This manual provides government and non-government rural development workers with the information and tools they need to integrate Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into their development work. IK is a valuable resource for development. Under certain circumstances it can be equal to or even be superior to the know-how introduced by outsiders. Development efforts should therefore consider IK and use it to best advantage. Although more and more development professionals have come to realize the potential of IK, it remains a neglected resource. A key reason for this is the lack of guidelines for recording and applying IK. Without such guidelines, there is a danger that IK will become just another empty buzzword of the sort that litters the history of development efforts. This manual aims to overcome this constraint.
