The Role of Indigenous Communities of Practice in Fostering Community Engagement and Partnerships for Sustainable Development in Africa

Partnerships between government, the private sector and civil society are critical for any sustainable development agenda. However, experience in Africa has shown that participation by local communities in development projects is rarely interactive or empowering. The crux of community engagement and partnership is that it should be inclusive, responsive, equitable and ethical. This chapter argues that indigenous communities of practice (iCoPs) provide a platform where the voices, rights, knowledge and experiences of local communities could be heard, respected and negotiated in development agendas. An indigenous community of practice is developed, acquired and owned by a close group of people who are usually ethnically or culturally linked and use indigenous knowledge to address problems in order to survive. iCoPs are largely products of local indigenous knowledge and governance systems. The chapter uses a thematic analysis of two South African iCoPs to illustrate how the principles, values, shared vision and goals of sustainable community engagement and partnerships can be built among stakeholders. It is concluded that indigenous knowledge is a social capital of any community and development agencies in Africa should use iCoPs along with their knowledge producers, propagators and practitioners as pillars and building blocks in fostering sustainable engagement and partnership pathways.