What is Indigenous Knowledge (IK)?

What is Indigenous Knowledge (IK)?

• IK is local knowledge.
• IK is unique to every culture or society
• IK is the basis for local-level decision making in:

o   Agriculture
o   Health care,
o   Food preparation 
o   – Education

o   Natural-resource management, and

o   A host of other activities in communities.

·         IK provides problem-solving strategies for
communities.

·         IK is commonly held by communities rather than individuals.

·         IK is tacit knowledge and therefore difficult to codify. It is embedded in community practices, institutions, relationships and rituals.

·         IK is dynamic and continuously evolves and innovates. 

For more information, please refer to Learning About IK.

Why is IK important?

·         Investing in the exchange of IK and its integration into the assistance programs of the World Bank and its development partners can help to reduce poverty.    

·         Examples of how the application of community-based practices have helped achieve substantive development results in the MDG areas include:

• Reducing maternal mortality in Uganda
• Distribution of food aid in Nepal
• Abolition of female circumcision/mutilation by women of Malicounda in Senegal
• Postpartum maternal and child health care rites among the Ibo in Nigeria

·         IK provides problem solving strategies for local communities, especially for the poor.

·         IK represents an important contribution to global development knowledge.

·         IK systems are at risk of becoming extinct.

·         IK is relevant for the development process.

·         IK is an underutilized resource in the development process

·         Learning from IK, by investigating first what local communities know and have, can improve understanding of local conditions and provide a productive context for activities designed to help the communities.