modem scientific knowledge to document ITK for the use of young Zambians during this century.  Our task is to endeavour to document the African ITK not only for us, but also for generations to come.  Let the ancient wisdom of Ananse be given a novel twist by the young breed of information experts from Sub Saharan Africa so that their information management approaches and styles are tailored to collecting ITK from wherever it may be obtained and then storing, processing and disseminating it to the user community found at Universities and society at large.  Their training for information management must revolve around this issue.  The challenge of the emerging information society in Zambia is to firstly accept the fact that ITK is part of the world knowledge system and secondly to determine its usefulness to intellectual enterprise and socioeconomic development programmes.

 

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                                                REFERENCES

 

 

Davidson, Basil:               The African Genius; an introduction to African social and

                                       cultural history.    1989.     Boston, Little,      Brown and

                                       Company

 

Chambers, Robert:           Rural development; putting the last first.London, Longman, Longman Scientific, 1983.

 

lbid p. 83

 

Adas, Michael:                   Machines as the measure of men; science, technology, and ideologies of Western dominance.  New York, Cornell University Press, 1989.

 

Odhiambo, Thomas (ed):     Science in Africa: achievements and prospects; a symposium organised by AAAS Sub-Saharan Afhca Program.  Washington, D.C., AAS, 1991.

 

Financial Times (London)   July 7, 1986 p.8

Article entitled: Ancient wisdom with a novel twist by Michael Dixon

 

Long, Painela A:                The Openness of knowledge; an ideal and its context in 16 Ih century writings on mining and metallurgy.  Technology and Culture vol. 32, No.2 (Part 1), April, 1991 pp. 318-355

 

Johnson, Martha (ed)          Lore:

Capturing traditional envirom-nental knowledge.  IDRC, Ottawa, 1992

 

Johnson, Martha (ed):         Ibid. p.3