Workshop to ponder use of indigenous knowledge

Maureen Odubeng | Thursday February 6, 2014 16:35

 

The two-day workshop, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, is expected to foster regional collaboration and regional sharing on IKS issues, which will include facilitating dialogue on the development of policies and legislative framework for the region.  Participants are also expected to share ideas on documentation of indigenous knowledge, knowledge development, exploitation and human capital development.

The workshop will look into regional and international cooperation.

The director of Research, Science and Technology under the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Lesego Motoma, noted that “we are what we are because of IKS”, explaining that the importance of safe guarding and exploring IKS cannot be overemphasised.

She further explained that IKS had contributed towards development of certain medicines, food and nutrition products.

She said each community possessed a wealth of indigenous knowledge, which can be used for economic empowerment.

Motoma said there were certain herbs sometimes peculiar to a certain area, which have been known to cure ailments, through indigenous knowledge, explaining that some of these have been scientifically proven to have medicinal properties.

She explained that herbs like Sengaparile (devil’s claw) had for long been known to have health benefits and is now being mass distributed in tablet form.

“Hoodia is one good example. People of the Kalahari had been using Hoodia as an appetite suppressant for a long time, but someone realised that it could be beneficial for obese people who wanted to lose weight, and it too is being mass distributed as a weight loss product,” she noted.

She said there had been a challenge of people somewhat looking down on indigenous knowledge, choosing to go with the western culture.

She, however, noted that in recent years people seemed to be warming up to the important role that indigenous knowledge could play in their lives.

She added that more countries were actively involved in trying to dedicate a lot of attention to exploration of indigenous knowledge.

She said the workshop was expected to have 30 representatives from different countries that will be a mixture of experts from the laboratory as well as the traditional setting. She said bringing the groups together would give them a chance to understand the intersection between science and indigenous knowledge. 

Motoma shared that in the past the only known protection of indigenous knowledge was secrecy, that is the secret being passed on from generation to generation, explaining that there was a need for documentation.

She cautioned that if such documentation is done carelessly it could present challenges of societies losing rights to its own indigenous knowledge.

The workshop will have exhibitors from Botswana and the region showcasing products developed using IKS.

Previous workshops were held in South Africa, Zambia, Seychelles, and Namibia.