MBABANE – The Ministry of Information Communications and Technology through its Department of Research Science Technology and Innovation hosted a review of the draft policy on Indigenous Knowledge Systems, amid concern that valuable family-based knowledge in Eswatini is disappearing.
The policy review session took place today and brought together stakeholders to assess the draft framework aimed at protecting and preserving Indigenous Knowledge Systems. The meeting was officially opened by the Principal Secretary who was represented by the Director of Communications in the ministry, Mr Sakhile Dlamini.
Speaking during the opening, Dlamini pointed to the decline of knowledge traditionally held within individual families. “Knowledge associated with individual families is becoming increasingly scarce,” he said.
He warned that the loss of such information has broader implications for the country. “When family specific knowledge such as unique medicinal recipes, oral lineages, and specialized artisanal techniques disappears, our national identity diminishes. We are losing the ‘private libraries’ of our homes,” Dlamini said.
The Director of Research Science Technology and Innovation, Dr Rejoice Maseko, also addressed participants and described the situation facing family based Indigenous Knowledge Systems as critical.
“Family based IKS is facing a crisis. While our communal IKS remains vibrant, the specialized knowledge once held within Eswatini families, private medicinal recipes, unique artisanal techniques, and oral family lineages is vanishing. Many elders are passing on without a ‘successor’ to inherit their wisdom,” she said.
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