Indigenous Knowledge in Ethiopia: The Untapped Resource

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Indigenous Knowledge in Ethiopia The Untapped
Resource

• Tesfahun Fenta
• Coordinator, PROLINNOVA-Ethiopia

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Knowledge

• KNOWLEDGE is EXPERIENCE ,
• EVRYTHING ELSE
• IS INFORMATION
• Albert EINSTEIN
• KNOWLEDGE
•   Knowledge (whether indigenous or
  non-indigenous) is associated with practical
  experience and skill in solving a particular
  problem while holding information does not
  necessary endow one with solving a particular
  problem.
•  

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Definition of IK

• Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is the local
  knowledge. Knowledge that is unique to a given
  culture or society. It is the basis for
  local-level decision making in agriculture,
  health care, food preparation, education, natural
  resource management, and a host of other
  activities in rural communities. (Warren 1991).
• Source
  World Bank Bulletin
• 
  1998

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Why IK?

• IK can provide problem solving strategies for
  local communities, especially the poor.
• Up to 2/3 of the world population depend on foods
  provided through IK of species and farming
  systems (RATI, 1994) e.g. 90 of food in
  sub-Saharan Africa is produced using customary
  farming system.
• Learning from IK can improve understanding of
  local communities

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Why Contd

• Understanding IK can increase responsiveness to
  clients
• Building on local experiences, judgments and
  practices can increase the impact of a
  development program beyond cost effective
  delivery of stages
• Indigenous approach to development leads to
  sustainability creating sense of ownership.
• It can provide a building block for the
  empowerment of the poor.

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IK and Innovation

• Local innovation refers to the dynamics of
  indigenous knowledge, which is the knowledge that
  grows within a social group, incorporating
  learning from own experience over generations but
  also knowledge that was gained at some time from
  other sources but has been completely
  internalized within the local ways of thinking
  and doing.
• Local innovation is the process through which
  individuals or groups discover or develop new and
  better ways of managing resources, building on
  and expanding the boundaries of their indigenous
  knowledge
• Successful local innovations often involve new
  ways of community organization, or new ways of
  stakeholder interaction.

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IK and Bioprospecting

• Global
• 119 drugs developed and on the market today 74
  were discovered from a pool of traditional herbal
  medicine.
• Annual world market for medicines derived from
  medicinal plants discovered from indigenous
  peoples amount to US43 billion in 1985 (Rosey
  and Dutfield, 1990)
• World wide sales of pharmaceuticals amounted to
  more than US130 billion annually at the
  beginning of 1990's (RAFI, 1994)
• The top 15 crops in the USA with annual sales of
  US 150 billion - originated in dev' countries.
  Many of the genetic resources necessary to
  continually improve these products are obtained
  from these countries (UNEP, 1998)

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Few examples of bio prospecting

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Exchange of IK

• Although IK is readily shared among members of a
  community, it is generally shared to a lesser
  degree across communities.
• IK is predominantly tacit or embedded in practice
  and experiences it is most commonly exchanged
  through personal communication and demonstration.
  From master to apprentice, from parents to
  children from neighbor to neighbor.
• Though some needs protection, it is good to
  exchange of IK among communities taking in to
  consideration the cultural aspect.
• If is also important that the research community
  be interested focusing on some important IK for
  further research to improve and enrich them as
  appropriates to the community

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Why Protecting IK?

• Preserve Indigenous Knowledge
• Increase awareness of its value
• Commercialize it, where appropriate with
  equitable benefit sharing
• Prevent from possible abuse
• Conserve biodiversity

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IK in Ethiopia

• Early Ethiopian Civilization serves as an
  evidence for the extent and rationality of
  indigenous knowledge
• The domestication of certain crops like coffee,
  teff and enset and the development of bench
  terrace system by the Konso nationalities are
  among important cases of achievements in
  agriculture
• When farmers in many parts of the world were
  still practicing the hoe-culture cultivation, the
  fact that the Ethiopian farmers designed and
  practiced the traditional plow is a living
  testimony to the inventive and innovative
  capacity of the traditional Ethiopia
• The country with written language for over 2000
  years owns over 500 years old manuscripts, which
  deal with traditional knowledge concerning public
  health and veterinary medicine

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Ethiopia IK and Biodiversity

• Genetic Resources of Ethiopia have served the
  world greatly.
• Sources of valuable genes to crop improvement
  programs in national and international efforts.
• Resistance in barley - BYDV
• High lysine/protein genotypes in sorghum
• Durum wheat
• Borena Crossbred
• BYDV resistant barely was taken to USA and the
  country (USA) generates 150 million US dollars
  per year to its farmers.
• Veronoria spp useful for the painting industry is
  used by USA chemical industries

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IK and Natural Resource Management

• The terrain of the Konso area of Gamugofa is
  mountainous and stony, causing many hundreds of
  kilometers of a highly developed dry stone
  contour bench terrace systems to develop, to
  enable sustained agriculture
• The earth is cut away to form a vertical face,
  against which a wall consisting of carefully
  selected stones, is built. Due to the steepness
  of the terrain, the terraces are generally level,
  narrow and high often about 2.5 meters wide and
  1.5 meters high.
• The Konso nationality has won a prize for its
  effective indigenous practices of water and soil
  conservation at the 50th Annversary of
• Random bench terracing In Northeast Shewa and
  the Chercher mountains of Harerge,
• Contour Terraces of the Hararge Highlands

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IK and Health

• If is estimated that over one-third of the
  worlds population locks regular access to
  affordable essential drugs (UNCTAD, 2002)
• For these people, modern medicine is never likely
  to be a realistic treatment option. In contract,
  traditional medicine is widely available and
  affordable.
• Many local and traditional communities in
  Ethiopia conserve rare medicinal plants in home
  gardens
• They select and conserve specific species of
  plants whose medicinal values and properties they
  know. They domesticate these in small gardens
  normally at the back of their home steeds like
  Dengetegna ,Kebericho and others.
• Partnership between herbalists and scientists is
  intializing of which their product is
  protected-e.g skin disease
• Documentation of medicinal plants is undertaken
  which can serve as basic database for
  networking-encouraging

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IK and Ethno veterinary

• Due to inadequate modern veterinary services in
  Ethiopia and its inaccessibility in most parts of
  the country, large proportion of the countrys
  livestock owners heavily depend on traditional
  healers and herbalists.
• The local practitioners of traditional veterinary
  medicine are the first contact of people even the
  modern veterinary care service is available.
• Traditional veterinary practices include
  Mechanical /Physical, Pharmacological, Surgical,
  Rituals and managerial methods of treatment. In
  Southern Ethiopia
• Black /eg- Cut open the infected part with knife
  and then brand the wound with a hot sickle.
• Pasteusellosis- direct the smoke of burning
  eucalyptus leaves and of croton tree around the
  infected animal.

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IK and Ethno veterinary

• Being the leading country in Africa with its
  cattle population traditional animal husbandry
  and veterinary practices are widely practiced and
  provide a substantial animal health care.
• Due to inadequate modern veterinary services in
  Ethiopia and its inaccessibility in most parts of
  the country, large proportion of the countrys
  livestock owners heavily depend on traditional
  healers and herbalists.
• The local practitioners of traditional veterinary
  medicine are the first contact of people even the
  modern veterinary care service is available.
• Traditional veterinary practices include
  Mechanical /Physical, Pharmacological, Surgical,
  Rituals and managerial methods of treatment. In
  Southern Ethiopia
• Black /eg- Cut open the infected part with knife
  and then brand the wound with a hot sickle.
• Pasteusellosis- direct the smoke of burning
  eucalyptus leaves and of croton tree around the
  infected animal.

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International Experiences

• National Innovation Foundation of India (NIF)
• If is an autonomous scientific society set up in
  March 2000, by Department of S T of India.
• It is committed to make India innovative by
  documenting, adding value, protecting IPRs,
  disseminating on commercial as well as non-
  commercial basis, contemporary unaided
  technological innovations as well as outstanding
  examples of Traditional Knowledge
• Honey Bee Network
• NIF functions
• Scouting and documentation
• Value addition product development
• Enterprise Business Development
• IPRs Management
• Dissemination IT

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International Contd

• Achievements
• Scouted 15,000 entries comprising of mechanical
  innovation and outstanding Traditional Knowledge
  practices.
• Awarded- 98 innovators outs tending Traditional
  Knowledge holder
• Honored by the president of India.

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International Contd

• Traditional medicine in Tanga Today
• For centuries, traditional healers have been the
  main providers of primary health care in Africa.
• To day, healers in Africa, especially in Tanga,
  carry the burden of care for treating people with
  HIV/AIDS.
• In Tanga, the Tanga AIDS Working Group. (TAWG)
  situated in Bombo Hospital, has been successfully
  collaborating with traditional healers since
  1990.
• It is a promising partnership between the ancient
  and modern world to combat HIV/AIDS.
• Tanga District has approx. 670 traditional
  healers there is one healer for every 343
  residents of Tanga town.
• In Tanga, TAWG has received international
  recognition for its innovative work and
  traditional healers.

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International Contd

• It has received support from OXFAM, World Bank
  USAID
• Bio-medical personnel soon observed that patients
  treated with waziris three plants generally had
  improved appetites, gained weight, suffered from
  fewer and less severe opportunistic infections,
  and enjoyed improved health and well being. The
  plant remedies soon became the hospitals
  standard HIV/AIDS treatment for patients who
  preferred herbal medicine.
• TAWGs work is an outstanding example of how
  positive results can be achieved in the fight
  against AIDS by synergistically combining local
  expertise, indigenous knowledge, and modern
  health workers to provide effective low cost
  treatment for people living with AIDS

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Brief Note on IK in Ethiopia

• In Ethiopia some scattered efforts have been made
  to record and document IK.
• Farm Africa, Agri Service Ethiopia, Ministry of
  Agriculture (1988), and Ethiopian Society of
  Chemical Engineers have attempted to record and
  document indigenous knowledge and practices in
  their respective field of interest.
• A World Bank supported project entitled
  conservation and sustainable use of medicinal
  plants is being undertaken by Institute of
  Biodiversity Conservation and Research. (IBCR) in
  collaboration with various RD institutions.
  Summary of IK related activities undertaken

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Conservation and Sustainable use of Medicinal
Plants

• It is a World Bank supported project aimed at
  initiating support for conservation, management
  and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants
  for human and livestock healthcare in Ethiopia
• The project's specific objectives are to
• strengthen institutional capacity
• identify and document indigenous medicinal
  plants used for the treatment of major human
  diseases and livestock diseases with emphasis on
  the following three namely tapeworm infections,
  mastitis and dermatophilosis
• develop a national medicinal plant database
• support in-situ conservation and management and
  initate ex-situ cultivation of medicinal plants.
  
• The project commenced in October 2001,and is now
  underway which is being coordinated by Institute
  of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC)

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Local innovation promotion, documentation and
sharing

• It is being undertaken by Prolinnova-Ethiopia
• PROLINNOVA- Promotion of Local Innovation in
  ecologicallyoriented agriculture and Natural
  Resource Management
• It is a national network and partner of
  PROLINNOVA and has a primary goal of enhancing
  the integration of farmer-led research and
  development approach
• It focuses on promoting farmer innovation and
  local experimentation, into the endeavors of
  relevant GOs, NGOs, universities and research and
  development institutions
• This promotion certainly will contribute towards
  the realization of ensuring food security,
  sustainable rural livelihoods, poverty reduction
  and safeguarding the environment.

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Local innovation Contd

• A steering group composed of state and non-state
  actors which oversees the activities of the
  platform (Prolinnova-Ethiopia)
• Agri-Service Ethiopia, as a secretariat and
  facilitator of the multi-stakeholder national
  platform carries out, among other things, the
  financial administration, contractual agreements,
  international representation etc
• It has documented various local innovations
  developed by farmers in different regions of the
  country

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Inventory of traditional crop protection practices

• It is undertaken by Agri Service Ethiopia aimed
  at scouting the existing traditional pest control
  methods, verify their effectiveness, restore the
  knowledge and promote the practices in order to
  minimize crop losses and hazards of pesticides as
  well as dependency on external inputs.
• From 1991 until the end of 1999 a total of 3
  seed, 12 field and 8 storage treatments of crops
  as well as 6 control measures of livestock
  parasites have been documented.

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Indigenous Processing Technologies

• The national project on indigenous processing
  technologies in Ethiopia is developed by
  Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers on the
  basis of recognizing the importance of upgrading
  indigenous processing technologies in the
  country.
• The project is developed as part of the first
  phase of the National Project of indigenous
  processing technologies which is being supported
  by Local Research Grant which being coordinated
  by ESTA
• The project is aimed at developing the profile of
  existing indigenous processing technologies and
  identifying the most promising ones for further
  environment and prototype development.

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Indigenous Contd

• The sectoral focus for the first phase activity
  is the food and beverage processing sectors. The
  major activities include template development,
  profile preparation and database development
• Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers (ESChE)
  in partnership with relevant government agencies
  and development partners undertake the project.

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Indigenous Conservation Practices

• Ethiopian farmers are known for their age- old
  soil and water conservation practices.
• The Konso Nationalities are the glaring evidence
  for a successful traditional conservation
  practices who won FAO prize at its 50th
  anniversary.
• The Ministry of Agriculture made an inventory of
  traditional conservation practices in various
  parts of the country
• The project made a detailed analysis of the
  different
• practices. The information database plays a
  vital role in serving as spring board for
  hybridizing traditional conservation practices
  with the modern ones

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Farmers Participatory Research Project

• The major objective of this project is to assist
  the local farmer by learning IK from the peasant
  himself and synthesize modern knowledge in order
  solve the major constraints of the community
• This approach is done initially by recording and
  documenting IK practices of the locality. Then
  validate them by discussing with farmers.
• Option of hybridizing modern knowledge with IK
  will be demonstrated with full participation of
  the farmers
• This project is being carried out by Farm Africa
  in various sites of Southern Ethiopia.
• Farm Africa indicated its achievements on soil
  fertility management, rodent control, Enest
  landrace conservation and others.5

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Conclusion

• In general, IK is still underutilized resource
  in the development process of Ethiopia. Special
  efforts are, therefore, needed to understand,
  document and disseminate IK.
• IK sharing networking shall be created to
  innovators share their innovations and IK
  practices.
• A national IK database needs to be established in
  published and electronic formats.
• IK and Innovations should be linked to the
  entrepreneur community.
• The establishment of a national technology
  incubation center is very essential to enhance
  technology development capacity of the country

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• I thank you!