Advancing agriculture through Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in South African indigenous or black communities

Abstract

The primary aim of this scholarly discourse is to demonstrate how South African indigenous people advanced agricultural practices without the dominant aid of globalisation and modernity that, to a certain degree, discredits Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) that have existed from time immemorial. Qualitative research inquiry and IKS are synergetically used as approaches to this scholarly discourse to form juxtaposition and triangulation – a balancing act. The main discussions and findings of the article underline that incontrovertibly, South African indigenous people had their traditional ways of advancing human and social life such as relying on traditional medicine, farming, harvesting and many other determinants. In respect of the problematised phenomenon, the conclusion infuses recommendations for future scholarly debates while the emphasis is on embracing traditional knowledge and avoid continuous and solitary accreditation of neo-liberalist and imperialist notions in South Africa and elsewhere.