Women and indigenous knowledge in Africa

Abstract

Although women have historically been engaged in indigenous knowledge practices across Africa, the rural-urban migration has caused a systemic shift, tilting the wider utilization of indigenous knowledge in favor of more women. In certain instances, indigenous knowledge fields previously the exclusive preserve of the male folk are now being renegotiated to accommodate women. However, the increasing engagement of women with indigenous knowledge has not been recognized by many governments in making policies that aim to economically empower women in rural areas. As a result, the alienation of indigenous knowledge in rural women development discourses across Africa has seriously checked further development of the capabilities within that sector. This is because when groups are neither in control of the knowledge and processes of technological advancement related to their own progress, marginalization is effected or made worse, and the groups lose even the motivation and capacity to build relevant and appropriate technology.