The African continent in general, and Zimbabwe in particular, continue to endure the acrimony of “natural resource curse” in spite of an abundance of natural resources. Africa consumes what it does not produce, and produces what it does not consume.
The publication of this work by the African Young Scientists Initiative on Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge Systems is based on the understanding and acknowledgement that African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) that have been locally tested and are culturally acceptable have sustained the lives of African people over centuries against adverse effects of climate change such as drought
Indigenous Knowledge also termed Traditional, Endogenous or Classical knowledge, often fails to contribute to the improvement of the qua lity of human life. This failure can be a ttributed purely to th e lower statu s accorded to this type of knowledge in society.
The article’s focus is the relationship between culture, indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), sustainable development and education in Africa. It analyzes the concept of sustainability with particular reference to education and indigenous knowledge systems.
The only time that can be influenced is the future. This is obvious since the past has passed and the present does not exist because it is permanently leaving us. But how can we influence the future? It is by building a better future for Africa?
In Malawi, production from subsistence rain fed agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate change and variability. In response to the adverse effects of climate change and variability, a National Adaptation Programme of Action is used as framework for implementing adaptation programmes. However, this framework puts limited significance on indigenous knowledge systems (IKS).
Scientific knowledge systems have received increasing criticism within the social science literature while indigenous knowledge systems are often over-optimistically presented as viable alternative ways of knowing. This paper argues that we need to search for more effective and creative interactions between indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge systems.
