Conference

Call for Panels, Roundtables and Papers Africa Indigenous Knowledge Research Network, Institute of African Studies, Carleton  University, Ottawa, ON Canada Maiden Annual International Conference on Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Restorative Development in Africa, May 20-23, 2025 Entebbe, Uganda Since gaining political independence in the late 1950s, African countries have experimented with different models of development from socialism and capitalism to mixed and outright market -oriented economies. As the seemingly elusive search for the most appropriate models of development continues on the continent, scholars have raised concern about the proper contextualization of development and whether Africa has even started the journey of development at all. This question arises because of the obvious mimicry of development models from other parts of the world especially the West. At the root of the crisis of development in Africa is the extraversion in its epistemology, design and practice, which to a significant extent has been framed with little consideration given to the history of how pre-colonial African societies were organized on the based on their Indigenous knowledge systems. Despite the challenges associated with silencing and othering African Indigenous knowledges, they have shown resilience, and relevance as evidenced in the continued use of herbal medicine, application of the various Indigenous knowledges in livelihood and entrepreneurial activities, agriculture, cattle rearing, food preservation, climate adaption and migration. The extractive nature of the capitalist mode of production that underpins economic growth and development in Africa requires a shift in ways that can be restorative to the society, people and the environment. Beyond the targets contained in the UN Sustainable Development Goals is the need for restorative development. Restorative development transcends personal accumulation to include consideration for the plight of marginalized people, preservation of nature and the environment, leisure and rest, inter-group harmony and reconciliation. African Indigenous knowledge systems include the insights, memories, culture, histories and practices of African people that they have applied to their livelihoods, entrepreneurship, governance institutions, growth, reconciliation and harmony, across different generations. As the search for restorative development continues, Africa Indigenous knowledge systems provide useful perspectives that cannot only contribute to addressing the challenges of unemployment, poverty, environmental degradation, climate change, and conflict resolution but provide complementary approaches to Western knowledges that continue to define development processes in Africa. The need to rethink development in a way that makes it restorative and more inclusive necessitates recentering it in academic and policy discourses on Indigenous knowledge. With focus on the potentials inherent in Africa Indigenous knowledge systems to foster theoretical and empirical rethinking in entrepreneurship, livelihood, arts and entertainment, sports, dance, spirituality and healing, herbal medicine, commerce and industry, climate change, financial inclusion, natural resources governance, agriculture, traditional governance and institutions, scholars are invited to submit panels, roundtables and individual abstracts on any of the following areas: Theoretical issues ● Theorizing Indigenous knowledge ● Africa Indigenous knowledge systems: Concepts and contexts ● Extraversion and Endogeneity in African Indigenous knowledge systems ● African Philosophy and Africa Indigenous knowledge systems ● African Indigenous knowledge and cultural epistemology ● African Indigenous knowledge and philosophy of education ● Endogenous knowledge and development Empirical Issues ● Indigenous knowledge and entrepreneurship ● Indigenous knowledge and livelihoods ● Indigenous knowledge and finance management ● Indigenous knowledge and arts, music, dance and entertainment ● Indigenous knowledge and herbal medicine ● Indigenous knowledge, plants and the environment ● Indigenous knowledge and natural resources governance ● Indigenous knowledge and climate change ● Indigenous knowledge and governance ● Indigenous knowledge and social organization ● Indigenous Knowledge Systems and agricultural ● Indigenous Knowledge Systems and rural development Methodological Issues ● Approaches to conducting research in Indigenous communities ● Building trust in community research and managing expectations ● Navigating gatekeepers in community research ● Data ownership and protection in community research ● Research and reporting back to Indigenous communities ● Indigenous knowledge and intellectual property rights ● Gender and data collection in Indigenous communities ● Customs, gifts and consent for research in Indigenous communities Comparative Issues ● Comparative Indigenous knowledge and entrepreneurship ● Comparative Indigenous knowledge and methodology ● Comparative Indigenous knowledge, innovation and technology ● Comparative Indigenous knowledge and herbal medicine ● Comparative Indigenous knowledge and governance The abstract which should be between 250-300 words should be sent to Laura Babika (LauraBabika@cunet.carleton.ca) with a copy to (info@africaindigenousresearch.com) no later than October 30, 2024. The conference will be organized as a hybrid and there are no registration fees. Authors whose papers are accepted after a rigorous peer review and who may not be able to afford the cost of participation may receive some support to travel to the conference. Members of the Africa Indigenous Knowledge Research Network, https://africaindigenousresearch.com/ especially students and early career scholars, will be given preference. Selected papers will be subjected to rigorous peer review and, if accepted, be published in edited book volumes and special editions of the AIKRN journals, after rigorous peer review. Download the Call for Panels, Roundtables and Papers Document Here

Methodology Workshop on African Indigenous Knowledge and Entrepreneurship The event is the Methodology Workshop on African Indigenous Knowledge and Entrepreneurship held at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya from May 10-11. 2024. It was organized by the Africa Indigenous Knowledge Research Network, Institute of African Studies, Carleton University. The Workshop brought together members of the Network from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and from the diaspora, Canada and United States of America. The workshop was organized to co-create a community led methodological approaches for conducting research in Indigenous communities in Africa. Apart from two sessions facilitated by two experts on African Indigenous knowledge and research methodologies, Professors Mary Setrana of University of Ghana and Chika Esiobu- Ezeanya of Soka America University, there were various group sessions where research working groups deliberated on the best practices that can adopted when conducting research in their communities. The participants agreed and advocated for the voices of the communities to be heard and their subjectivity reinforced. The participants also made inputs to the proposal for a longer longitudinal study that is being planned around the ecosystem of Indigenous knowledge and sustainable livelihoods in Africa. We thank our partners, the Mastercard Foundation for their support.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY AFRICAN STUDIES AND LANGUAGES INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE February 21 and 22, 2025 THEME: AFRICAN INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND LANGUAGES ORGANIZERS: Department of African Studies Department of World  Languages and Cultures The Center for African Studies ABOUT THE CONFERENCEThis annual two-day conference will be a hybrid conference which will be held both in person at Howard University in Washington, DC and virtually via Zoom. The conference will bring together scholars, policymakers, activists, practitioners, Africanists, and many others across the globe who care about the present and future of Africa and its Diaspora. CALL FOR PAPERS AND PANELSAfrican Indigenous knowledge is identified as a global asset, a key component of decolonization, African renaissance, inclusivity, social cohesion, transformation, and sustainable development. African Indigenous knowledge forms and languages have sustained African people since time immemorial. Despite the challenges which indigenous knowledge forms and languages have faced and continue to face such as marginalization and stigmatization caused by colonialism, neo-colonialism, and globalization, these knowledge forms and languages continue to thrive in Africa and beyond.To continue conversations on these forms of knowledge, we invite participants to present papers on the following sub-themes:1. Herbal Medicine2. Indigenous Foods3. Indigenous Conflict Resolution4. Indigenous Governance5. Indigenous Forms of Communication6. Indigenous Women and Development7. Indigenous Sustenance of the Environment8. African Indigenous Languages9. Folklores, Music, and Proverbial Wisdom10. Indigenous Scripts and their role in Preserving Indigenous Languages andLiteratures11. Documentation and Preservation of Endangered African Languages12. Agriculture and Indigenous Practices13. Archeological Findings and African Languages14. Indigenous Education15. Indigenous Economies16. African Indigenous Law17. Indigenous Youth Voices18. Indigenous forms of Diplomacy19. African Literature20. Indigenous Gender Relations21. Indigenous Epistemologies22. Cultural Spaces23. Documentation and Digitalization of Indigenous Knowledge Forms24. Indigenous Science and Technology25. Indigenous Astronomy This conference’s dates are crucial because they coincide with Mother Language Day which is celebrated on February 21. We, therefore, invite participants and presenters to reflect on the importance of mother languages not only in their daily communication, but in education, health, governance, justice, environment, international relations etc. of the African indigenous people both on the continent and the diaspora. Paper ProposalsWe invite individual paper proposals that are aligned with the sub-themes listed above. Accepted individual papers will be assembled into panels and the corresponding panelists will be informed accordingly. Panel ProposalsPanel proposals should include the sub-theme of the panel and a 250-word summary of what the panelists will be presenting, the names of three or four panelists with their institutional ailiation, the topic on which each panelist will be presenting and a 250 word abstract for each of the panelists. Deadline for submission: Please submit your abstract to the link below by June 30th, 2024.Also, indicate under which topic your presentation belongs (see above, e.g., indigenous economies) and whether you will present in person or virtually.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1neJY4bDUpSD3kM7bLFqWt9Xx-4crBq_QCmCmAZ5xfQ/edit  Acceptance Notifications will be sent out by September 15th, 2024.Publication: Papers presented at the conference will subsequently be peer reviewed and those accepted for publication will be published in the third issue of the Howard Journal of African Studies.Contact Information: Any conference-related questions should be sent to the following address esther.lisanza@howard.edu

Indigenous knowledge can address Africa’s problems of governance and development Many African countries are attempting to develop while being governed by systems that do not adequately reflect their cultures and history. This can create a disconnect that is holding Africa back, writes Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba and Zainab Monisola Olaitan. African countries are facing a crisis of governance and development. The continent is bedeviled by low human development, with high levels of poverty, inequality, and mass unemployment, especially among the youth of Africa. The 2022 human development report which looked at 2019-2021 shows that 40 African countries saw a decrease in the HDI while only 8 enjoyed slight increase. The high hopes that the third wave of democracy would foster inclusive development in Africa have not been realised, in part because imported liberal democracy has not been adapted to the particular conditions of African countries. Governance and development The link between the crisis of governance and development in Africa is evident in the continent’s democratic processes. The cost of governance is high, institutions are weak, and the monetisation of the electoral process leads to rigging and corruption. Such practices have left women and young people in particular disconnected from their countries democracies. Except for Rwanda at 61.3 per cent and South Africa at 46.5 per cent, women in Africa continue to be underrepresented in the democratic process. The number of young people taking up elective and appointed positions is also very low compared to the adult population. Additionally, traditional governance institutions play very little roles in governance, yet they are the closest sources of authority to where the majority of Africans live. Indigenous governance After centuries of subjugation, and alienation, indigenous knowledge is once again gaining global respect. Indigenous knowledge or traditional knowledge systems have developed over countless generations and includes knowledge of the local area, the values of the people who live their, and their shared history. They are based on individual and collectively learned experiences and explanations of the world, verified by elders, and conveyed and guided through experiential learning, oral traditions, and other means of record keeping. The use of indigenous knowledge in precolonial African societies helped build powerful empires that ensured wellbeing of the population. Unlike in the current democracies, where patriarchy holds sway, women occupied important positions such as queens, advisors, and warriors. As depicted in the film The Woman King, African women played an important role in establishing, protecting, and sustaining governance. Today, old men are at the helms of affairs, but traditionally the youths were also involved in various forms of governance. Using indigenous knowledge systems in governance can help to address the current challenges of governance and development. One such challenges is the disconnect of the ruling elites from the aspirations of the society. This is largely borne out of the adoption of a Eurocentric world view which promotes individual accumulation at the expense of the community. It negates the African long held values of ubuntu and communalism. Precolonial African leaders saw themselves as the servants of the society and stewards for managing resources on behalf of their respective communities. Representatives of traditional leaders from the Zulu kingdom and Khoi San say governance was defined by the subordination of the ambition of the individual leaders to satisfy the interests of the society. Traditional institutions have been subordinated to the  state, a process which had its roots in the colonial era, but the dichotomy has created institutional incoherence. African democracies suffer from a lack of accountability of the ruling elites to the people. Although politicians are elected by the people, the behaviour of the politicians, such as diversion of public funds, undermines the developmental aspirations of the communities they claim to represent. An engagement with Africa indigenous knowledge can help to address this. In the Old Oyo empire in Southwest Nigeria, accountability was ensured through a system of checks and balances, in which the king was held accountable by the Council of Chiefs (Oyomesi). The system was reinforced by customs, mores and taboos, which the king dared not violate. In rare cases, where the king proved too stubborn to listen to the counsel of the Council, he was made to ‘open the calabash’ which effectively mean abdication of the throne. Although governance was not perfect in precolonial Africa, the knowledge systems that informed the establishment, expansion and institutionalisation of various empires can contribute to addressing some of the governance challenges being faced in Africa today. There is need to revisit the traditional governance institutions in ways that can make them play more active roles in governance. Despite the tension between the postcolonial state and the traditional governance institutions, they continue to exist side by side. Given that most Africans live in rural areas, traditional governance institutions should be empowered to have access to and manage more resources on behalf of their respective communities. The high cost of governance associated with operating democracy in Africa can be drastically reduced if traditional leaders are empowered to perform more roles on issues of security, dispute resolution, management of natural resources, environmental protection, and resuscitation of the values of communalism, accountability and collective action for social progress. Indigenous knowledge can address Africa’s problems of governance and development Photo credit: GovernmentZA used with permission CC BY-ND 2.0 About the author Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, in Canada and an Honorary Professor at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, University of South Africa. He is the editor of The Palgrave Handbook of African Political Economy. Zainab Monisola Olaitan Zainab Monisola Olaitan holds a PhD in Political Science from the Department of Political Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

International Conference on Navigating Complex Pluriversalism, Indigeneity, Natural Resources Governance and Intercontinental Relations in the 21st Century, 5-7 July 2022, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa Preamble International Conference on Navigating Complex Pluriversalism, Indigeneity, Natural Resources Governance and Intercontinental Relations in the 21st Century, 5-7 July 2022, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa Indigenous communities in different parts of the world have faced different forms of discrimination both during and after colonialism. In its characteristic strategy of divide and rule, the colonial state pitched the dominant groups against Indigenous communities. Dominant groups in postcolonial state have also sidelined the Indigenous communities by taking over their ancestral lands, decentering their voices and designing policies that are generally not consistent with their values, norms, and expectations. The continued silencing of the Indigenous knowledges in various aspects of live in Africa deprives the continent of the rich tapestry of epistemological and ontological foundations of governance, economy, peace and security, climate and environment, food security and governance of natural resources that existed in precolonial. The need to recentre Indigenous knowledges in Africa has become even more compelling in the context of the limited relevance of external knowledges that have formed the basis of the organization of African society since colonial times. Beyond the extractive research paradigm that have defined the interaction between Indigenous communities and dominant groups, both locally and internationally, co-creation of knowledge with Indigenous communities is critical to recentering their voices and integrating the rich knowledges into policies and programs that can improve their livelihoods in ways that reflect the values and norms of the Indigenous groups. In this context, the voices of stakeholders such as traditional leaders, community gate keepers of knowledge, community youths, civil society groups and so on are central to the promotion of inclusion of the Indigenous knowledges in Africa, Given the paucity of research in this area of knowledge, it has become imperative to build on existing body of knowledge done by scholars in Africa   and build new research network that will carry forward the endeavour to recentre the voice of Indigenous groups. The Conference It was in furtherance of the above that an international conference was organized at the University of Pretoria, South Africa from July 5-7, 2022. The conference was organized by the Institute of African Studies, and Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Department of Political Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa Queen’s University, Kingston,  Canada, Thabo Mbeki School of Public and International Affairs, University of South Africa, South Africa, University of Zululand, South Africa, and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway The conference attracted participants from different countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Cameroun and Norway. In addition, there were several online participants. The conference was also intergenerational in scope as graduate students and postdoctoral fellows either presented their research on their own or jointly with their supervisors. A unique aspect of the conference was the participation of people outside the academia such as former Director-General of a federal government Department of Traditional Affairs, four community leaders and civil society organizations.  Two speakers were invited to speak on how Indigenous knowledge can foster better governance of natural resources and relations between Africa and Europe. At the end of the conference, participants were asked to share their expectations from the conference, identify the challenges to centering Indigenous knowledges and the ways forward to reclaiming Indigenous knowledges in Africa. The general responses to these questions are included in appendix 1 to this report. The participants underscored the relevance of Indigenous knowledge systems to reorganization of governance institutions, preservation of heritage, creation of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. They also emphasized the necessity of recentering the voices of community leaders, reengagement of traditional governance institutions in co-creation of policies that foreground Indigenous practices. Participants called for conscious efforts to interrogate the relationship between the state and traditional governance institutions. The need for epistemic revolt against the dominance of Eurocentric knowledge system under the false idea of universalism was emphasized. Instead, the participants called for the promotion of  pluriversalism, which recognizes the authenticity and equality  of other knowledges  through conscious restructuring of curricula at all levels of education. Participants also advocated for a return to African values of communitarianism, humility, collectivization, stewardship to the communities, and ubuntu. Although the participants recognized the complexities around Indigenous identities in the context of Africa, they agreed that there are marginalized groups whose knowledges and ways of lives should be studied and recentred as part of efforts geared towards the recovery of African knowledge systems. Next steps. The participants were unanimous in asking for the next steps in the project. While they variously described the conference as ‘reviving’ ‘enervating’ ‘timely’ and ‘necessary’, they expressed a desire to move from theory to practice. They advocated for the establishment of a network that would help to sustain the momentum of the discussions that took place at the conference. They also wanted practical intervention programs that would help to foster employment and entrepreneurship activities using Indigenous knowledges across the continent. Given the experiences of Canada in addressing historical injustices through recentering Indigenous knowledges and development of methodologies for conducting research among the Indigenous communities, participants expressed interest in cross-cultural learning and exchanges between African scholars working on Indigenous knowledges and their counterparts in Canada. Based on the above, the participants made the following declarations: Incorporate IKS into the curricula at all levels of education. Borrow lessons and experiences from China, Canada and other countries which have introduced IKS in the university curriculum Be practical and go beyond rhetoric by engaging with all relevant stakeholders such as gate keepers, elders, community leaders and civil society in Indigenous communities Teach IKS in indigenous languages and make teaching of IKS compulsory Establish natural heritage centres across all African countries Establish an African Network for Research on Indigenous Knowledge (ANRIK) to recentre Indigenous knowledges on various issues such as food security, governance, climate change, peace and conflict, health and so on. The network should conduct