A Motion for An Indigenous Knowledge Policy (Part 2)

The second part of the motion for Government to develop on an indigenous knowledge systems policy to interface with other modern knowledge systems and sectors so as to increase the rate of innovation. This part is delivered by Independent MP Hon Charles Mulipi :

Development of An Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy, Private Member's Motion, Hon Charles Mulipi, Speech to Parliament :

Madam Speaker, I stand on the Floor of this House to render my support to this Motion adequately and ably delivered by the hon. Member for Kasama. We hope that he will continue in that line. I agreed to second this Motion because it is a very serious motion, it is the very essence of our existence as a people. Even God said that without Science, we cannot exist. Therefore, let us ask ourselves, what is Science? We are where we are because our ancestors through the ages were able to harness Science as they understood it. It is because of that that today, our very existence as a people is evident.

Indigenous Science knowledge refers us to a range of ideas, experiences, practices and information locally applied by given ethnic groups in the process of identification, naming, production, utilisation and preservation of products from the local environment. Indigenous knowledge is highly embedded in the everyday life of the people.

We must focus on ourselves as indigenous Zambians and we must recognise the scientific knowledge that preserved our ancestors and was passed onto ourselves. In doing this, we must also understand that Zambia, as we have said on a number of occasions, is a land of different groups of people. As a result of the resource shortfalls that we have, the majority of our people in rural areas still depend on indigenous science for their survival.

In Zambia from time immemorial, rural communities have depended on indigenous scientific knowledge for their survival. Communities have applied indigenous scientific knowledge in almost all sectors that pertain to their spiritual, social and economic development. It is clear that any society existing at any given time in history will have done so on the basis of its ability to harness its local resources to ensure its survival. The harnessing of local resources is all about using indigenous scientific knowledge.

Often there is a misconception that scientific knowledge applies only works well in the so-called developed countries, especially those in the west. Indeed the evolution of our indigenous societies was based on scientific knowledge developed by our ancestors. We should look at what our country has done in terms of recognising this indigenous knowledge. An inventory of indigenous scientific knowledge in Zambia has been initiated and that we must recognise. This is serving as a means for recording indigenous scientific knowledge. So far, indigenous scientific knowledge in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Zambia has been documented. I would like to urge the Government to ensure that this exercise is quickly extended from the two provinces where it has already been initiated to cover the whole country because it is urgently needed. For detailed information on this, I refer you to the Indigenous Knowledge and Technologies Survey Report for Northern and Eastern provinces of Zambia which was produced in April, 2005.

The inventory covered the following areas of indigenous scientific knowledge; agriculture, manufacturing, construction, health, mining, musical instruments, natural resource management, transport and communications as well as crafts. The inventory brought out information on how rural communities have utilised and preserved the knowledge for purposes of their livelihoods and survival. This information is critical in the process of developing appropriate policy and legislation which will proactively secure the holders and users legal rights. I again here refer you to the United Nations Charter on Indigenous Peoples Rights.

Our societies have involved indigenous solutions in sorting out a number of problems that existed in the past and continue to exist. People also use indigenous knowledge to make decisions regarding their way of life. Let me refer this House to companies such as Sylva Catering Services, which have taken it upon themselves to develop indigenous dishes that our forefathers and foremothers passed on to them. This initiative is already proving to be a useful source of revenue for the companies involved in it. Already the modern world is moving towards the use of organic foods. Organic food is found in European countries, the United States of America and other places. Organic foods are given a very high place on the social tables. Here in Zambia, most of our people survive on organic foods. It is necessary that the Government helps our people to extract maximum financial benefits from these organic foods by helping them to export these foods.

Our indigenous societies have developed methods of food preservation which should put us in a position to export these indigenous foods to other countries. The mover of this motion was able to point this House to the far east countries which have developed their own foods and ways of life which are totally different from those of the western society.

On health issues, various remedies are available for diseases such as asthma that western medicines have so far failed to cure. We also have traditional birth attendants who were talked about earlier this afternoon. This again is traditional and indigenous knowledge that needs to be preserved. We are happy to hear that even hon. Ministers are encouraging the preservation of such knowledge.

On HIV/AIDS, it is generally accepted that whereas the indigenous remedies currently available on the market do not yet provide a cure, they also provide relief, much in the same lines as the western anti-retrovirals (ARVs).

Two weeks ago I was in the village, and because there are no mortuaries, it was interesting when as a family we were organising to go to another place where there is a mortuary to hear how they were going to preserve the body for two days whilst awaiting family members to travel from Lusaka to that place. True to their word, they were able to preserve the body and other members of the family found it in good state. That is indigenous knowledge.

Madam Speaker, traditional and indigenous knowledge also extend to other areas of human activity. On the transportation system, canoes, sleighs and the like are also an indication of the fact that even without western civilisation, we are able to develop our own systems of transport.

Building materials that are developed in Africa are much more environmentally friendly than the ones that we see in other places. Diseases which threaten to decimate our animal population were non-existent during the days of our forefathers because they were able to harness indigenous knowledge which they used to cure these diseases whenever they broke out.

Finally, there is need for further commercialisation and patenting of this knowledge. We urge the Government to be proactive in ensuring that this knowledge is preserved and utilised for the benefit of those that have developed it or the communities that have preserved it and the country. The ministry which is responsible for this, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Vocational Training, must be encouraged in terms of ensuring that they have adequate resources. They must also be encouraged in making sure that they have got the required human resources and, above all, it is one ministry that has suffered frequent changes of hon. Ministers. Yet, from what the mover of this Motion and I have said, it is a very strategic ministry. I urge the Government, also, to ensure that there is stability especially at ministerial level in this ministry.

I thank you, Madam Speaker.