Taking advantage of indigenous knowledge: The Fiji case

Abstract

The post UNCED era is associated with debates on how the pursuit of developed and industrialised economies by developing countries has not worked as expected. Developing nations continue to face problems of stagnant economies, which feature sprawling urban centres surrounded by marginalised rural hinterlands. At the same time, the environment is badly altered and polluted demonstrating the impacts of sustained human activities. In the meantime, human technology is perhaps at its most sophisticated level ever. Consequently, there are serious questions on the direction human development should take and the options that are available. Most developing countries are considering alternative development approaches that take stock of the change people have introduced and the measures to correct the mistakes caused. In developing countries such as Fiji, indigenous knowledge was ignored, abandoned, and modernised during the colonial and early independence era. It is only in recent years that the value and relevance of indigenous knowledge has been acknowledged. Such knowledge and wisdom have been tried and tested by people who lived in these surroundings for hundreds of years. Therefore it is required that people today take advantage of this knowledge that allowed indigenous people to exist in these conditions throughout history.