Ways of Knowing - When Local and Scientific Epistemologies meet in Rural Development

Ways of Knowing. When Local and Scientific Epistemologies meet in Rural Development. 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.