Indigenous Knowledge (IK)

It refers to the unique, traditional, local knowledge existing within and developed around the specific conditions of women and men indigenous to a particular geographic area. (It is acknowledged that nonindigenous people, in particular people living off the land, have their own indigenous or local knowledge, but this topic is not addressed here.) The development of IK systems, covering all aspects of life, including management of the natural environment, has been a matter of survival to the peoples who generated these systems. Such knowledge systems are cumulative, representing generations of experiences, careful observations, and trial-and-error experiments. When a knowledgeable old person dies, a whole library disappears. IK systems are also dynamic: new knowledge is continuously added. Such systems do innovate from within and also will internalize, use, and adapt external knowledge to suit the local situation.

All members of a community have traditional ecological knowledge: elders, women, men, and children. The quantity and quality of the IK that individuals possess vary. Age, education, gender, social and economic status, daily experiences, outside influences, roles and responsibilities in the home and community, profession, available time, aptitude and intellectual capability, level of curiosity and observation skills, ability to travel and degree of autonomy, and control over natural resources are some of the influencing factors.

IK is stored in peoples' memories and activities and is expressed in stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, dances, myths, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language and taxonomy, agricultural practices, equipment, materials, plant species, and animal breeds. IK is shared and communicated orally, by specific example, and through culture. Indigenous forms of communication and organization are vital to local-level decision-making processes and to the preservation, development, and spread of IK.

Agriservice Ethiopia has recognized and valued thes system of knowledge since long. ...