Pedagogical Value Of Indigenous Knowledge For Food Security: Learning From Women Farmers In Homa Bay County, Kenya

Abstract

The study explores the pedagogical value of African women’s indigenous knowledge for food security with specific reference to Kanyada and Kabuoch in Homa Bay County, Kenya. The objectives of this study were to: identify womens’ indigenous knowledge, skills and experiences in relation to food security in rural households in Homa Bay County; examine the use of discourse analysis in the study of women’s indigenous knowledge for food security; consider integrating discourse analysis in understanding and mainstreaming women’s knowledge in agricultural extension programmes. The methodology adopted in the study is that of Africa narrative pedagogy which takes into account the genres of oral testimonies and life-stories of women farmers; key informant interviews; field visits and observations; and reading archival and library materials. The major findings in this ethnographic study of African women are as follows: that women play a critical role in the entire management of local agroecological resources which ensure food security and safety in rural households; women are the custodians of indigenous knowledge systems including land preparation, cultivation, planting, weeding, harvesting and storage of food crops and food plants as part of managing their agroecological resources in rural households and communities; women farmers are also the narrators of food-stories handed down from one generation to the next as a way of preserving and codifyng indigenous knowledge systems for food security and safety in rural households and local communities. There is also need for the mainstreaming of core indigenous knowledge of African women farmers in agricultural extension programmes. The reclamation and documentation of indigenous knowledge should include traditional food plants, both wild and cultivated; the reclaiming of the knowledge is vital for sustainable agricultural practices and rural development. Finally, the study recommends that sensitization and public policy frameworks in agricultural extension need to take into account African feminist epistemological insights by incorporating rural women farmers’ indigenous knowledge for food security in formal and non-formal agricultural extension programmes. Further ethnographic research is recommended along the same lines in other communities in Kenya and East Africa. Contextualizing and mainstreaming African women’s epistemological discourses, life-stories and testimonies at national and international forums should be encouraged. It is recommended that the vanishing indigenous knowledge systems for food security be reclaimed and documented by doing further research into women farmers’ indigenous knowledge, skills and experiences in rural Kenya.