22820 Eritrea: The Process of V Capturing Indigenous Knowledge LZ ocated in the horn of Africa, and document these for subsequent Eritrea comprises six regions and preservation and publication. What is over nine distinct ethnic peoples notable is that funding for this IK ini- (Tigrigna, Tigre, Rashayda, Saho, tiative was provided by the Public Ad- Bilen, Hidareb, Kunama, Nara, Afar)- ministration Department till 1990 and each with its own indigenous culture by the Ministrv of Local Government and traditional practices. from 1995 onwards. W_ \\Nhile indigenous knowledge (IK) is This initiative was conceived as be- embedded in community practices, in- ing carried out in two phases, of which stitutions, relationships and rituals, it only the first has seen significant is often difficult to discern due to its progress: tacit nature. WNith the rapid increase in * Phase I-Collection of IK information globalization, many countries and de- * Phase II-Detailed validation and velopment organizations have recently analvsis recognized the threat of losinig IK and are putting together initiatives aimed at the presenation and revitalization of this valuable resource. The collection of indigenous knowl- In 1982, a group of Eritreans orga- edge revolved around the following nized themselves and launched a steps: No. 36 scheme to identify and document their 1 Group IK into categories such as- September 2001 local knowledge. The objective of the twenty-year effort was to identifv and understand the IK of the Eritrean INo" reports periodluially on. Indigenous Kucowedge (1K) initiatiwes peoples in a socio-economic context. It ujan io t is published attempted to examine the socio-cul- by the Aoa ReWgions Knowledge and Leaning centO s ar of an d m tural and economic activities of each of E W the nine different ethnic nationalities Bank uis NM, deMop ~N~\ONAL 8 in Eritrea beginning with the origins of ment in5tltuons and nutiLaterd drgarri To he views- epressed i Eritrean society through colonial times I are hse of ahs to the current period. In this process, and slwud not be attibuted to the World Bank Group or its partners in the purpose was to study the cultures t initiatie A webpa on 1 is and traditional practices of the ethnic avaIable at //w.worlk.orgafr/ nationalities and capture, categorize ik/defaul1ttra land use, farming, astrology, cultural rituals, traditional that region was conducted to gather general knowledge medicine, family, etc. about that area, its peoples and traditions. The next step was 2. Select a target culture-by region and/or ethnic group; to conduct several interviews with the district and local ad- identify IK bearers within ministrators, surrounding communities and village elders to 3. Collect IK-use questionnaires, panel discussions etc. pinpoint wvhere the IK collection process would be focused. 4.Validate-cross-check across panels, field visits On the basis of the preceding discussions, the semi-struc- 5. Record and store by category on the computer tured questionnaire was modified or refined. This question- 6. Publish -delineate into public and private information; naire was used as a survey instrument to help identifv the publish public IK in print (encyclopedia) important items of IK and the important bearers of this knowledge within each ethnic nationality. The Eritrean IK collection methodology focused on the study of one ethnic nationality at a time. The entire process Stage 2 of IK collection from one ethnic nationality took between The second stage is significant because it helped determine eighteen months to two years. The entire IK collection pro- the number of people who were most knowledgeable within cess wvas conducted in four stages. the ethnic nationality about its culture and traditional prac- tices. The survey results (from the questionnaire) as well as Stage I the preceding interviews in Stage 1 identified this core The first step was to determine the region that this ethnic group, which normally numbered between twenty to thirty nationality inhabited. A pilot study of some of the areas in people. Most of this core group are Elders, who have tradi- tionally been the holders of this indigenous knowledge. The next step was to agree upon a time and place to convene all these persons for an extended period of time (fifty to sixty days) to enable the IK collection process to move forvard . would be of interest to: Stage 3 Name Panel discussions comprised the cornerstone of the third stage of the IK collection process. The selected bearers of Institlition knowledge were divided into three or four different groups and panel discussions were conducted within each group for Address periods that normally lasted around sixty days. These were focused, intense discussions and the participants were pro- vided boarding and lodging (in addition to a nominal per- diem to compensate for loss of income) during this entire period. The objective of this stage was to assess the credibil- ity of data, look for contradictions and finally to cross-check _ = _@S e the information gathered from one group with information _ _ - from other groups. Stage 4 * 3 a a- 3 The final stage in the IK collection process was to carry out . ii0ii 0 5 SO 1 _field visits to substantiate information gathered during the preceding stages. In this process, the IK collection team met 3 wNith actual practitioners and the wider population within the * The Ministry of Health has referred to it for traditional ethnic groups in their actual real w-orld settings. The purpose post-natal care and exercises, child birth practices, treat- of these meetings was to expose each IK collection team ment for 1-5 year old children member to the indigenous experience to enable data valida- * The Ministry of Justice has referred to it for rich custom- tion and further re-checking. If some questions had not been arv law, use of Elders and the exercise of traditional meth- fully answered during the panel discussions stage, efforts ods to resolve conflicts within communities wvere made to replace or add newi members to the selected * The Ministry of Local Government has used some of this IK groups at this stage wvith a view to get adequate responses. to help delineate the regions and organize thc concerned peoples. Constraints In the twentvyears of its existence, the IK collection team ' ~~~~~Challenges ahead wvent through several crises -both social and political. The wvar of independence, conflict with Ethiopia, famine, the The first phase of the project has been completed. Several 1-1W/AIDS crisis and budgetary pressures have all had some challenges remain-both in the consolidated analysis of the bearing on the pace of collection and analysis of the IK pro- vast amounts of data that has been collected and also in the cess. The semi-structured questionnaire (which is the initial usage of the output that is expected to be derived from the information gathering tool) is a living document and has above. These challenges include the folloNving: changed constantly, the last revision being made in 1998. * The transfer of IK to the vounger generation is slowv for a Eritrean societv has sloxvlv been changing while the experi- variety of reasons such as the movement of the vounger CnICe of the IK collection team grew during the same period. generation to urban areas in search of employment, in- An astonishing aspect in this entire twenty-year endeavor has creasing the influence on them of w estern society and val- been the strong desire by the Elders (bearers of knowledge ues and globalization within the diffcrent ethnic nationalities) to preserve and re- * IK gatherers are mainly liberation activists with a lot of vitalize their culture and traditions for transmission to the experience but little formal training in the theory of analy- younger generation. Contrary to normal assumptions, it was sis and presentation of the results the Elders wtho never gave up. Their kcenness and persever- * The expected studies have not gone forward as fast as cx- ance wvas instrumental in keeping the lengthv IK Collection pected due to a variety of reasons sttch as the lack of fiscal process going. resources, outdated equipment, intervening contlict etc. The IK data collected have not been adequately coded, in- dexed and are often in a crude form Impact * Some of the data (specially from Tigrigna nationality) are IK collected over the last twenty years is mainlv in the form in the vernacular text and have yet to be translated into of volumes of a rawv data format. Hoxvever, some sections of English. Elritrean socicty have managed to access parts of this collec- tion in an isolated and sporadic manner, resulting in an indi- rect irmpact. Examples of usage and indirect benefits include: Next steps * Asmara University facultv and students have referred to this IK collection in pursuit of their theses Of the nine people wvho started this [K collection initiative * The Mlinistry of Education has referred to it for traditional nearlv two decades ago, only four are still associated wvith education and preparation of cultural messages aimed at this effort. Having spent a large part of their xvorking lives on ethniic groups 4 it, they are keen that the output from this extensive IK exer- The ultimate beneficiaries of this IK initiative will be the cise be professionally analyzed and presented for the benefit rural populations of the nine ethnic nationalities whose way of the Eritrean people. Eritrea has spent around 1.5 million of life, subsistence activities, cultural institutions will be Nakfa (approximately US$190,000 without accounting for in- more transparent to the organizations that assist them with flation and using an average of 8 Nafka to a US dollar) to date services and participate in their development. Indigenous (since independence in 1991) on this initiative and over knowledge and practices gleaned from this initiative will not 30,000 pages of data are available that needs to be exam- only provide a contextual background for developmental ac- ined. The immediate needed next steps are: tivities but also help in their preservation and revitalization. * Funding for and assistance from a multi-disciplinary group (comprising of anthropologists and other specialists) to validate and analyze the raw data collected to date * Appropriate training for the IK collection team in an ac- credited university abroad (preferably for a year or so) to enable them to speak/understand the multi-disciplinary team's language (in terms of concepts and jargon), thus facilitating meaningful and effective interaction * The involvement of Eritrean academia in this IK effort so that specialized knowledge about the IK collection is passed on from the remaining four staff to them. This en- tails the provision of appropriate exposure while building capacity and interest in IK within the country