Wiaso (B/A), Aug 02, GNA – An international workshop to build the capacity of NGOs and strengthen the use of indigenous knowledge to tackle problems in Africa has ended in Wiaso in the Techiman Municipality.
It brought together representatives from Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Gambia.
The 12-day programme was organized by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Development (CIKOD), an African Learning Institute, with support from Christenson Fund and Water Aid of USA and Ghana.
The goal was to among other things, exposed the participants to the requisite cultural protocols and food security.
It provided the platform to share experiences and net-working around indigenous innovation and community resilience.
Mr. Bernard Guri, the Executive Director of CIKOD, said Africans needed local solutions to their problems and it would therefore continue to lead efforts at helping to promote the utilization of available resources to respond to, withstand and recover from any adverse situation in Ghana and the rest of Africa.
Mr. David Fletcher, Director of Coadey Institute – Canada, hailed CIKOD for setting the pace in the use of indigenous knowledge in solving problems through training over the past decade.
He urged the participants to do more to learn and develop the needed skills and strategies to support the development of the continent.
Nana Owusu Gyare II, Akwamuhene of Techiman, rejected the description of the African culture as ‘fetishism’ and said that was incorrect.
He insisted that it was rather full of indigenous knowledge vital for building community resilience.