Indigenous Systems and Africa's Development

de Vusi Gumede, Mammo Muchie, Ajebush Shafi

"The role of indigenous knowledge in development has not been examined enough. Indigenous knowledge systems tend to mean different things to different people, so is culture. Culture is undoubtedly critical for development but often underplayed or misunderstood. Development in Africa remains elusive. Those who are supposed to benefit from interventions aimed at improving wellbeing are often not involved in decision making regarding those interventions. Indigenous knowledge culture and indigenous languages are usually ignored when conceiving policies aimed at advancing development. This book – a collection of chapters on these issues – demonstrate the importance of indigenous systems in development. Indigenous knowledge plays a role in development practice because of its capacity to generate transferable local skills and set energies in motion to reduce the prevailing inequalities on the continent. In an effort to resolve the enduring puzzle of development in Africa, the role of Indigenous knowledge is thus affirmed as important. The book advocates for paradigm shift in development thinking and practice that reinforces the use of indigenous knowledge as a first line of action in the process of development Africa." --