Ten women scientists from five African countries will share their perspectives on indigenous knowledge at a presentation on April 24 in the University Libraries. “Bringing Indigenous Knowledge of the People of Rural Africa into the Academy: A Presentation” will be held in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, from noon to 1:30 p.m. The presenters are visiting Penn State after being selected to take part in the USDA–Borlaug Global Food Security program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to expand the pool of food security professionals in Africa.

The scientists will share their indigenous knowledge perspectives

Each Borlaug Feed the Future Fellow was assigned a Penn State faculty mentor who is conducting research related to her field of interest. Soon after their arrival at Penn State, the women viewed a tape of a recent indigenous knowledge seminar on medicinal mushrooms in Ethiopia to observe how local knowledge of indigenous plants can stimulate a very exciting academic research project. This experience led to the scheduling of this presentation. The aim of the presentation is for the scientists to share an aspect of indigenous knowledge that they would like to investigate further when they return home.

The Feed the Future Fellows are Serkalem Alemayehu and Alganesh Gemechu from Ethiopia; Amma Amponsah and Ruth Pobee from Ghana; Rugie Wonyene and Patricia Gant from Liberia; Eucharia Onwurafor, Mercy Elom and Alice Ajani from Nigeria and Rosemirta Birungi from Uganda.

This event is part of a series of seminars cosponsored by the Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK) and the Penn State Social Sciences Library. It is free and open to the public and can be viewed live online.

If you anticipate needing accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Helen Sheehy, hms2@psu.edu/814-863-1347, in advance of your participation.