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Can rural poor contribute to knowledge economy?
SIDDHARTHA PRAKASH
In 1996, a scientist working with local tribals in the forests of Kerala discovered the potential for a new herbal drug to enhance the immune system. Dr. Pushpangadan sought the prior informed consent of the Kani tribe before commercialising their medicinal knowledge. All royalties and profits from the herbal product called Jeevani were shared equally among the forest dwellers and researchers.
Thus begins the story of how an ancient culture began unleashing its entrepreneurial energy to transform the modern world. The Kani tribe benefit sharing model was the first of its kind and has subsequently been modelled in several countries in Africa and Latin America.
The Kani tribe model provides a small example of the enormous potential for growth in herbal products and medicines derived from the knowledge of rural communities. Today the sale of drugs based on traditional medicines generates over $50 billion a year. It has been estimated that by consulting indigenous peoples, bio-prospectors can increase the success ratio in trials from one in 10,000 samples to one in two.
Intangible assets
What does this mean for India? Tapping into the local knowledge of tribal communities can provide an effective means of lifting them out of poverty and generating income. Secondly, the country’s vast reserve of intangible assets, if effectively harnessed, can help India achieve the millennium development goals.
Indigenous Knowledge (IK), also referred to as ‘traditional’ or ‘local’ knowledge, represents the intangible assets (intellectual capital) of local communities, and is a potentially cost-effective and sustainable resource in the development process.
Farming technologies
The World Bank funded Uttar Pradesh Sodic Land Reclamation Project provides another example to illustrate the potential in agriculture for IK to help alleviate poverty and empower rural India. The project is a farmer-driven effort to improve soil fertility and reduce the incidence of brown plant hoppers that destroy 40-50 per cent of paddy and wheat.
Applying their own knowledge and experiences, farmers reclaimed over 68,000 hectares of sodic land belonging to 247,000 families. They spread gypsum, built bunds, leached the soil, started multi-cropping and green manuring and crop rotation, used compost and ploughed the land. Farmers controlled brown plant hoppers with neem extract, rice husk and green manure. After five years, wheat and paddy yields and incomes had risen by 60 per cent.
India’s rich tradition of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani practices can contribute to improving the nation’s ailing healthcare system. Given that India has one of the largest number of HIV/AIDS infected people in the world, traditional medicines can help save lives.
India has embarked on an exciting knowledge journey led by an army of knowledge workers who run the back offices of the world. But knowledge extends beyond the realms of information technology. It thrives among India’s farmers, healers, artisans and rural communities who know best how to make optimal use of their limited resources to ensure their survival.
The time has come to provide due value, recognition and rewards to harness the creative capabilities of local grassroots innovators. The National Innovation Foundation is a step in the right direction.
The Foundation has established an enabling environment to support local innovations in health, agriculture and natural resource management. India’s future lies in its dynamic culture of innovation, experimentation and creativity at all levels of society.
(The writer is an economist and has worked in Africa and Asia for the World Bank and the WTO)
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