A route to uniting researchers and traditional knowledge holders

When one visits rural communities and villages, you’ll find practitioners with excellent solutions for everyday ailments, yet we’ve not managed to commercialise and scale up these solutions, to bring them to market.

The BioPark @ Gauteng, a business incubator at The Innovation Hub, is working with traditional knowledge holders and researchers to bring both parties together. Its main aim is to harmonise and standardise the centuries old information to address safety issues and guarantee quality standards.

Knowledge brought to life

Instead of subjugating and rejecting indigenous knowledge as witchcraft, we should embrace and harness its value. One valuable example is the work of Professor Shirley Motaung, a biomedical scientist and the assistant dean at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Faculty of Science.

By collaborating with traditional healers who use a plant derived remedy to assist individuals with bone and cartilage ailments, Prof Motaung has proven the traditional remedy holds bone cartilage regenerative properties. Not only has the remedy offered an alternative treatment solution to individuals lacking access to conventional medicine, it’s also inspired Prof Motaung to launch a complementary health product, La-Africa Soother.

The wealth of indigenous knowledge can also be seen in various cosmetics and beauty products on the market, including Portia M Skin Solutions, Phepisa, Dermacell, K-squared.

Nutraceutical brands harnessing the benefits of indigenous knowledge include Dikgabane consulting and Lefakong, while the beverage product, Royal Mabundu and condiments from Makhamisa Foods, are also based on indigenous knowledge.

Moving in the right direction

The BioPark @ Gauteng is determined to take Africa’s indigenous knowledge to the world. It hopes to pinpoint more sources of indigenous knowledge and package them for global consumption.

It is currently providing entrepreneurial support and interfacing with citizen scientists, entrepreneurs and university researchers to promote the exchange of knowledge and wisdom. However, there is a need to understand the complex system of intellectual property and how to protect it along with the business models of these citizen scientists, to facilitate conversations and product standardisation.

A humble approach focused on recognising the efforts of traditional practitioners is paramount to address some of challenges faced by humankind. This should be complemented by building confidence in the industry and not waiting for someone else to endorse our work. Opening up training systems and allowing for the integration of different ways of knowledge generation can go a long way in harnessing traditional knowledge. Without taking bold steps in the right direction, we may run the risk of remaining the proverbial hunter who kept looking for a kudu hidden in water while he was holding the horns and drinking from the same pond.