INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE (IK) INTO UGANDA

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INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE (IK) INTO
UGANDAS POVERTY ERADICATION ACTION PLAN (PEAP)

• By
• Joyce N. Muwanga
• Assistant Executive Secretary
• Uganda National Council for Science and
  Technology (UNCST)
• A Paper Presented at the Global Distance Learning
  Course on IK in The Millennium Development Goals
• 28 March to 01 April, 2005

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1.0 BACKGROUND

• IK Defined
• Goals of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan
  (PEAP)
• Increasing the ability of the poor to raise
  income
• Enhancing the Quality of Life of the Poor
• Good Governance and Security

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2.0 EFFORTS TO INTEGRATE IK INTO THE PEAP

• Development of the 1999 Strategy Framework for
  development application of Indigenous Knowledge
• The Kampala Declaration on IK
• Institutional Capacity Building for Integration
  of IK in the PEAP
• Preparation of the IK Sector Review Strategy for
  integrating IK into the PEAP

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EFFORTS TO INTEGRATE IK INTO THE PEAP (continued)

• Development of the Action Plan for Integrating IK
  into the PEAP
• Development of the draft National Policy on
  Indigenous Knowledge
• The Innovation Fund
• Other efforts to integrate IK into the PEAP

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3.0 THE 1999 STRATEGY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT
APPLICATION OF IK

• The IK Stakeholder Consultative Workshop held in
  1999 to develop a National Strategy Framework for
  the development and utilization of IK. The World
  Bank supported the workshop.

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THE 1999 STRATEGY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT
APPLICATION OF IK (continued)

• 3 key structural and physical constraints
  hampering the wider and optimal utilization and
  integration of IK in the national development
  process identified
• Lack of qualified manpower
• Absence of organizational structures a
  mechanism to coordinate the activities to
  capture, validate share IK nationally
  regionally
• Limited financial resources

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THE 1999 STRATEGY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT
APPLICATION OF IK (continued)

• A National IK Steering Committee with secretariat
  at UNCST established to guide the process of IK
  development and application. Its membership
  comprised of IK committed individuals from
  government, private sector, civil society
  organizations as well as IK bearers and
  practitioners.

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4.0 THE 1999 KAMPALA DECLARATION ON IK

• Endorsed at the 1999 Stakeholder Consultative
  Workshop
• Constituted a national commitment to the
  development and application of IK and called for
  concerted efforts to capture, validate and share
  IK nationally as well as regionally.S

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5.0 INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING FOR IK
INTEGRATION IN THE PEAP

• Uganda National Council for Science and
  Technology, with support from World Bank
  implemented the project aimed at building an
  institutional framework for Uganda to enhance
  national capacity to promote the integration of
  IK systems in the development process.

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5.1 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

• To refine institutional strategies for
  implementation of the national strategy action
  framework for IK development.
• To build local capacity to capture, store
  evaluate the efficacy of IK for integration in
  the national development process.
• To establish a coordinating mechanism for
  facilitating the support to institutions involved
  in IK development application.
• To support establishment of local community
  networks for sharing IK for community development
• To design mechanisms that help integrate IK into
  the operations of public private sectors of
  health agriculture.

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5.2 SELECTED PROJECT ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN TO
ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

• (Undertaken by UNCST as implementing Agent
  Coordinator, together with IK stakeholder
  institutions of private, public sectors as well
  as Civil Society)
• Capacity building in IK documentation
  information management at both national
  community level thru training of trainers
  community leaders.
• Advocacy awareness raising on IK its role in
  poverty alleviation among the communities
  public players, thru workshops, seminars field
  visits.
• Strengthening the documentation of IK exchange
  among communities at community level thru
  establishment of Community to Community based IK
  Resource Centers in 6 districts of Mukono,
  Luwero, Mpigi, Iganga, Wakiso and Apac

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SELECTED PROJECT ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN TO ACHIEVE
OBJECTIVES (continued)

• Documentation of IK by sector implementing
  institutions
• Establishment of District and Sub-County focal
  points
• Community to Community (C2C) exchanges of IK in
  selected districts

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5.3 FORMATION OF UGIKIS

• Formation of the Uganda Indigenous Knowledge
  Information Society (UGIKIS) aimed at bringing IK
  stakeholders (policy makers, practitioners,
  academia, entrepreneurs, etc) together.

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5.4 OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT

• A Coordinating Unit established at UNCST.
• Key legal regulatory issues for enhancing the
  promotion protection of IK for community
  development empowerment identified.
• Potential areas for IK application in
  agriculture, health natural resource management
  identified thru studies taken.
• Capacity of different IK stakeholders
  (practioners, bearers, users, policy makers,
  research scientists, NGOs, CBOs, the University,
  etc) built in different methods of IK
  documentation, information sharing advocacy.

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OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT (Continued)

• Community-based IK Resource Centers established
  have facilitated communities to start documenting
  IK in different sectors of the economy in their
  respective communities, contributing to
  development of local content sharing it among
  themselves.
• Nurturing of Communities of IK practice.
• Capacity built among institutions in approaches
  to integrate IK into their operations, hence
  bringing IK into mainstream operations

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OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT (continued)

• The role of IK in development more recognised and
  appreciated through advocacy forums.
• Networking among stakeholders at all levels
  increased.
• Regional collaboration in IK development issues
  initiated.

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6.0 IK SECTOR REVIEW STRATEGY FOR INTEGRATING IK
INTO THE PEAP

• Government recognized the potential of IK in
  empowering communities the important role it
  plays in improving the quality of life of the
  people of Uganda, especially the rural poor.
• An IK Strategy for implementing the PEAP
  objectives incorporated in the 2004 PEAP review
  process to incorporate IK. The strategy defined
  key IK issues to be addressed strategies to
  implement the PEAP. Monitoring indicators were
  also defined.

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7.0 ACTION PLAN FOR INTEGRATION OF IK INTO THE
PEAP

• Addressed the need to mainstream IK in the
  overall national development process provides
  for a systematic coordinated approach for
  integrating Ugandas IK or traditional knowledge
  systems practices in the implementation of the
  PEAP
• A product of the World Bank supported project on
  institutional capacity building for integration
  of IK into the PEAP seeks to mainstream IK in
  the development process.
• The Action Plan outlines the objectives of
  integration of IK defines strategies for
  achieving them

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7.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE IK ACTION PLAN

• To put in place an effective institutional
  framework to promote the development
  application of IK in social, political economic
  development.
• To facilitate understanding of the importance,
  value, role of IK as a tool for development among
  policy/decision makers, etc.
• To produce databases of IK practices for
  validation to facilitate acceptance,
  dissemination further development.
• Etc

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7.2 STRATEGIES FOR ATTAINING OBJECTIVES

• Developing an Institutional Framework for IK
  integration.
• Sensitization advocacy.
• Documentation, research, validation
  dissemination
• Scaling up, commercialization industrialization
• Capacity building
• Legislation
• Resource mobilization
• Monitoring and Evaluation

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7.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACTION PLAN

• UNCST is responsible for coordinating the
  implementation of the action plan.
• Implementation of activities by sector
  institutions in the public private sectors
• The financing of the action plan is thru
  government funds as well as from Development
  Partners.

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8.0 DRAFT NATIONAL POLICY ON IK

• A product of the World Bank supported project.
• Provides a national framework to guide the
  process of integrating IK in the national
  development process.
• Details objectives of the policy defines
  strategies to achieve the objectives.
• Draft policy still under consultative process
  among stakeholders being spearheaded by UNCST.

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9.0 THE INNOVATION FUND

• A Government Fund to promote indigenous
  innovations administered by UNCST

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10.0 OTHER EFFORTS TO INTEGRATE IK IN DEVELOPMENT

• In Government Institutions
• At the Community level
• In the Private Sector

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11.0 CHALLENGES TO THE INTEGRATION
PROCESS

• Inadequate recognition of IK as an important tool
  for development.
• Inadequate documentation of IK, hence its loss on
  death of bearer.
• Limited benefits of IK products services to a
  few people who appreciate it.
• The modernization drive of the economy which
  renders IK backward.
• Lack of IP laws to protect IK
• Inadequate resources to sustain IK programmes.
• Limited stakeholder participation in the
  integration process

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THE END