Throughout centuries and cutting across civilisations, food has been considered a basic necessity. This is reflected in national, regional and international laws pitching it as a human right. For instance, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights recognises that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself [or herself] and his [or her] family, including food…” This is reinforced in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognises the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, by identifying a set of central actions related to food production and distribution as well as nutrition. For its part, the Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises food and nutrition related rights in the context of the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. Conversely, the World Food Summit (1996) defines food Security as when “all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.”
Several factors are essential for successful propagation, harvesting and processing of crops, which form the crux of food production. Long before technological advancements in the agricultural sector such as agricultural robots, scientific plant breeding, genetic modification and gene editing, humans have in their most primitive state, invented techniques, tools and practices for food sustainable food production. Depending on the region and the culture, farmers, farming communities and indigenous peoples have been acknowledged for guaranteeing and improving food supply, enhancing food security, and protecting the world’s agricultural biodiversity. These farmers, farming communities and indigenous peoples employ their traditional knowledge and practices accumulated over thousands of years based on a sound understanding of plants, soils, and the environment. This deep-rooted knowledge is revealed through assorted practices applied in crop production, for example, weather and season forecasting, saving/selecting seeds, crop rotation, cover cropping, mixed cropping and organic composting, amongst others.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), traditional knowledge is “knowledge, know-how, skills and practices that are developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity.” The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues also defines traditional knowledge as “…the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous peoples. Developed from experience gained over the centuries and adapted to the local culture and environment, traditional knowledge is often transmitted orally from generation to generation. It tends to be collectively owned and can be expressed in stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals etc…”
Over the years, some scientists and development planners have sought new approaches to food and agricultural production based on the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. In a World Bank Conference on Traditional Knowledge and Sustainable Development (27 – 28 September 1993), Dr Ntombie Gata, then Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Specialist Services of the Zimbabwe Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Water Development emphasised the importance of traditional knowledge to agricultural development, especially in Africa. She noted that development theory has tended to focus on disparate factors such as land, labor, and capital; technology; socioeconomic conditions; gender; indigenous technology and knowledge systems. However, the long-standing crisis in African agricultural production demands a change in attitudes and approaches on the part of governments and donor agencies. Dr Gata added that there must be deeper respect for indigenous knowledge, and a commitment to incorporate it into development policies and projects.
While advocating for an amalgamated adoption of scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge, Awunor Ponge of the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR – Kenya), and Institute of Education (IoE), University of London in his presentation entitled “Integrating Indigenous Knowledge for Food Security: Perspectives from the Millennium Village Project at Bar-Sauri in Nyanza Province in Kenya”, argued that integration of local practices such as internally derived inputs, recycled nutrients, crop rotations, improved management of pests and diverse cropping can alleviate poverty and guarantee sustainable production of crops for food security.
Agricultural science and technology are deeply entrenched in a society’s history and culture. For instance, local practices such as organic farming and mulching have been noted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and regulate soil temperature, while serving as effective pest control. Failure to respect the people’s ideas, knowledge and culture has led to the imposition of alien technologies that often undermine the indigenous people’s agricultural practices.
Researchers and policymakers are increasingly discussing the need to develop inclusive agricultural systems as a priority for food security. Traditional knowledge is recognised for offering huge potential to build resilience to climate change. (See, for example, Zerihun Yohannes Amare “Indigenous knowledge of Rural Communities for Combating Climate Change Impacts in West Central Ethiopia” Journal of Agricultural Extension, 2018).
Akin Ogundiran points out that most households in Africa spend over 45 per cent of their income on food. The figures are as high as 70 per cent for poor households in most countries. The World Economic Forum (Data from 2015) affirms that Nigerian households spend 56.4 per cent; while Kenyan, Cameroonian and Algerian households spend 46.7 per cent; 45.6 per cent; and 42.5 per cent of their income respectively on food. In contrast, households in the United States of America spend, on average, only 6.5 per cent of their income on food consumed at home. For instance, the personal consumption rates in states such as Texas, Florida, Arizona and California are put at 4.4 per cent, 4.7 per cent, 4.7 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively for 2019. Countries in which households spend a higher percentage of their income on food face more challenges of chronic food insecurity (in the form of perennial hunger and malnutrition) than those where households spend far less of their income percentage on food. Hence, a third of the billion people living in sub-Saharan Africa reportedly face severe food insecurity, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in its 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report.
Conclusion
Traditional Knowledge (that is, the gamut of know-how, skills and practices, passed down from one generation to another), when complemented with new and emerging technologies, can contribute to closing the current gap in sustainable food production around the world. This is particularly true for developing countries that are repositories of this wealth of knowledge. In other words, inclusive agricultural systems that incorporate farmers, farming communities and indigenous communities’ knowledge and low-cost technologies, can contribute to food security, increase diet diversity and nutrition for the families, and increase their resilience to shocks in food supply and prices. As discussions about the recognition and protection of traditional knowledge through either sui generis systems or mainstream intellectual property law continue to gain traction at the national, regional and international levels, its role in promoting food security requires more focused attention by governments especially as the effects of climate change have now become more pronounced than ever.
*Bolaji Qudus Adeoye obtained his LL.B from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State. Practising at one of the foremost firms in Lagos, Nigeria, he has a firm grasp of the trappings of the Nigerian vast and dynamic litigation space and has represented and advised clientele in various sectors. His research interests include Patents, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Plant Breeders’ Rights.
