39131 IK Notes Survey Results I number (11%) work in the private sec- n early 2006, the program asked for tor. The majority of respondents spe- feedback on the IK Notes series and to assess whether they have made a con- cialized in Social Development, Educa- tribution to your work. The focus of the tion or Natural Resource Manage- survey was on readers' perceptions of the ment. role of indigenous knowledge in develop- Notes ment and the World Bank's work in terms of integrating indigenous knowledge and Responses related to indigenous practices into World Bank-supported pro- knowledge grams and projects. This report is based on Most respondents consider indigenous responses to both the web-based and the knowledge very relevant and important paper survey; with 213 responses (144 to for development. The majority uses in- the web-based and 69 to the paper-based digenous or community-based prac- KI questionnaire)1, this should be considered tices in their work and has achieved more of a poll than a statistically reliable better results by doing so. The majority survey. evaluates the World Bank's efforts to There are quite a number of consistent build on indigenous knowledge posi- statements on the role of indigenous tively. However, there were some criti- knowledge in development and the useful- cal remarks regarding the Bank's work ness of the IK Notes series. In summary and its use of indigenous knowledge, http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/default.htm of the findings, readers generally think in- such as its ability to use local people's digenous knowledge is very important in knowledge to adapt practices to local development and indicated that the IK conditions. Notes series is a useful source of informa- tion. A majority of respondents also indi- 1 cated that indigenous knowledge and prac- The response rate to the survey is approxi- mately 1.5%. Most readers in developing tices, and the IK Notes publication are countries received the paper questionnaire too each highly relevant to their work. The fol- late and could not participate, which is probably the main reason for the low response rate. We lowing summarizes the findings of the sur- apologize to those readers. vey, and provides our assessment of its re- 2 This distribution may be due to Internet access No. 97 sults. and mailing times. October 2006 Approximately three quarter of the re- sponses were from developing countries, IK Notes reports periodically on most of them (60%) from Africa, Nigeria Indigenous Knowledge (IK) initiatives being the country of residence of most re- in Sub-Saharan Africa and occassionally on such initiatives spondents. Approximately 33% of re- outside the region. It is published by sponses were from industrial countries, the Africa region's Results and most of them from the USA, followed by Learning Unit as part of an evolving K different European countries.2 The vast partnership between the World Bank, majority of respondents (84%) is male and communities, NGOs, development institutions, and multilateral older than 36 years (80%), a very high per- organizations. The views expressed in centage (29%) is older than 55. Most re- this article are those of the authors World Bank spondents identified themselves as ex- and should not be attributed to the perts/consultants and policy makers or di- World Bank Group or its partners in this initiative. A webpage on IK is rectors, working predominantly with na- available at: tional NGOs, governmental organizations //www.worldbank.org/afr/ik and research institutes. A relatively high 2 As the majority of respondents work in national non-gov- With regard to the role of the World Bank, most respon- ernmental and governmental organizations or research insti- dents rated its work on and with indigenous knowledge posi- tutes, it is not surprising that this work often involves working tively (see ratings for 23a to 23d in table 1). The majority with or about indigenous and community-based practices. agrees that : (a) the Bank makes an effort to understand in- Almost 90% of respondents say that indigenous knowledge digenous knowledge; and (b) builds on indigenous knowledge plays sometimes, often or always an important role in their as a resource for development. However, one quarter of re- work (see figure for question 18 below) Hence, almost all spondents to (a) and almost every third respondent to (b) respondents consider indigenous knowledge a very impor- sees scope for improvement for the Bank. Two thirds of re- tant development resource (see question 14 in table 1), also spondents evaluate positively the Bank's ability to under- to be used as a source of local innovation. Respectively, stand indigenous knowledge in order to better adapt its new three quarters of the respondents have promoted innovations practices to the local conditions (c). The other third, how- based on indigenous practices in their work. There is slightly ever, is not satisfied with the Bank's work in this respect. less agreement regarding the importance of indigenous The highest percentage of agreement was with regard to knowledge when introducing new practices (see question 15 the strong role the Bank should play in advocating indigenous in table 1).Although a majority of the respondents emphasize knowledge with governments and other clients in developing that understanding indigenous knowledge is a precondition countries in order to mainstream the use of indigenous for adapting new practices, there is a relatively large per- knowledge in development (d). centage of respondents (20%) who do not agree that indig- enous knowledge is necessary to adapt new practices to the Table 1: Readers were asked to rate the statements on a local conditions. progressive scale of 1 to 4, The high relevance of indigenous knowledge to the re- spondents' work is also reflected in the percentage (75%) 1 meaning strongly disagree and 4 meaning strongly indicating that indigenous knowledge has made a difference agree. in their work. Almost the same percentage (71%) say that building on indigenous knowledge has also made a difference Average rating from to the communities they work with (see figure on question Statement 1 (strongly disagree) to 22). 4 (strongly agree) Q14 Indigenous knowledge is an important development 3,4 resource Q 18: IK plays an important role Q15 Without understanding indigenous knowledge, new 3,1 in my work (%) practices cannot be adapted to local conditions Q 23a The World Bank makes an effort to understand 2,5 50 indigenous knowledge Q 23bThe World Bank builds on indigenous knowledge as a 40 2,6 resource for development 30 Q 23c The World Bank uses indigenous knowledge to adapt 2,4 20 to local conditions 10 Q 23d The World Bank should advise its clients to build on 3,2 indigenous knowledge in development 0 l s al at meit n/a often way al not me Responses related to IK Notes so Many hard copy readers who are able to receive IK Notes Q 22: Building on IK Notes has made a difference to the electronically prefer to receive the hard copy, because of communities I work with (%) unreliable Internet connections. Surprisingly, many readers 50 from industrial countries also prefer the hard copy version. 40 Some readers indicated that this allows for easier display and 30 sharing. 20 All readers expect that they can continue to receive IK 10 Notes free of charge, although 27% of respondents would be 0 willing to pay for the Notes. Three quarter of the respon- all n ya a at fteo n/ dents stated that they read the IK Notes always or usually. alw not Additionally, in 63% of the cases, an IK Note is read by more sometimes than one person. Forty percent of respondents indicated that 3 up to five additional people read the IK Notes issues they that IK Notes is on the right track. The feedback on both the receive and for 23% the publication is read by up to 15 or usefulness and impact of IK Notes as well as the importance even more than 15 other people. of indigenous practices in development processes is an en- Almost 90% of the respondents indicated that the topics couragement to continue to work towards the dissemination covered are relevant to their work. Three quarters of them and application of indigenous and community-based prac- have applied information from the IK Notes series and 92% tices in development. of these respondents think that it often improved the out- There is a call for action, though, regarding the composi- come of their work (see figures below). tion of the readership. If the gender and age of the respon- dents accurately reflect the larger composition of IK Notes readership, the number of female and young readers is very low. Women and youth are important drivers for economic, social and environmental improvements in developing coun- Q 7: IK Notes cover topics relevant to my work (%) tries and an awareness of the importance of indigenous practices and the knowledge of local solutions is critical to 50 this constituency. Following the suggestions from respon- 40 dents to the survey, more gender-related articles and young 30 people's concerns will be covered. But readers are also en- 20 couraged to disseminate IK Notes among young people and 10 women and provide or point towards pertinent stories that 0 could be covered in the IK Notes series. mesi n/a Nevertheless, the feedback and the overall results are rarely usually metos always positive.Agreat majority of respondents signal approval with IK Notes and its topics. The critical voices regarding the World Bank's willingness and ability to mainstream indig- Q 8: I have applied information enous knowledge on the one hand and the positive and en- from IK Notes in my work (%) couraging feedback on the other are a call for continued 50 awareness raising and dissemination of relevant community- 40 based practices within the World Bank and its development 30 partners. 20 10 . 0 n/a rarely usually always sometimes Q 9: The use of information from IK Notes has improved the outcome of my work (%) 50 40 30 20 Conclusion 10 0 In summary, the responses to the reader survey confirmed y n/a rarel usually always sometimes This note was prepared by Claudia Rueger, Consultant, at the World Bank's Africa Region Results and Learning Unit (AFTRL). For more information, email: crueger@worldbank.org.. 4