Ways of Knowing: local and scientific epistemologies.

Even though local knowledge has become a buzzword in international development efforts, very little evidence exists on the nature of institutionalised practices leading to processes of learning and change. Their influence on decision-making and collective choices has been overlooked frequently, often leading to project failure and frustration among stakeholders involved. By exploring six case studies in East Africa, where local and scientific epistemologies play a significant role in rural development projects supported by Austrian and international donor agencies, we expect to learn more about different ways of knowing existent in development-related research projects in rural development. With this project, we do not aim at prolonging the controversial debate of scientific versus local or traditional knowledge. We would like to move away from classifying, analysing and storing different kinds of knowledge. Rather, we are interested in finding out more about what happens when local and scientific epistemologies meet in rural development, how they articulate with each other and get mutually transformed. The study will provide novel insights into different ways of knowing of farmers and scientists and their mutual understanding. As a consequence we might be able to argue in a more differentiated and grounded way for an inclusion of both forms of epistemologies in order to widen the scientific understanding of ways of knowing to prepare the ground for improved research and development activities with a sustainable impact on rural societies in developing countries. The research will focus on how to make knowledge work for development, and on exploring communication processes in actor networks. The research will be based on empirical material from a stakeholder analysis, a context analysis based mainly on document analysis and targeted key informant interviews, and a field study with qualitative interviews with key informants and stratified groups of stakeholders in East Africa. Thus the study will add knowledge on the contribution of science to sustainable development, food security and agricultural sustainability, and what supports or prevents a sustainable impact of science. The multidisciplinary character of the project team will assist to illuminate aspects of epistemologies in development processes that have previously been neglected. Few studies have addressed such aspects of social science studies in connection with research for development projects on a meta-level. To apply analytical methods of basic-sciences to the application-oriented scientific world of research for development will provide new insights into communication processes prior to and during such projects.

The project Ways of Knowing has been looking at case studies of agricultural research in Ethiopia and Uganda during three years of intensive field research. The interest of the project was to find out how scientists manage to share and develop their ways of knowing with farmers in such projects, and to what extent they are able to understand farmers own ways of knowing at the same time. Technologies are often understood by scientists as universally applicable standardized packages. These are assemblies of theories and practices enabling scientists to apply technologies across different social worlds in a variety of contexts. Yet, these science-based solutions still have their local origin in the scientific world. Technologies are often characterised by certain imaginings regarding values, hierarchies, and users of technologies and those are not necessarily shared by the latter. The lack of appreciation of the knowledges of the respective other is not always easy to allocate to particular groups of people. Everyday knowledges and lay knowledges are often romanticised by scientists as indigenous, traditional or local. Modern knowledges on the other hand are rarely attributed to rural communities. They are usually attributed exclusively to science and scientific technologies. Alternative ways of knowing, that are generally defined as non-scientific by both scientists and particular farmers, are not perceived and used sufficiently in research projects. The mutual influence of local and scientific ways of knowing and the processes of learning behind are rarely considered in short-term project planning procedures. Many projects are planned at someones desk in a few weeks time, and they are implemented during 2-3 years under high performance pressure. This leaves little time for engagement with complex rural communities, their personal experiences and needs, as well as often rather complicated land use histories and the varying political circumstances. The meeting of different ways of knowing is characterised by the social worlds, value systems and objectives of scientists and farmers. It is thus important to achieve a better understanding for the exploitation of science and technologies for specific purposes, and to point out the critical elements of the meetings of those different social worlds of scientists and farmers. After all, science can only make successful contributions to sustainable development, food security and sustainable agriculture through a critical reflection of its own role.