Notes on African Spirituality in Agricultural Development Projects

Chapter 9: African Spirituality in Agricultural Development

• Agriculture in Africa often faces economic, ecological, and ontological conflicts.
  • Mainstream programs prioritize economic progress via modernization, but this can marginalize small farmers and harm ecosystems.
  • Industrialized agriculture can reproduce injustices and replace sustainable indigenous practices with neoliberal models.
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Many programs now aim for SDGs like zero hunger and poverty reduction in a sustainable way using the environmental, social, and economic dimensions.
  • The Brundtland Report (1987) highlighted indigenous knowledge, but Western projects often overlook indigenous perspectives.
  • Food security projects focus on material needs, neglecting spiritual relations with food and the environment.
• The absence of African spirituality in projects is rooted in the intellectual legacy of colonization and epistemic oppression and ontological oppression.

African Philosophy and Rational Planning

• African philosophy challenges the divide between African spirituality and project planning.
  • It emphasizes the rationality of African thought and calls for "conceptual decolonization."
  • There's a growing movement to use African traditions for respectful environmental relations.
• This chapter aims to engage with agricultural development projects, demonstrating the spiritual dimension's material importance.
  • Inclusion of this dimension can foster respectful ecological relations while addressing livelihood needs.
  • The study uses ethnographic research from Koro village in Ghana, highlighting sustainable practices intertwined with Dagara cosmology and spiritual relations with the land.

Respectful, Ecological Relations

• Current debates emphasize indigenous African culture in shaping human/nature relations.
  • Some scholars argue environmental problems arose with colonization, disrupting traditional conservationist values.
• African community includes the living, the living-dead, and the yet-to-be-born.
  • The maxim umuntu nugumuntu ngabantu highlights interrelatedness.
• African ethics sometimes seen as anthropocentric, but interrelatedness extends to nonhumans and nature.
  • These interrelations are inherently spiritual, involving a commitment to a living universe where nature has a soul.
  • Entities like trees, rivers, and animals can host spirits.
  • The material and spiritual worlds are intertwined, with humans as integral parts of nature through interactions.
• African spiritual traditions involve relations with elements like rivers, mountains, and celestial bodies.
  • The sacredness of Mother Earth should not be violated.
  • Many communities have environmental taboos to protect nature, linking spirituality to biodiversity conservation.
  • Intergenerational ethics emphasize leaving a healthy environment for future generations.
• Maintaining balance with nature is key.
  • Exploitation must not trigger disharmony. Ethics of production should align with ethics of preservation.
  • Responsible resource use is encouraged.
  • Critical examination of traditional practices is needed.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

• TEK and spirituality are vital for preserving biocultural diversity which is crucial in debates about environmental ethics.
• Indigenous/local knowledge systems are increasingly recognized in biodiversity and sustainability discussions.
• TEK provides expertise on ecosystems, adapted over generations.
  • Local populations have detailed understanding of environmental dynamics.
  • TEK is central to sustainable development debates and transdisciplinary research.
• Concerns exist about "knowledge mining," extracting TEK without cultural context.
• TEK is entangled with ontologies and spiritual commitments that are hard to integrate with academic perspectives.
• Spiritual commitments and relations between humans and nonhumans are the foundation of relations.
• Academic research should address the entanglement of knowledge and spirituality in TEK.

Research Approach - Koro Village

• Research aims to bring together debates about spirituality in TEK and African philosophy.
• Ethnographic research was conducted in Koro village, Ghana.
• A focus group interview with elders was conducted by CIKOD researchers.
• Researchers had built relationships with the community over several years, allowing for participant observation.
• Focus group consisted of knowledge keepers from different generations. One of the researchers explained the meeting's aim: "To explore if and how spirituality is important for their food system."

Four Case Studies: African Spirituality and Agriculture

• Story 1: "Tengan Dem and the Creation of the Universe"
  • Story told by respected elder in Koro.
  • God created the skies and clouds asmale and the land as female (tengan). Their relationship brought into existence air, animal, plants, life, rivers, mountains and more.
    *Humans evolved as part of co-creation with the promise that upon death humans returned to Mother Earth.
    *Land is the most sacred. Humans are responsible for managing it. God provided the Tengan dem to watch natural resources and guide their use.The tengan dem have the responsibility to punish wrongdoers through a punishment system.
    *Tengan dem are custodians of the land, and this story guides holistic relationships with the land.
• Story 2: "Bumbuure for Bondiri - Seed for Life"
  • In Koro, there are two types of seeds:
    • "bumbuure for bondiri" (seed for food/life).
    • "bumbuure for bondi-fogle" (seed for commerce).
  • Bumbuure for bondiri includes crops for sustenance of present, past, and future generations; these must be used during harvest rituals. They include sorghum, millet, bambara beans, cowpea and yam.
    • Bumbuure for bondi-fogle are for material needs only. These are only for the material realm and not for the ancestors. These crops include maize, rice, sweet potatoes, and groundnuts.
• Story 3: "A Curse on Illegal Mining"
  • In 2011, illegal miners invaded the village seeking gold. The tengan sob put a curse on anyone mining in the village. The miners, fearing the wrath of tengan left and did not return.
  • According to the Tengan dem who are the custiodians of the land, mining harms humans both materially and spiritually, creating ecological relations with human and nonhuman nature.
• Story 4: "Market Boycott for Rain"
  • This year following limited showers of rain and crop failure, villagers sought guidance from the tengan dem because things were not working out in the village.
  • The villagers were told to boycott the Babile market, and this was carried out.
  • By the evening of that day, heavy downpours and consistent rain returned the village's bumper crops.
• In other words, the author indicates, markets should be viewed through the lens of economics, social life, and spiritual connection.

Moving toward Human and Nonhuman Nature Balance

• Projects should focus on African ontologies and epistemologies by emphasizing African spiritual dimensions.
• Current concepts of food security exclude knowledge systems.
• A shift to food sovereignty could provide more space.
• Indigenous knowledge and African spiritualities should be included in agricultural curricula.
• A re-evaluation in TEK through