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Grandmothers promote maternal and child health : the role of indigenous knowledge systems' managers

AUBEL, Judi
February 2006

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IK Notes report on indigenous knowledge initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally on such initiatives outside the region. It is published by the World Bank Africa region's Knowledge and Learning Centre as part of an evolving partnership between the World Bank, communities, NGOs, development institutions and multilateral organisations. This edition outlines the role of grandmothers as 'managers' of indigenous knowledge systems that deal with the development, care and well being of women and their children. The paper outlines a rationale for involving grandmothers in community programmes based around child and maternal health, and nutrition

Routemapping culture and development : report on a pilot research project exploring the use of cultural approaches to development within five UK development agencies

GOULD, Helen
MARSH, Mary
2004

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This research highlights the inconsistent approach and limited explicit policy with reference to cultural activities in development, despite finding over 350 examples across five development agencies over two years. The study considers the different uses of culture in development, finding a lack of consistency in implementing projects, little understanding of how cultural processes work, and few examples of appropriate evaluation

Understanding the indigenous knowledge and information systems of pastoralists in Eritrea

DINUCCI, Alessandro
FRE, Zeremariam
2003

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This case study explores pastoralists' traditional natural resources mangement practices and their sources and channels of information. It aims to contribute to the development of demand-led extension and advisory services for nomadic herders in Eritrea, on the premise that sustainable development programming builds on indigenous systems of communication and information diffusion

Challenges of change : a tracer study of San preschool children in Botswana

LE ROUX, Willemien
February 2002

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This study of the Bokamosa Preschool Programme describes how San children, whose culture is distinct from that of other peoples of Botswana, try to cope with an education system whose values and norms are different to their own. They must also cope with pressure from their parents who mistrust a system that 'steals' their children but feel powerless to make any changes. This book discusses the many factors that influence children as they grow; and shows that if the school system is not congruent with home circumstances, children must make immense efforts to succeed

Maternal health care in rural Uganda : leveraging traditional and modern knowledge systems

MUSOKE, Maria
January 2002

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A case study of the RESCUER project, in Iganga District, Eastern Uganda. The project was designed to link the traditional rural community health providers with the formal health delivery system in a cost-effective way. The increased number of deliveries under trained personnel, and increased referrals to health units, led to a reduction of about 50 percent in the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in three years

PROTAbase

PROTA : PLANT RESOURCES OFTROPICAL AFRICA

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This is a database of around 7,000 useful plants of tropical Africa. It details the scientific and vernacular names, the geographical distribution, properties and uses of each plant and incudes diagrams and images

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