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The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Primary Health Care and Sustainable Utilisation
of Natural Resources in Malawi: Opportunities and Challenges for Scientific
Information Access
Prof. S. Sosten Chiotha, University of Malawi
The 1998 World Development Report indicated that in promotion of economic and social well
being, knowledge is as critical to development as are labour and capital. This conference is
relevant to that line of thinking as it discusses and reviews the current status of practice for
sharing of and permanent access to scientific information resources related to sustainable
development. Focus areas include primary health care, biodiversity, and the fact that
indigenous knowledge is relevant and can substantially supplement scientific knowledge.
The importance of indigenous knowledge is based on evidence where local communities
have turned to it to solve problems in public health, food security, and preservation of
biodiversity. Malawi was chosen to illustrate the role of indigenous knowledge in primary
health care and sustainable utilisation of natural resources because its population is
predominantly rural (80%). Many Malawians still depend on local indigenous knowledge to
meet their livelihood needs. Through collaboration with local people, a number of useful
plants were identified in the 1970s using both scientific and indigenous taxonomic systems.
This documentation included related local practices for livelihoods and formed the basis for
further scientific research on the potential for pharmaceutical products, soil fertility
enrichment, edible indigenous fruits and vegetables, and so on.
Indigenous knowledge also contributed to the classification of the fishes of Lake Malawi,
which has the highest species diversity of fish when compared to any other fresh water lake
in the world. Based on indigenous knowledge, for example, the feeding behaviour of the
fishes was noted and with scientific validation some of the fish have been identified as
potential biological control agents for schistosomiasis. Lessons have also been drawn on the
way local communities managed to regenerate indigenous forests and manage fishery
stocks, the result being an increase in biodiversity. Hence Indigenous knowledge not only
offers direct benefit to the local communities but also opportunity for further scientific
research.
There are challenges that are relevant to this workshop. Indigenous knowledge is still based
in rituals and oral tradition, and with aging of the custodians, some knowledge might be lost.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic may also accelerate the loss of knowledge. Further, publications
based on indigenous knowledge might not be accessed locally, resulting in researchers
knowing more than the locals, particularly the younger generations. With the rapid loss of
biodiversity, practices and knowledge related to plants or animals may also be lost. Hence
permanent access to scientific information should include having natural resources protected
so that access is not solely to book information but to natural habitats and ecosystems as
well.