By Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD (Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Policy Advisor, Natural Resources Lawyer and Dispute Resolution Expert from Kenya), Winner of Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021, ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and CIArb (Kenya) Lifetime Achievement Award 2021.*
Sustainable development is one of the national values and principles of governance that binds all State organs, State officers, public officers and all persons whenever any of them—applies or interprets this Constitution; enacts, applies or interprets any law; or makes or implements public policy decisions.30 This is in addition to democracy and participation of the people; human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised; and good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability. Arguably, this should include participation of communities and their cultural knowledge especially in matters related to the sustainable development agenda.
Target 11.4 of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals seeks to, inter alia, ―strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage‖. It has however been argued that this is a weak reference because it is not specific on cultural heritage, but it is mentioned together with natural one; furthermore, this specific target deals only with the protection and safeguard of cultural heritage. Culture has received insufficient attention as an intrinsic component of sustainable development and must be translated and embedded in national and local development. Indeed, some commentators have argued that culture, sustainability and sustainable development are complicated concepts that are not always easy for scientists, policy makers or practitioners to grasp or apply.
Culture can play a significant role in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those related to quality education, sustainable cities, the environment, economic growth, sustainable consumption and production patterns, peaceful and inclusive societies, gender equality and food security. According to UNESCO, from cultural heritage to cultural and creative industries, culture is both an enabler and a driver of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This is due to its potential to have community-wide social, economic and environmental impacts.
Notably, traditional knowledge can and should be used to contribute to the realization of sustainable development agenda, where most indigenous and local communities’ contribution can go beyond conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity to include their skills and techniques which provide valuable information to the global community and a useful model for biodiversity policies. Furthermore, as on-site communities with extensive knowledge of local environments, indigenous and local communities are most directly involved with conservation and sustainable use.
The relevance of this traditional knowledge in the sustainable development debate is premised on the fact that it is based on the experience, often tested over centuries of use, adapted to local culture and environment, dynamic and changing especially in relation to knowledge and skills on how to grow food and to survive in difficult environments, what varieties of crops to plant, when to sow and weed, which plants are poisonous, which can be used for control of diseases in plants, livestock and human beings.
SDG Goal 2 seeks to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. As also acknowledged under the Constitution of Kenya, traditional knowledge related to the preservation of existing genetic resources, including the genetic diversity of seeds, should be recognized and maintained, and the fair sharing of the relevant benefits should be promoted. However, for effectiveness, it has been recommended that there should be integration of cultural factors, including the knowledge, traditions and practices of all people and communities, into local strategies on environmental sustainability.
The indigenous knowledge based on cultural practices should be utilized in achieving such goals as SDG Goal 2 on food security. Thus, while there is little by way of mention in the 2030 Agenda on SDGs on the role of culture and communities’ traditional knowledge in achieving sustainable development goals, practically, these communities have a lot to contribute in tackling the challenges that face the world today, ranging from food insecurity, poverty, and environmental degradation, among others. The global community cannot therefore afford to ignore their role in the same.
The ‘Global South’ is a term used to refer to less economically developed countries and these comprise a variety of states with diverse levels of economic, cultural, and political influence in the international order. It has rightly been pointed out that when major global events are told from a Western perspective, the voices of the colonised and oppressed often go missing, which leads to a different basis for theorising‘. It is thus it is important to incorporate non-Western actors and non-Western thinking in order to explore the ways in which different actors challenge, support, and shape global and regional orders.
While the term ‘development’ carries different connotations to different people, more so those in the developing world, it is worth pointing out that development is not purely an economic phenomenon but rather a multi-dimensional process involving reorganization and reorientation of entire economic and social system. In addition, development is process of improving the quality of all human lives with three equally important aspects, namely: raising peoples’ living levels, that is, incomes and consumption, levels of food, medical services, and education through relevant growth processes; creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples’ self-esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic systems and institutions which promote human dignity and respect and increasing peoples‘ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice variables, such as varieties of goods and services.
*This article is an extract from the Article “Integrating Community Practices and Cultural Voices into the Sustainable Development Discourse” by Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD, Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards), ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (CIArb Kenya). Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert in Kenya. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Senior Lecturer of Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law and The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP). He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. Dr. Muigua is recognized among the top 5 leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts in Kenya by the Chambers Global Guide 2022.
References
Muigua, K., “Integrating Community Practices and Cultural Voices into the Sustainable Development Discourse,” Available at: http://kmco.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Integrating-Community-Practices-and-Cultural-Issues-into-the-Sustainable-Development-Debates-8th-January-2021-Kariuki-Muigua-PhD.pdf (accessed 10 May 2022).