Rethinking the Design and Implementation of Sustainable Development Under the Prism of Indigenous Knowledge in Africa

Abstract

The unpredictable implications of climate change militating against the welfare of humanity prompted the concept of sustainable development to be vaulted as the basis for a remediation mechanism. For this to be feasible, the Bruntland Report was set in motion as the engine of Western thinking as to what constitute sustainable development which however, does not take into consideration indigenous, cultural and traditional norms in different parts of the world. This therefore, set a divide with regards to perception and conceptualisation of development which act as a setback for the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is on this premise that this paper has as objective to examine the place given to tools for dialogue and decision-making to integrate the customs, cultural and traditional aspirations, values and motivations of African stakeholders into public policies to enhance development. Equally, to identify Black African indigenous tools used to understand the environment and the way it functions in enhancing efficiency in mitigating the effects of climate change. In order to achieve these objectives, the paper made use of desk reviews, online publications and learned experiences. Findings indicate that the notion of development has a different perception and conceptualisation in Africa. The Black African indigenous knowledge, customs, traditions and belief systems presents development as a descriptive concept of community dynamics and solidarity that takes place within a geographical framework for social well-being. This therefore gave rise to the elaboration of Agenda 21 for culture which leveraged culture as a component for human development. This negates the western notion of development as a question of conceiving well-being and needs solely on economic and production variables, but equally in terms of the cultural affiliation of the populations concerned. Considering the current global village under construction in which cultures are called to interact for a common destiny, there is need for local communities to have Access to decision-making platforms at all levels of the society. This will enrich the heritage of local knowledge and cultural experiences to enhance development.