土著knowledge is a form of science — don’t ignore it

印度科学家认为，现在是时候停止打折传统专业知识并利用这种广泛而宝贵的资源。Suman Sahai。

Science and technology have always been an important part of growth and development plans. But accepted 'scientific expertise' is Western, standardised and homogenous. From this viewpoint, the vast body of scientific expertise developed in diverse societies and cultures is discounted and ignored.

Referred to asindigenous or traditional knowledge, this is a knowledge system distilled from generations of scientific work anchored in rural and tribal communities. It is different to the Western system of empirical, lab-based science — but is equally valid and efficacious.

现在是时候认识到有不同种类的科学和科学专业知识，所有这些都应用于开发和解决问题。

进化的知识

土著knowledge has developed from understanding and documenting the processes in nature. An iteration of practices over time has led to products and processes that are based on sound scientific principles.

Take plant extracts for example. Observing that animals did not eat certain plants and assuming that this was because they were toxic, communities took extracts and tested them for a range of uses. Many were, and still are, used as pesticides in agriculture, in bait to catch fish or to treat maggot infestations in livestock.

Because plants differ across ecological zones, each region has developed products and uses based on their regional flora. Indigenous science is diverse, and it is efficacious in the particular context in which it is used.

Similarly, in土著医学, the plants used in traditional Chinese medicine will be different to those used in India, Indonesia or Myanmar — but all these healing systems will cure many diseases effectively. Even today, almost 80 per cent of the population of some Asian and African countries rely on indigenous systems for primary healthcare. [1]

土著知识不是灵丹妙药，而是与其他任何人一样有效的治疗途径。就像西方医学无法治愈普通感冒或许多慢性疾病, traditional medicines may not be as effective as antibiotics in rapidly controlling infections.

But it has some advantages. Antibiotics lead to side effects (which could range from allergies and rashes to more serious effects like toxicity) and bacteria can ultimately becomeresistantto them; traditional healing is more broad-based and holistic, designed as much to prevent disease as to cure it.

解决问题的实用方法

土著knowledge includes knowledge accumulated over thousands of years, making it particularly useful for problem-solving. Communities have vetted solutions and knowledge systems over time, retaining only the efficacious ones.

2004年12月海啸袭击了印度安达曼和尼科巴群岛，担心当地部落社区会灭亡。但事实并非如此：他们已经正确地阅读了即将来临的海啸并撤退到高地的迹象。[2]

在食品生产，传统科学的标志包括了解遗传多样性，农作物品种对不同土地和土壤类型的适用性以及使用农艺实践来最大程度地减少农作物损失的风险。在几乎任何农业生态状况下，有多种选择可用于种植食物。

可惜的是，这种知识很少使用。取而代之的是，大多数研究机构都支持涉及资源密集型农业的主要粮食生产体系，该系统可能会在大型农场的富裕农民中起作用，但以巨大的生态成本产生。beplay下载官网西西软件

如果印度的农村和部落社区基于其特性的知识，或者在印度的农村和部落社区开发并保存了近100,000种大米，或者安第斯高地的社区已经开发了成千上万种马铃薯，或者在墨西哥的玉米品种数千种，那么它就会开发是因为这项努力有很强的经验基础。

政策断开连接

But governments and policymakers, even in developing countries that are home to indigenous scientific expertise, accept only Western-style science as the basis of evidence-based policymaking.

A colonial past has nurtured a 'look West' elite who take their Western inclinations into policy formulation. Theeducation, lifestyle and ignorance of these leaders, even their rejection of indigenous traditions, have a cost for countries that confine their ability to solve problems to Western science.

研究所有可用形式的科学知识和专业知识形式符合全球社区的利益。只有几种可用的方法仅依靠一种方法是近视的。

特别是发展中国家，通过忽略了自己的科学传统的解决和丰富的潜力，造成了极大的伤害，这些传统是本地有效且被接受的。

尽管印度拥有广泛的土著医学曲目，但其医疗保健系统还是基于西方风格的医学，这很昂贵且难以进入偏远的村庄。合乎逻辑的方法是主要依靠土著医学，并在需要的地方包括西方系统。经过多年忽视传统医学，这终于开始发生，并努力将其包括在内healthcare systems。

中国通过研究所谓的“综合医学”来支持其医疗保健系统中西方医学和传统医学的发展，中国绘制了不同的课程。[3]

为什么要标准化科学系统，为什么学者和政策制定者应该要求这一点？科学体系的有效性并不在于它到处都是可信的，而是它在开发和提供解决方案的文化中可信。

作为土著科学专业知识的存储库的国家应成为这一主流。将足够的资源投资于土著科学，并扩大传统知识系统中的教育和培训基础将有助于消除对它们的偏见，并帮助他们纳入官方政策。

人们和政府必须摆脱狭narrow的思想，即西方科学是唯一的科学。

Suman Sahai是Gene运动的创始人兼主席，Gene运动是一个致力于保护遗传资源和土著知识的组织，并致力于确保农村和部落社区的食品，营养和生计安全。可以在mail@genecampaign.org