Can African values like Ubuntu expand the meaning and understanding of communities of practice? Lessons from mass food markets in Zimbabwe

Authors

  • Charles Dhewa
  • Sarah Cummings

Keywords:

knowledge management, markets, food supply, knowledge brokering, Zimbabwe, indigenous knowledge, Ubuntu

Abstract

African mass food markets, also known as territorial markets, are the major sources of food for the majority of people in African capital cities. These markets use indigenous knowledge to meet preferences of the majority of farmers, traders and consumers in terms of food sources and income. They represent local people’s shared identity and values built organically through trust and relationships. Based on information gathered from key informant farmers and traders in three mass markets of Zimbabwe, this paper shows the extent to which territorial markets use African values such as Ubuntu, relationality, trust and the public good nature of knowledge to add more nuances and flavor to the notion of communities of practice often used to express knowledge management in professional contexts. The lens of communities of practices makes visible the apparently invisible knowledge brokering role of African mass markets, highlighting implications for policy and research.

Author Biography

Charles Dhewa

Charles Dhewa is a proactive knowledge management specialist, evaluator and thought leader on African food systems, rural development and indigenous knowledge systems, based in Zimbabwe. Working at the intersection of formal and informal agricultural markets across Africa, his organization, Knowledge  Transfer Africa also known as eMKambo (www.knowledgetransafrica.com / www.emkambo.co.zw trends around  food systems to ensure agricultural value chains are driven by knowledge, technology and innovation. He is undertaking a PhD at the Knowledge, Technology and Innovation (KTI) Department at Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands. 

References

Bailey, A. 2017. Can CoP theory be applied? Exploring praxis in a Community of Practice on gender Communities of Practice in development: a relic of the past or sign of the future? Knowledge Management for Development Journal 13(3): 60-76

Bannister, A., Dhewa, C., White, N. with Fullan , R., Lamoureux, L and Le Borgne, E. 2017. Editorial Communities of Practice in development: a relic of the past or sign of the future? Knowledge Management for Development Journal 13(3): 1-3

Chilisa, B. (2013) Indigenous research methodologies SAGE Publications, Inc.

Clark, G. (1994) Onions are my husband: survival and accumulation by West African market women. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Ikioda F. (2012) Limits to communities of practice in an open air market: the case of the Alaba-Suru market, Lagos, Nigeria.

Ikioda, F. (2013) Urban Markets in Lagos, Nigeria. Geography Compass 7: 517-526.

Ikioda, F. (2014) Communities of practice in competitive settings: exploring the role of associations of market traders in marketplaces in Lagos, Nigeria. Knowledge Management for Development Journal 10(2): 105-116

Vermaak, J. (2017) Social development and informal markets: lessons from Thohoyandou market, South Africa, Development in Practice 27(1): 53-63, DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2017.1258038 https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2017.1258038

Kinyanjui, M.N. (2014) Women and the informal economy in urban africa : from the margins to the centre. London, England: Zed Books (Africa Now).

Kiwanuka, S.N., S. Cummings & B. Regeer (2020) The private sector as the ‘unusual suspect’ in knowledge brokering for international sustainable development: a critical review. Knowledge Management for Development Journal 15(2): 70-97.

Olukoju A. (2005) Actors and Institutions in Urban Politics in Nigeria: Agege (Lagos) Since the 1950s. Working Papers Nr.

Ramose, M.B. (2003) The African Philosophy Reader. Second edition

McDermott R (2000) Knowing in Community: 10 Critical success factors in building communities of practice. IHRIM Journal (March): 19–26.

Morgan, S. L. (2011). Social learning among organic farmers and the application of the communities of practice framework. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 17(1), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2011.536362

Nickols, F. (2000). Communities of practice: definition, indicators and identifying characteristics, http://home.att.net/~discon/KM/CoPCharacteristics.htm

Ramaswamy, R., G. Storer and R. Van Zeyl. 2005. Designing sustainable communities of practice at CARE. Knowledge Management for Development Journal 1(1): 79-93

Stuckey, B. and J. Smith (2004). ‘Building sustainable communities of practice’. In: P.M. Hildreth and C. Kimble (eds.) Knowledge networks: innovation through communities of practice, Idea Publishing Group

Stovel, K. and L. Shaw (2012) ‘Brokerage’, Annual review of sociology38, 139–158. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150054

Tollens, E (1997) Wholesale markets in African cities diagnosis, role, advantages, and elements for further study and development. https://www.fao.org/3/ab790e/ab790e.pdf

Tutu, D. (1999) No Future Without Forgiveness. New York: Image Doubleday.

Wenger, E., R. McDermott and W. Snyder (2002). Cultivating communities of practice. Harvard Business School Press.

Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: learning, meaning, identity. Cambridge University Press/

Wenger, E. (1998). ‘Communities of practice: learning as a social system’ Systems Thinker, 9(5): Unpaginated. https://thesystemsthinker.com/communities-of-practice-learning-as-a-social-system/

Downloads

Published

2023-05-09

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 > >>