Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Review of Indigenous Knowledge from a Comparative African Perspective: 1990–2020

Abstract

Globally, indigenous knowledge (IK) has been shown to be a critical factor in economic growth and sustainable development and is as important as scientific knowledge. However, when it comes to the African narrative, IK research still seems to fall short, even with the great recognition and interest it is attracting. IK has always been underprivileged and marginalized, treated as an unsubstantiated type of knowledge that cannot provide any scientific solutions. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the importance of IK research from a comparative African perspective from 1990 to 2020. The paper used a combination of bibliometric analysis and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol to provide a comprehensive view of IK research. The VOSviewer software was used to provide a visualization of the bibliometric analysis through network maps. The findings suggest that while IK is a globally recognized concept, the African narrative is missing and not told by Africans. Most researched studies on IK in Africa are on ethnobotany, customs, traditions, agroforestry, and agriculture. Moreover, most of the IK research is from Southern Africa. There is a need for the integration of IK and scientific knowledge to develop well-informed approaches, methodologies, and frameworks that cater to indigenous communities and resilient ecological development. The research outcomes provide valuable insights for future research trends; they further highlight opportunities for building research partnerships for strengthening policy generation and implementation.

Wisdom of the ancestors: Harnessing indigenous knowledge for contemporary challenges

“…Using decades of observation and adaptation, it explores how Indigenous agricultural practices offer robust responses to food security and climate change. It also examines community development initiatives that uphold Indigenous values of reciprocity, cooperation, and respect for cultural heritage to promote social cohesion and empowerment (Malapane, et al, 2022) [19] . The study conducts a thorough analysis of the various ways that Indigenous knowledge is applied to address current issues in a variety of fields, such as community development, healthcare, agriculture, and environmental sustainability.…”

How institutions are related to agriculture? Systematic literature review

“…The Web of Science database was chosen, among other things, due to the prevalence of its use in systematic reviews of the literature on agricultural economics (Bathaei & Štreimikiene, 2023;Malapaneet al 2022;Mizik, 2023;Poczta-Wajda & Sapa, 2021). As Malapane et al (2022) point out, Web of Science is a highly reliable tool, giving access to a wide variety of scientific material, and is well suited to data-intensive, large-scale research.…”

Development of Community-Level Capacity of Resilience to Natural Hazards for Environmental- and Social-Justice-Challenged Communities: 1. Approach, Concepts, and Assessment of Existing Information

“…The use of existing information to assess the resilience capacity of communities is relatively common [19,21,22], but this information is only sometimes confirmed with the communities assessed. The use of local knowledge [43][44][45][46] outside the United States (except for tribal traditional ecological knowledge [47,48]) and community engagement [49][50][51][52] are two tools that can be used to confirm available information, initiate discussions on the development of strategies to build local resilience capacity, and institute changes in local policies to improve resilience.…”