Cultural Diversity in the 21st Century:

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Cultural Diversity in the 21st Century
The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Development
GK 2000 - Global Knowledge Fair Kuala Lumpur,
7 - 10 March, 2000

• Nicolas Gorjestani - Chief Knowledge Learning
  Officer
• Africa Region - The World Bank

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I want the cultures of all the lands to be
blown about my house as freely as possible. But I
refuse to be blown off my feet by any
Mahatma Gandhi
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Main Themes

• Challenge Preserve cultural diversity
• Strategy Build on indigenous knowledge
  values
• Agenda Empower enable local communities

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Main Themes

• Challenge Preserve cultural diversity
• Strategy Build on indigenous knowledge
  values
• Agenda Empower enable local communities

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Cultural diversity through the ages
culture is what you remember when you have
forgotten everything else. An
ancient Asian saying
the most universal quality is diversity
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-92)
what sets worlds in motion is the interplay
of differences life is plurality, death is
uniformity Octavio Paz (1914-1998)
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The globalization era
Mega-mergers and global players

• Communication (Vodaphone -Mannesmann, AOL - Time
  - Warner...)
• Health(Glaxo-Wellcome, Novartis...)
• Food Agriculture(Monsanto, Nestlé)

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Globalization with a human face ?
local priorities, global agenda

• Dignity of the Individual
• Safeguarding of bio-diversity
• Protection of the environment
• Sustainable development

• ? Declaration of Human Rights
• ? Convention on Bio-Diversity
• ? Agenda 21
• ? Comprehensive Development Framework

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Globalization with a human face !
think global, act local

• Focus on local issues
• Create local networks
• Build on indigenous knowledge and values
• Connect with global issues of common concern

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Main Themes

• Challenge Preserve cultural diversity
• Strategy Build on indigenous knowledge
  values
• Agenda Empower enable local communities

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What IK can achieve Achieved

• Some Practical Applications of IK

Nicolas Gorjestani, The World Bank
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What IK Achieved in Mozambique
Case of post-conflict resettlement

• Traditional authorities and local administration
• managed 500,000 land transactions and
• settled 5 million refugees and displaced
  persons in two years
• Used only local knowledge and capacity
• no external assistance from government, donors or
  NGOs
• no conflicts over land and rights
• Impact small holders re-launch agricultural
  growth

How long would it have taken government donors?
Nicolas Gorjestani, The World Bank
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What IK Achieved in Senegal
Case of women of Malicounda

• Adult education course by TOSTAN
• apply literacy to solve a community problem
• learn about the consequences of circumcision on
  the health of girls
• abolish the practice after sharing experiences
  within the community
• Exchange experiences with other communities
• involve male spiritual leaders
• obtain presidential approval for the Oath of
  Malicounda
• Impact
• More than 16 communities abolish the practice
  within 18 months
• Senegal officially abolishes practice in December
  1998

Nicolas Gorjestani, The World Bank
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What IK Achieved in Rwanda and Tanzania
Case of donor as facilitator

• Exchange of Agro-forestry practices with GTZ help
• learning from farmers in Tanzania about
  agro-forestry
• transferring practice to Rwanda, upgraded with
  zero-grazing
• re-transferring upgraded practice to Tanzania
• Outcome
• Rwandan farmers adapt and adopt practice
• Tanzanian farmers re-import and further adapt
  practice
• Impact
• Zero-grazed cattle grows from 100 to 20,000 head
  in decade
• increased farmer incomes reduced soil erosion

Nicolas Gorjestani, The World Bank
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What IK Achieved in West Africa
Case of Koranic schools

• Learning in African languages
• Some 40,000 schools in Niger alone
• Gender enrollment rates virtually same in some
  regions
• In Guinea, 93 of alumni have basic literacy
• Impact on development
• Higher literacy rates than in French
• Writing and numeracy ? correspondence, record
  keeping
• Training for local leadership

Nicolas Gorjestani, The World Bank
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What IK Achieved in Senegal
Case of community SL

• Young people in Fandène village
• identify lack of credit as constraint to
  development
• identify lack of collateral and credibility as
  cause
• start a non-formal savings and loan association
• Results Community
• contributes and saves (initially 1 per member
  and year)
• establishes a group collateral s and appraises
  project proposals
• expands services to 33 neighboring communities
• Impact After five years, S L association
• reaches 20,000 US annual loan portfolio
• accumulates 60,000 US capital
• provides technical assistance to other
  communities

Nicolas Gorjestani, The World Bank
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What IK Achieved in Burkina Faso
Case of local language literacy centers

• Literacy in local languages
• 15,000 learners in Gulmancema language (41
  women)
• 4,000 literacy centers vs 3,000 formal schools
  using French
• 52 of successful literacy center students were
  women
• Impact
• gt 50 of 72,000 literacy center students declared
  literate
• newly literate women used local language to
  develop accounting, management systems to run
  cooperative

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What IK Achieved in Burkina Faso
Case of local language literacy centers

• Lesson Local language training helps build
  social capital, preserves cultural integrity and
  facilitates diversity!

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Indigenous Knowledge is . . .

• Embedded in Culture
• Critical Element of Global Knowledge
• Foundation for Human and Social Capital
• Gateway to Empowerment
• Key to Sustainable Development

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To sustain local culture
Indigenous Knowledge must be
used
? ? ? ?
shared
preserved
developed
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In the development process
Indigenous knowledge helps to increase

• efficiency
• IK is cost effective
• IK uses appropriate technology
• effectiveness
• IK is locally managed
• IK reaches the poor
• sustainability
• IK provides for mutual adaptation learning
• IK empowers local communities

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Main Themes

• Challenge Preserve cultural diversity
• Strategy Build on indigenous knowledge
  values
• Agenda Empower enable local communities

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Empowerment
Communities shape own development agenda by

• actively participating in the development
  dialogue
• determining research agendas
• enhancing good governance
• integrating indigenous knowledge in development

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Integrating IK into development programs
Case of Uganda

• Agricultural Research Training Project II
• focuses research activities on local practices
• disseminates successful IK practices
• National Strategy on Utilization of IK
• establishes national focal point for IK
• organizes national forum to draft IK policy

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Enablement

• Helping local practitioners and communities to
• exchange knowledge of local practices
• build local knowledge networks
• engage authorities, researchers experts
• dialogue with development partners
• leverage local global knowledge

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Empowerment through Enablement
Building on indigenous knowledge values
exchange engage connect Helping communities
learn

• learn
• hear
• listen
• Learning from communities

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Balanced Flow of Knowledge
Networks
Local Global
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Networks of Local Practitioners
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Networks of Local Practitioners
Farmers
Healers
Engage Exchange Learn Influence

Hunters
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Leveraging Knowledge Networks
Traditional Healers
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Leveraging Knowledge Networks
WHO/ World Bank Specialists
Researchers
Ministry of Health
PHC providers
Traditional Healers
Doctors
Pharmacists
Health Care CBOs/ NGOs
Botanists
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Leveraging Knowledge Networks
Case of traditional birth attendants in Uganda

• Under RESCUER project in Iganga District
• PHCs partner with traditional birth attendants
• link attendants to health units thru
  walkie-talkies
• attendants serve as referral points
• more women receive health services
• Impact maternal deaths decline by 50 in 3
  years

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Leveraging Knowledge Networks
Case of traditional birth attendants in Uganda

• Lesson
• technology can help to enable empower local
  practitioners to become active participants in
  development

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Summary
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Summary
Knowledge Culture
Enablement Empowerment
local
global
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The Way Forward

• Preserving cultural diversity is key to giving
  globalization a human face
• Building on indigenous knowledge values is good
  for development
• Empowering enabling communities is key to
  sustainable development
• Need action agenda to make it happen

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you simply cannot have development without a
recognition of culture and of history
James D. Wolfensohn