The role of Indigenous knowledge: practices and values in promoting socio-economic well-being and equity among Endorois community of Kenya

Introduction

Indigenous knowledge (IK) remains a valued asset in many societies of the world and Africa in particular. Its role in collating and establishing the individual and community’s identity within history cannot be disputed. For centuries, this accumulated knowledge gave the community a sense of relevance and self-esteem, sustained Indigenous innovation, endogenous technological growth and employment (Emeagwali & Dei, 2014). Furthermore, IK strongly rooted the foundation of the community’s livelihoods by connecting the people to their land and natural resources (Emeagwali & Shizha, 2016).

Considering that culture is an integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, behaviour, values, attitudes and practices that characterize a group of people (Mawere, 2014), it certainly underpins all Indigenous economic values of communities as well. Ultimately, African Indigenous economic values and practices become an avenue through which communities procure socio-economic well-being and equitability.

Nonetheless, capitalism, described as an economic model that supports private capital accumulation of property with the goal of making the greatest possible profit, essentially propagated conditions that saw the burgeoning of economic inequalities (Fotaki & Prasad, 2015). In Africa, it set in motion a massive acquisition of wealth by a few, leading to robbing Africans of their lands and resources while exploiting and dominating them (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2018). The neoliberal capitalist development model undeniably negated the value of the Indigenous economic knowledge and practices claiming that it impeded development, individual potentials and militated against personal initiative and future potentials (Nurnberger, 1999). It changed the economies of African countries from communalism to capitalism, engendering economic ills like greed, individualism, poverty and ecological destruction (Farah et al., 2011). Resultantly, Africa’s traditional culture, values and practices have weakened and continue to debilitate through programmed Western spells, and cultures that have infiltrated through almost every aspect of human life (Asu et al., 2014). The most visible and crucial outcome of this model is the loss of well-being and equality because the model expropriates from the majority and awards the minority.

This article attempts to illustrate how Endorois Indigenous economic practices and values engendered the socio-economic well-being of its members. It also endeavours to spotlight the impact on the community and resources when the Indigenous economic practices are replaced by the neoliberal economic model. Using the Endorois community, the article further proposes the infusion of Indigenous economic values into the neoliberal model of the economy to mitigate its negative elements. The article is divided into four parts: Part 1 defines IK and a description of the Endorois community; Part 2 reviews the literature and expounds the notions on which the study is built; Part 3 provides the study methodology; and the final part discusses the findings and the conclusion.

Definition of IK

This article takes the definition of IK from Warren (1991) who defines it as the know-how that is unique to a given society. IK or African knowledge, in the context of this article, is also defined as an “experiential knowledge based on a worldview and a culture that is basically relational, whose worldview of wholeness, community and harmony are deeply embedded in cultural values” (Owusu-Ansah & Mji, 2013, p. 1). This knowledge also encompasses beliefs, rules and taboos that are part of the customary laws of a specific group (Magni, 2017). As such, IK on economic exchanges is a rich source of community know-how. It also has the capacity to provide knowledge on community resources and survival, both of which lead to sustainability for developing communities.

The Endorois community of Kenya

The Endorois are semi-nomadic pastoralists concentrated in the Southern part of Baringo County. The community lives around Lake Bogoria, Mochongoi, Ol-Arabal and Marmanet Forest in Baringo South Constituency; Mogotio sub-county in Baringo County; Nakuru and Laikipia Counties within the Rift Valley of Kenya (Endorois Welfare Council [EWC], 2019). Most of these areas are classified as semi-arid. The Endorois still practice their traditional religion and consider Lake Bogoria as a sacred place and central to their religious and traditional practices (EWC, 2019; International Work Groups for Indigenous Affairs, 2012). Endorois is a small community of approximately 45,621 people (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2020).

The Endorois have been known to be one of the sub-groups that constitute the Tugen ethnic community. In fact, the local community and national authorities “tended to regard the Endorois as Tugen” (Lynch, 2011, p. 25). However, the Endorois do not regard themselves as a subgroup of the Tugen, but as a distinct ethnic group that make up the larger Kalenjin nation (EWC, 2019).

The current Endorois political administration is a blended model. While it is represented by democratically elected political leaders, its traditional system of governance is utilized in the daily decisions of the community. The Endorois Council of Elders (ECE) is the top leadership organ of the community whose membership is drawn from the community strata. The ECE formed the EWC as a community-based organization to help the Endorois seek redress to their cultural, social, political and economic situation (EWC, 2019).

The EWC initiated a legal struggle against the Government of Kenya (GoK) to claim their historical land, title deeds and clear demarcations, as well as compensation for the losses of its community and members (Bergström, 2010). This is after the GoK, without notice, created Lake Hannington Game Reserve—renamed Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, gazetted and declared it a game park in 1973 (Bergström, 2010). This action denied the property and land rights of Endorois. Families were forcefully ejected from their ancestral land, with very limited discussions with the government (EWC, 2019), and relegated to the new areas unsustainable for pastoralism. Strict prohibitions from accessing the Lake area’s medicinal salt licks or traditional water sources also led to the loss of livestock.

With the support of the Centre for Minority Rights Development, the Endorois won a “landmark ruling for Indigenous peoples all over the African continent” (Bergström, 2010, p. 7). This was after the African Union approved a decision by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights that found the GoK guilty of violating the rights of the Endorois. Following the consultative process with various parties regarding reclamation of land rights, the Biocultural Protocol was developed to articulate the community’s values and responsibilities regarding protection of their ecological, cultural and spiritual resources (EWC, 2019).

Compared with other sub-ethnic groups of the Kalenjin nation, Endorois have scarce resources. However, through intimate understanding of their environment and invaluable expertise in Indigenous production systems, Endorois have continuously found ingenious ways of managing resources. They have also succeeded in creating some levels of equality in their socio-economic dimension. The displacement of the Endorois and the lack of compensation for their livelihoods, toppled a crucial balance between resources and the use. This meant condemning the majority of the Endorois into religio-cultural quagmire and severe poverty, from which they have never recovered. Consequently, many are consistently dependent on relief food, with no ability to afford basic social services (Bergström, 2010).

Literature review

The key characteristic and core function of IK is the promotion of the sense of well-being of the community. This concept of well-being, whose similarities are shared by different Indigenous groups across the world, is enshrined on a set of values and norms of each community (Emeagwali & Dei, 2014). For the Cree First Nations people of rural Canada, the concept of well-being is expressed by the term Wakohtowin. This term denotes the “equality of all people and their capability to care for, nurture, protect, and heal the people and the land (Settee, 2011, pp. 12–13). The Indigenous groups of Latin America use the principle of “buen vivir” (Global Education Monitoring Report, 2016, p. 27). Inherent in this principle is community and communitarianism, where the community, rather than the individual, is the main reference. Buen vivir values the relationship between humans, nature and the universe.

Africa’s idea of humanness and well-being, encased in the concept of Ubuntu, believes that the purpose of the group existence is communal harmony and the well-being of all and demands that the success of an individual should not be “aggressively achieved at the expense of others” (Tutu, 2004, as cited in Khomba, 2011, p. 121). The Kalenjin, which is a congemination of numerus sub-groups, have concepts and practices that are similar to ubuntu. They have the concept of maat, wherein, social relationship and order are enveloped (Sambu, 2007). The maat ethical code directs the community through the families to act in ways that procure the common good and the well-being of everyone, including those who do not belong to their maat. The maat imperative, while it obliges the rich to help their poor kin, also sees to the realization of relative evenness in the distribution of wealth (Sambu, 2000). In this line of thought, Sambu (2000, p. 524) argues that “poverty is a symptom of maat gone wrong; poverty is the result of the betrayal of the maat ethical code.”

In economic exchanges, IK and values are at the centre, guaranteeing that the upholding of harmony, equilibrium and the common well-being are reinforced and given primary importance. African communities, for instance, believed that becoming “disproportionately rich through business enterprises or succeeding in reaping much better harvests than others disturbed the cosmic balance, because too much life force was being used up by one person, at the expense of the rest” (Pauw, 1996, p. 374). Thus, ethical principles are spelled out to put individualistic attitude in check.

While Kaya and Seleti (2013) agree that IK including aspects of economic values offers wide-ranging benefits in society, Briggs (2005) has found that it is a challenging process because it is viewed negatively. Wolf and Resnick (2012), for example, equate IK to a rigid tradition that denies the Indigenous people a sense of social and economic development. This and similar views lead to IK being placed at the bottom of an economic hierarchy. It further leads to IK being ranked similar to that of early agricultural or Stone Age societies (Briggs, 2013). These assumptions often perceive scientific knowledge as having a superior epistemological value compared with IK. But, scientific knowledge, argues Turnbull (2009), is in itself local. It is based on observations of people with specific tools and practices, therefore not universal or of a higher value than IK. In addition, Mawere (2014) faults Wolf and Resnick’s arguments by asserting that viewing IK as rigid is lacking appreciation for IK as a dynamic and adaptive to gradual changes in socio-economic and natural environments.

Recently, as an outcome of the rise in participatory forms of development, the significance of the views of the local community has been stressed. This has led to increased suggestions in the past decades to utilize and account for IK (Desta, 2009). Although scholars like Millar et al. (2008) argue that the utilization of IK and adoption of exogenous practices require ideas of participatory development, the impact of IK on interventions has not been realized due to frequent misconceptualization of Indigenous technical knowledge (Sillitoe & Marzano, 2009). The arguments stem from the point of view that Indigenous economic practices cannot be executed independently of engagements of the owners of the knowledge. In that context, the people, their activities and ideas are organized based on specific core values. Sillitoe and Marzano (2009) argue that these contexts are often different and sometimes at odds with those of transnational organizations, research institutions and the state. Therefore, while IK promises high potential of knowledge, it has not been able to function effectively because there has been limited interaction between the larger society and the Indigenous communities. Consequently, some of the IK and practices are at risk of becoming extinct and irrelevant because they do not reflect the support of the framework for an alternative way of doing things. The usefulness of Indigenous economic systems and their expressions, for example, are ignored in favour of capitalist economies that glorify competitiveness, maximum returns, self-enrichment and zero-sum game approach.

Theoretical framework

The framework adopted in this study is drawn from the Ghandi’s balanced-growth theory of development, the capability approach and the maat code of conduct. Balanced growth theory, premised on the philosophy of Sarvodaya, stands for the common good. It insists that human activities ought to protect welfare and dignity of the person and of the natural world (Parathara, 2017). It prefers an economy that redistributes wealth based on equity and justice and which aligns finite resources with limited human wants (Joseph, 2013).

Amartya Sen (1999) sees the role of development as that of expanding human capabilities to lead a more worthwhile and freer life. The model fronts for a development that puts the human being at the centre, as the driver of the process of development but not as an object of capital accumulation. It champions for enhancement of individual capabilities, specialization and unique contributions, ultimately advancing the development of integrated, strong and effective communities.

In both models, therein a close resemblance to the maat, all put primary importance to human well-being rather than money. Maat entreats communities to protect the weak, care for the poor, act, speak and listen to each other in a way that upholds the principle of collective solidarity and not individual self-sufficiency (Baumann, 2015). The role of maat is to provide guiding principles that anchor the social and economic actions.

Study methodology

The study adopted the social constructivism philosophy, as a means of understanding situations, meanings, events, interactions, experiences and practices through the lenses of the people (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). In this case, it is to understand how the Endorois community experiences the interplay between the neoliberal capital lead model of development and the Indigenous economic model in their socio-economic situation.

Ethnography strategy was adopted to allow the author to immerse in the lives and culture of the group under study. The research employed qualitative research methods, whereby data were collected through the unstructured interview schedules and a checklist. These tools allowed a wider scope for elaboration and general discussion rather than the participants just answering a set of fixed questions demanding fixed responses. The methodology helped answer inquiries on how Endorois Indigenous economic knowledge systems, practices and values contribute to maintaining social well-being and economic equity of the community? What are the manifestations of displacing the Endorois Indigenous economic practices on the community’s well-being and economic equity? What possible interventions stakeholders undertake to promote the Endorois Indigenous economic knowledge, practices and values?

Purposive sampling was used to recruit key informants from the target population for the interviews, through the community gatekeepers, to ensure that bias of participant selection was controlled. The key informants were members of the community considered knowledgeable in the culture and history of the Endorois. These included community leaders, community members and members of the Endorois Welfare Council. Area chiefs, chairpersons of the Women Council Group and area representatives of ECE were the Gatekeepers. These are people bestowed with leadership roles by the community. The number of participants was pegged on the “satiation” principle (Ishak & Bakar, 2014, p. 30).

Data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and participant observation (PO). In-depth interview was preferred to procure a holistic understanding of the interviewees’ points of view. Twelve key informants took part and comprised elderly men, women and youth of age category between 21 and 87 years. These were selected because they provide experiences from the period when the community was strongly guided under the economic Indigenous model—elderly men and women age-sets—to the transitioning era of the neoliberal economic model—the young community member age-sets. The FGDs added to the information from the in-depth interviews and authenticated it. Three FGDs were conducted where 16 members from ECE and 10 members of Endorois Women Group representing eight and five villages, respectively, participated. PO provided a doorway to observing actions that participants found difficulty expressing verbally because they were sacred or specific to Endorois only. Some of the ceremonies and activities the author took part in were kereetab-beek and kipagenge. Kereetab-beek is an Indigenous religious prayer performed by women in times of crisis. At the time of data collection, there was intense drought in the region that called for kereetab-beek. Kipagenge is a non-monetary group activity by women to support members of the community to meet the basic needs. At that time, women also visited newborn babies and their mothers. Other activities were informal interactive discussions with community members.

Triangulation of data was done by corroborating data from multiple sources, both primary and secondary. Using different research instruments to facilitate exhaustive collection of data also enabled to capture multiple perspectives from participants.

Responses were obtained in the local language of the respondents and translated into English. Some words and concepts in Endorois did not have an equivalent in English. This was solved by retaining the terms in the language of the interviewee. Where a translation was possible, an explanation closest in meaning to English was provided. Generally, transcription was done verbatim to avoid bias of only including those sections of interest to the author (Lacey & Luff, 2007, p. 20). Respondents were given pseudonyms to conceal their identity. Analysis of data was done through coding, where emerging themes and sub-themes generated were grouped and the key ideas were identified in line with the objectives of the study.

All interviewees are from Endorois. The author’s positionality is both Endorois and Tugen because the maternal lineage is Endorois and the paternal line is Tugen, but clan membership follows patrilineal lines, so the author is a Tugen. Tugen is another Indigenous community that is linguistically and culturally related to the Endorois. Both the Tugen and the Endorois are sub-groups of the larger Kalenjin nation and are predominantly found in Baringo county.

Findings

Discussion

The marked decline in the upholding of Indigenous economic practices could be linked to a few reasons. First, the young people are not inducted into Indigenous economic production practices at an early age. Thus, they lack the know-how and skills which lead to a disconnection and a regard of Indigenous economic practices as backward, laborious and unexciting. Second, insecurity due to rampant cattle rustling in the region (Sena, 2020), coupled with reduced land holding capacity, is forcing the community to invest in alternative economic activities that are market friendly, but unviable, for example, growing white corn or charcoal burning. It can be said that the conveniences provided by the neoliberal economic model, the changing mindset and the values among the youth and community is altering the economic dynamics in the community.

On wealth creation and distribution, the Endorois has two types of wealth: economic and social. These are in-built within its structures and protected by values and social bonds. These provisions protect the universal right for all to procure wealth by providing equal avenues for all. This arrangement is, however, threatened by emerging global and local winds of change that spin young people out of community systems. Acculturation occasioned by modernization and Christianity, for instance, is leading to the loss of adherence to community practices, beliefs and breakdown in social inclusion systems (Chebus, 2018). Some ceremonies and rites, like initiation for girls, hunting and free range herding, are no longer tenable due to government policies, land demarcations or increased human rights voices. In addition, technology has enhanced global interaction and exposed communities to foreign cultures and new innovations that are both beneficial and harmful. Community values, however, remain a superior bargain to engender a human-ecological-centred development.

Formal education offers wider opportunities for a better life. Nonetheless, the reversed economy, seen as inter-generational economic gap, where older generations thrive better economically compared to the younger generation in the same community, risk creating apathy among the young people towards formal education. To bridge this gap, an integrated learning approach is required where, on one hand, young people are inducted into local production practices by the families. On the other hand, educational institutions should teach the younger members to appreciate their cultural production systems and find value in the practices of their forefathers. That way, formal education adds value to their already existing local knowledge rather than alienating them from it.

The neoliberal capital model, particularly in economic exchanges, that is permeating the Endorois community is pulling apart the filial and social ties. The young people are in pursuit of personal growth at the expense of community well-being. Salvaging an economy of care demands the adoption of values that focus on communalism, solidarity and interdependence. It therefore can be deduced that the deleterious effects of a neoliberal model of economy can be countered by infusing Indigenous economic values.

Conclusion

Encroachment of the neoliberal economic model of economy into the community brings values that despite their appeal, have altered the existing economic arrangements, resulting in undesirable outcomes. This model is seen as a direct cause of social, economic and ecological crisis experienced in Africa and particularly by the Endorois. There is need to appreciate that adding aspects of the Indigenous values, does not impede economic development. On the contrary, the IK adds an integral dimension that is missing from the neoliberal capital lead. Thus, embracing the African Indigenous economic practices and values can contribute to designing an economic model that promotes an integral balance between economic growth, well-being and nature.

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