Transcript Slide 1

Indigenous/Traditional
Knowledge in Sri Lanka
Hemanthi Ranasinghe
Indigenous Knowledge is….
• Local knowledge unique to every culture &
society
• Embedded
in
community
practices,
institutions, relationships and rituals
• The basis for local decision making in
– Agriculture,
health,
natural
management and other activities
resource
• The greatest asset of the poor, helping them
to shape and control their own development
• Crucial to an inclusive knowledge economy
IK in development helps to
increase
• Efficiency
– IK is cost effective
– IK uses appropriate technology
• Effectiveness
– IK improves chances of adoption
– IK is integral to local communities
• Sustainability
– IK facilitates mutual adaptation and learning
– IK empowers local communities
Examples of the use of IK in Sri
Lanka
Agriculture & Food Processing
• IK in agriculture includes
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Information
Practices and technologies
Beliefs
Tools
Materials
Experimentation
Biological resources
Human resources
Education
Organic Agriculture
• Organic farming is a system of managing
agricultural holdings that uses a variety of
more environmentally friendly crop farming
practices and involves major restrictions
on the use of fertilisers and pesticides.
Cost effective paddy cultivation
• ‘Nawa kekulama’ practiced by
farmers in North Central Province.
– Zero tillage in ground preparation
– Bunds not weeded.
– Paddy seeds dry sown and then covered
with 3 inch mat of dry paddy straws to
keep the weed growth low.
– With the first irrigation, the paddy seeds
germinate above the paddy straw
Pest control in paddy
• Use of pest
plant material.
repellent
• Practiced
mostly
in
Anuradhapura and Uva
Provinces
• Crude paste prepared by
crushing
Neem
and
Mahapatta
leaves,
wrapping it in a piece of
cloth and placing the
pack near the canal water
entry point.
Pest control in vegetable cultivation
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In Lunuwatte, Rahupola in Uva-Paranagama
and Moneragala areas in Badulla District,
rotational cropping is practiced.
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Paddy cultivation is followed by vegetable
crop such as beans which is susceptible to
inset pest infestation.
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Application of organic treatments to repel
insect pests.
– Dust the plants with kitchen ash at dawn when
plants are wet with dew.
– Spray the plants with a suspension of cattle
dung in water.
– Use of crushed leaves and bark of plants
Neem and Sunflower. The mixture of crushed
plant material is shaken with water in a large
bottle and kept aside in the field for several
days for maturation. The matured water
suspension is then sprayed over the bean
plants.
Weed control in paddy
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Spreading a thick mat of dry straw placed in
the paddy field after dry sowing to reduces
weeds
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About 3 weeks after sowing the standing water
level is maintained at about half the height of
the paddy plant.
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A log or banana trunk about 5’ length is fixed
with wooden spikes 2” in circumference and set
4” apart. A short pole is fixed at each end of
trunk to function as an axle.
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The trunk is rolled over the paddy plant
smoothly in one direction. Common weeds like
Kudumatta and Tunessa are removed and soil
is loosened. This destroys many paddy pests
on leaves.
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Control of weeds through a consistent
and phased control of water.
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After 10-14 days of sowing the paddy
field is kept covered with water for a
continuous period of 3 days.
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On the 4th day the water is drained out
and the field is allowed to dry out for 2
days.
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After that, water is again allowed into the
field and left standing for 3 days.
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When this process is carried out several
times, growth of weeds is substantially
controlled.
Integrated crop-livestock farming
• Use
of
buffalo
multipurpose animal
as
a
– For ploughing and threshing
– Weed control by grazing:
– Tether a pair of buffalo for 10
nights for fertilise trees;
• Dung & urine (enriched with
nitrogen & phosphate) mixed with
kitchen ash when coconut husks
are
used
(enriched
with
potassium).
• Proportion of this being pair of
buffalo heads tethered for 10
nights to a tree is adequate for 2
years.
Biodynamic Agriculture
• Integrates precise observation of natural
phenomena, clear thinking and knowledge
of the spirit. This is applied to agricultural
production as a nature farming method.
Ritualistic traditions in participatory
natural resource mgt.
Muttimangallaya
• Practiced in the dry
especially
Anuradhapura
Kurunegala Districts.
zone
and
• Is a participatory management
system founded on collective
conscience, enshrining community
based
commitments,
rights,
obligations and decision making
• Cost effective regulatory process
for ecosystem protection, irrigation,
water management and organised
crop production.
• Carried out in 2 stages
– Vow making: get the blessings of
the Gods for commencing the
planting season, save the natural
resources eg. tank, people,
livestock etc.
– Fulfilling the vow after harvesting
• Significance
– Collective decision making
– Desire for the protection of both
biological and physical resources
– Ensuring harmony among the
villagers
Food processing and storage
• Technologies include drying, dehydration,
fermentation, smoking, salt treatment and
submerging in cold water
• Sun drying – grains such as paddy or rice
thinly spread over large mats with a
sprinkling of crushed or whole leaves of
rampe or Karapincha or citrus to repel
insects and prevent fungus formation.
• Grains stored in bissa which is a large
basket shaped storage bins made of cane.
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Wrapping or packaging material specific to
particular food product intended to reduce
spoilage. Properties of material such as
absorption of moisture, permeability to
oxygen and light also being considered.
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Shelf life increased by burying under soil
(lime, cassava etc) or dry sand plus dried
saw dust.
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Fish – smoking/sundrying – smoking fish
with specific types of firewood eg.
cinnamon gives a special flavor to the
product.
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Ripening of matured fruits delayed when
the whole fruit is submerged in cold water
ie jak
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Processing of components of the fruit eg.
jak
– Bulbs, seeds and pericarp. Processing can
be done after boiling and including different
stages such as slicing, blanching, draining,
sun drying and storing in smoke racks. Jak
seeds also processed and stored in sand.
Home Gardens
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Multi tiered cropping with a variety of trees, food
crops, herbs and some animal life in small land
holdings in the Central Province and few other
localities in North Western and North Central areas.
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It is a natural, self-contained heterogeneous mix of
plant forms providing the landowner with food,
vegetables, fruits, timber, fuel, herbs and medicines
whilst contribution to conservation of biodiversity.
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Land holdings small (average about one hectare in
extent). Accommodate as much as 400 different
species – high biodiversity.
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About 1.33 million homegardens in the country
spreading on 367,800 ha of land.
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Provides about 70% of the timber requirement of the
country and important sites for conservation of
germplasm.
Inland Fishery
• Used in early Anuradhapura period and
some continued thereby to present times
too.
• The techniques used are hook, net and
long basket (kumina)
• The long basket (fish trap) is placed in
flowing water in small streams. Fish
entered into these is trapped and then
collected by hand.
• During times of drought, people had
introduced various toxic inedible fruits
into water holes to make them insensible
which facilitated the catch.
Holistic approach to health care
Universe
World
Body
Mind
Soul
Medicine and Animal Health
• Most
comprehensive
indigenous knowledge.
storehouse
of
• Encompass
medicinal,
psychological,
cultural, religious and
philosophical
phenomena with a holistic approach towards
a long and healthy life
• .
• ‘Deshiya chikithsa’
– Immersion therapy in medicinal troughs made
of metal, wood or stone – for fever,
rheumatism etc.
– Snake bits and fractures – therapy is based
on the identification of nature and virulence of
toxic substance/time of incident
Traditional midwife in childbirth
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The labour room is swept, sprinkled with tumeric to disinfect.
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Application of oil prepared from margosa, gingelly and castor oil from
loins towards the eppigastria – to give more flexibility and elasticity to
muscles for easier contraction.
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Application of snuff to induce sneezing – to help push
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Postures and positions adopted according to the frame of the
pregnant mother’s body.
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Placenta is severed with a sharp knife that has been previously
treated with tumeric water and held over the incense several times.
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Wound dressed with a medication made from ash of fund of a calf
mixed with pepper and a herb (vasambu).
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Castor oil is given to drink after the ejection of the placenta which is
then burnt outside the entrace of the house. A stone is placed on top
of the placenta and a rope to which mango and margosa leaves are
tied is wrapped around it. - to prevent evil sprits in entering the
house. – people who see this do not enter the house – so that
mother and the infant are free from communicable diseases and
infections. This is retained for 30 days during which period midwife
assisted by older women would attend to the baby and the lactating
mother.
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After a month of after care (diet management, primary health care,
purification and ritualistic or spiritual events) to mark the entry of the
Disease diagnosis in cattle
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Identification of cattle groups (Gothra)
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Disease identification by visual observations
and investigations such as behavior, pulse,
pulse rate, respiration, dryness of the muzzle,
rumination, defecation, urination, movement
and posture of ears, changes and reddening of
the eye, movements of the eye ball, tearing,
nasal discharge, gestation, lactates etc.
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Diseases diagnosed in relation to the site of
origin ie head (nervous conditions), ear,
intestines, blood vascular and respiratory.
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Skin opening where the skin is opened at the
tip of the tail to examine the color of blood
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Treatment involves incorporation of biophysical
and spiritual aspects of medication.
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Prevention from diseases by performing rituals
(Kem, yantra, Mantra)
Biophysical treatments
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Ingredients used
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Rhizomes, roots, bark of trees
Flowers and seeds
Cannabis or ganja
Hill mud
Whey, ghee, eggs, eggshells, bone meal, bat and human
excreta, urine
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Ingredients combined with ginger essence, betel juice,
thippili juice, lemon juice, salt water, coconut milk, king
coconut water, young coconut water or cold or hot water.
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These are combined into a fine consistency by crushing
and rolling a medicinal stone or powdered using a pestle
and mortar and administered in specified quantities.
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Administration of medicine done
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through nasal for inhalation of medicinal fumes or
infiltration of ear cavities by blowing through a small bamboo
tube,
oral where treatment is done as a drench,
tongue for powders and pastes,
topical for oils and pastes, branding and
skin burns on particular nerve points called ‘nila’,
bleeding by stabbing with a pointed bamboo or blade
(sterilized), rectal where medicines are administered to the
colon via rectum, hand manipulation where medications
combined with ‘kem’ to treat difficult births.
Weather forecasting
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Observations of the sky and the movements of the
clouds
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Movement of clouds in one direction is a sign of rainy
weather while the opposite direction is meant dry
weather.
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A red sky at sunrise and sunset considered a
warning for rainless days ahead.
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Cold nights with mist and dew considered signs of
impending dry weather while hot and warm feelings
during the day signaled rainy evenings.
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By animal behavior
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A sharp and peculiar sound made by frogs and toads a
sign for the arrival of rainy weather conditions
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Bees to remain indoors if rain is expected.
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Buffaloes and cats to appear restless and making
unusual noises indicating an impending harsh weather
situation such as cyclone.
Onset of the full moon day to break the weather
pattern
Irrigation systems
 Most important components
in the village were the tank,
paddy field, home garden and
chena
 Irrigation depend on micro
catchments required careful
watershed mgt.
Ancient kings too contributed
to the water resource
development
 This hydraulic civilisation in
the dry zone disappeared in 12th
century with foreign invasions
Legislative and institutional
arrangements
Local legislative environment
• The paper on Access to information prepared by the Law
Commission
• The Ayurveda Act
• The draft law on access to genetic resources of the
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
• The draft legal framework on access to traditional
knowledge relating to the use of medicinal plants –
Ministry of Indigenous Medicine
• The Code of Intellectual Property Law
Institutions related to IK
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National Steering Committee on IK in NASTEC
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Biodiversity Division of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
– Drafting legislation on access to genetic resources
– Workshops on IK
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Sri Lanka Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (SLARCIK)
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Research on IK
Collection and Documentation of IK
Dissemination of IK
Incorporation of IK aspects into school/university curricula
Ministry of Indigenous Medicine and the Project on Conservation and
Sustainable Utilisation of Medicinal Plants
– Gathering of IK information on medicinal plants
– Drafting legislation
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Department of Intellectual Property Rights
– Work on IPR aspects
Some drawbacks of using IK
• Mostly confined to rural communities
• Scattered and not well documented
– does not reach the development
personnel
• Modern society does not place
much faith in it
• Modern education and technology
claims it to be unscientific
Challenges to harness the potential
of IK
• Raising awareness: identity – record – disseminate –
exchange IK
• Validation and Valuation: study – test-compare –
challenge – fund – protect
• Mainstreaming: pilot – adapt – integrate into
comprehensive development framework
• Technology transfer: adoption of IK in other locations
requires validation eg. testing herbal medicines for
efficacy and safety
• Building Local Capacity: train – facilitate IK exchange
Areas which needs improvement
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Policy and legal frameworks for incorporating traditional knowledge
practices in place
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Collection and compilation of traditional/indigenous knowledge scattered in
the country.
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Information, communication and educational strategy to be operational
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Research in traditional knowledge programmes that can be implemented
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Capacity building of stakeholders using existing traditional knowledge
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Institutional mechanism for incorporating/mainstreaming traditional
knowledge