Sustainability and development of EWE communities in Ghana through indigenous knowledge management practices
| Date | 07 June 2024 |
| Pages | 111-123 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/CC-11-2023-0035 |
| Published date | 07 June 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Collection building & management |
| Author | De-Graft Johnson Dei |
Sustainability and development of EWE
communities in Ghana through indigenous
knowledge management practices
De-Graft Johnson Dei
Department of Information Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana and Department of Library, KAAF University College,
Gomao Fetteh Kakraba, Ghana
Abstract
Purpose –Losing indigenous knowledge is to lose the future and impoverish the societies because indigenous knowledge is considered one of the
cornerstones and survival of communities, societies and economies. This study, thus, aims to explore and assess the contextual enablers of
indigenous knowledge and their role in developing and sustaining the Ewe communities in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach –The qualitative research design, which enabled the researcher to engage the participants in an interview
process and observation, was used in this study. It was augmented with a quantitative desi gn using structured questions. Data analysis was guided
by the basic principles of grounded theory. The coding system was aided by NVivo to analyze the qualitative data, while the quantitative data was
analyzed using the SPSS. Descriptive analysis and graphs were deployed in the presentation of the findings.
Findings –The study discovered that the communities are in possession of several types of indigenous knowledge, ranging from tacit to explicit
knowledge, which are embedded in their cultural and traditional systems and unique to every community; the culture of trust among the citizens
and motivation to create and share knowledge in communities was high. Same time, family heads, farmer groups, libraries and museums played key
roles in the preservation and management of indigenous knowledge in the communities. On the other hand, information officers and institutions like
churches and police posts played insignificant roles in the management and preservation of knowledge in the communities just as the absence of a
culture of willingness by the community members to create and share knowledge. Additionally, there was an absence of technological inf rastructure,
platforms, databases and policies to aid the management and preservation of knowledge in the communities. The study concludes that indigenous
knowledge plays a vital role in the development and sustainability of communities in Ghana.
Practical implications –Community leaders and political leaders need to invest in systems and structures that will promote the management and
preservation of indigenous knowledge for the development of the communities and the state as a whole.
Originality/value –The study demonstrates its originality in terms of scope, setting, population and empirical evidence by focu sing on the role of
indigenous knowledge in the sustainability and development of Ewe communities in Ghana.
Keywords Indigenous knowledge, Technologies, Culture, Library, Sustainable development, Ewe communities
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Indigenous knowledge represents the systematic body of
knowledge acquired by local people through the accumulation
of experiences, informal experiments and intimate understanding
of the environment in a given culture over time (Varah and Varah,
2022). It reflects many generations of experience traditional skills,
experiences and problem-solving techniques by thousands of
indigenous people across the globe (Nelson-Barber et al., 2023).
Indigenous knowledge is useful to scientists, governments,
decision-makers and planners alike in designing development
programs (Wheeler et al.,2020).
Indigenous knowledge is, therefore, an essential element for
the advancement of societies and plays a crucial role in the
sustainable development of cultures. As a result, there is a
global need for all indigenous knowledge to be gathered,
organized anddisseminated in the same systematic way as other
bodies of knowledge in the world, such as western knowledge.
To achieve this requirement, it is important to understand the
contextual factors that influence the effective management of
indigenous knowledge in specific contexts. Understanding the
factors in the context of Ghana will help to deal with issues that
threaten the survival of indigenous knowledge, improve the
effective management and preservation of Ghanaian
indigenous knowledge and lead to the building of a national
memory for Ghana.
In promoting sustainable development of communities, the
UNESCO Institute for Information Technology in Education
(IITE) report by Resta (2011) identifies a few challenges
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9326.htm
Collection and Curation
43/4 (2024) 111–123
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2514-9326]
[DOI 10.1108/CC-11-2023-0035]
The research was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation under
the Building Capacity for Early Career Humanities Scholars in Africa
(BECHS-Africa) Project as a fellow in residence at the American
University in Cairo.
Received 13 November 2023
Revised 18 March 2024
Accepted 10 April 2024
111
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