GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
GLOBAL
DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Copyright © 2008 International Development Options
All Rights Reserved
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Volume Five Winter 2007-Spring 2008 Numbers 1-2.
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THE REVIVAL AND RELEVANCE OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT
S. Tunji Titilola
Research Professor
Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER)
PMB 5 University of Ibadan Post Office, Ibadan, Nigeria
Visiting Professor
Department of History and Government,
Fayetteville State University,
Fayetteville, North Carolina, 28303 USA
Published Online: February 10, 2017
ABSTRACT
The objective of this article is to examine the main factors influencing the recognition of indigenous knowledge and its use in environmental planning and development. In the last three decades, efforts have been made to untangle the development problems of Nigeria. These problems, which persist, include economic stagnation, declining agricultural productivity, and natural resource and environmental degradation. Inquiries are therefore needed to determine why development efforts have not been able to provide solutions to these problems. One element, which can facilitate efforts to deal with these problems, is the awareness, understanding, and the use of local knowledge systems and the structure of existing local institutions through which changes must be transmitted if they were to succeed. A growing number of development experts are increasingly appreciating the importance of working with and through these local systems. Consequently, several international and national organizations now recognize the importance of indigenous knowledge in planning and decision making for sustainable development (WCED, 1987).