Education for sustainable development: Integrating indigenous knowledge in water and sanitation programmes in Shimukuni community of Chibombo district in Zambia

Abstract

The focus of this study was to explore the integration of indigenous knowledge in water and sanitation programmes in Shimukuni community of Chibombo District in Zambia. The rationale for this study was based on the fact that most providers of community related programmes in the rural areas of Zambia have been associated with a practice of taking programmes to the community without taking into consideration the existing indigenous knowledge. This trend has often times resulted in the stagnation of development in rural areas, thereby widening the poverty divide. Shimukuni is one of the communities in Chibombo district which has continued to be confronted by the challenge of water and sanitation. This community was used for this study as a case for our understanding of how development programmes implemented in several other rural communities in Zambia tend to ignore the available indigenous knowledge which is beneficial to the sustainability of the intended development. Further, this community was used to help us come up with the understanding of how indigenous knowledge could be meaningfully integrated in water and sanitation programmes in rural Zambia.