A comparison of traditional plant knowledge between students and herders in northern Kenya

Abstract

BackgroundThe Samburu region of northern Kenya is undergoing significant change, driven by factors including greater value on formal education, improvements in infrastructure and development, a shift from community to private ownership of land, increased sedentary lifestyles and global climate change. One outcome of these changes are an increasingly greater likelihood for adolescent boys to be enrolled in school rather than herding livestock on behalf of the family in a landscape shared with numerous native vegetation and wildlife species.MethodsThis study compared identification and knowledge of native plant species between boys enrolled in school with boys of similar age but primary responsibility as herders, called moran. Study participants walked an approximately 100 m path with 10 flagged points in which they were asked to identify any plant species at that point and associated facts of each species, within a 1 m radius.ResultsOn average, moran identified 38 species compared to 20 for students, including nearly 13 (of a possible 15) species considered to have high cultural significance. Students identified an average of 8.6 culturally-significant plants. Further, moran shared nearly 18 correct facts about the plants, compared with ten for students. In addition, herding frequency was the only significant predictor of plant identification in a linear regression.ConclusionThe results demonstrate that while formal education undoubtedly provides benefits to students, attendance in school in lieu of the traditional role of herders has consequences on young men in Samburu related to ability to identify native and culturally-significant plants. This further shows the importance for communities like those in Samburu undergoing change need to develop alternative options to transmit local traditional knowledge to its younger generations.

The local knowledge of the plant names and uses by Semende tribe people in Kaur District, Bengkulu Province, Indonesia

“…Likewise, in the Zapotec indigenous community in Mexico, botanical knowledge was negatively correlated with number of years of education (Saynes-Vásquez et al 2016). In Samburu of northern Kenya, students knew less botanical knowledge than herders of the same age, because the students had less exposure to plants in nature than the herders who spent a lot of time in nature tending livestock (Bruyere at al. 2016).…”

Ethnobotanical Knowledge in Sete Cidades, Azores Archipelago: First Ethnomedicinal Report

“…The lack of interest among young people for learning this traditional knowledge shows a significant increase in the risk of its loss. Probably, this is because younger people have less movement restraints, and so have more access to modern healthcare facilities, trusting more in modern medicine [20,21].…”

Local and scientific knowledge in the school context: characterization and content of published works

“…By the very nature of the search, works were recovered in the field of ethnoscience (e.g., "Are identities oral? understanding ethnobotanical knowledge after Irish independence (1937-1939)" [29] and "A comparison of traditional plant knowledge between students and herders in northern Kenya" [30]); as well as education (e.g., "Advancing educational diversity: antifragility, standardization, democracy, and a multitude of education options" [31] and "An education rooted in two worlds: The Karen of northern Thailand" [32]); or both areas (e.g., "A truth-based epistemological framework for supporting teachers in integrating indigenous knowledge into science teaching" [33]).…”

“…The objectives of works in which articulations between the two areas of knowledge in the school context were established also varied. Studies were recovered that aimed at the transmission of local knowledge in the school environment [41,42], or addressed the detrimental influence of formal education on the knowledge systems of traditional people [30,43]. Some works also included methods and techniques for teaching-learning processes, such as the use of didactic materials and sequences [44,45]; or dealt with teacher education [46]; or analyzed the implications of using or not local knowledge in formal education systems and curricula; or even addressed epistemological conceptions that emerge from relationships between local and scientific knowledge [47,48].…”

“…Communities in which students live may thus be places filled with inspiration, which, if properly approached, will make students critical agents of their own realities [39]. Some positive contributions to the teaching-learning process represented among the recovered works include (1) production of contextual teaching involving the perspective of Science, Technology, Society, and Environment [9]; (2) socially just education, which privileges the reasoning skills of students and encourages them to value their cultures [50,51]; 3teaching-learning process that is active [50,52], questioning, and preparatory for decision making [52]; (4) expansion of learning horizons with student recognition of the information built by cultural groups outside the dominant culture, and the exploration of local issues [13,37,[52][53][54], possibility of learning multiple forms of interpretation of problems and phenomena useful in several situations [39,53]; (5) conservation and perpetuation of local knowledge [8,30,55]; (6) use of the environment as a formal learning tool [39,55,56]; (7) use of local knowledge as a pedagogical, instructional, and communicative instrument for the educator [14]; and (8) reinforcing the sensitivity of teachers and researchers to the specific sociocultural contexts of students [57].…”