From Agriculture to Agricology: Towards a Glocal Circular Economy

Professor Dani Wadada Nabudere, a respected academic and educator from Uganda, dedicated his life to applying and spreading the notion of ‘community sites of knowledge’, which simply means using indigenous tools of knowledge to revitalise the lives of Africa’s people. He staunchly believed that the liberation of Africans depended largely on self-reliance, and that any dependence on imported knowledge and material instruments could only lead to the entrenchment of colonial stereotypes, which dictated that ideas and knowledge that emanate from the West are superior to those that originate from the continent. His commitment to life-long learning and to finding African solutions to historical and structural African problems, underlined his faith in the value of indigenous knowledge. He understood that African indigenous knowledge carries in its DNA the roots of ‘complex ecosystems’ that require the inputs of a diversity of expertise and experiences and that it seemed counterproductive to maintain the language of inclusion and exclusion inherited from colonialism. This work explores Nabudere’s strong belief that we can reclaim the future by producing knowledge that is relevant for society, and for the continued participation in civic causes designed to assist the wretched of the earth. This monograph is an expanded version of a paper written for presentation at an agricultural conference at the Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa in 2011.