Open research questions in Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agriculture

What the literature leaves open

• A limitation of this study is that the findings about SME e‑banking needs may be of value only to banks that cater for SME clients operating in all four CMA countries. If these needs of the CMA SME client are not fully understood, the bank cannot respond by improving its e‑banking services.

  Ubuntu as a contributing factor to small business e-banking adoption · 2026 · DOI

• Third, existing studies provide limited evidence on how Indigenous knowledge-based forecasts translate into adaptation decisions and longer-term outcomes for livelihood security, community resilience, and habitability. Second, systematic validation of indigenous forecasting indicators remains scarce.

  Indigenous knowledge for drought and flood forecasting, climate adaptation and early warning in Malawi: a scoping review · 2026 · DOI

• The results should be interpreted with caution, as the sample of small-scale producers is likely small and quantitative data are lacking (over 95% of the sample).

  Expanding Innovation in Agriculture: Case Study on Adoptable Technologies Using GenAI Based on Traditional Knowledge Management · 2025 · DOI

• 1038/s41598-026-69728-4 speculative generation when cultural or evidentiary support is insufficient.

  BERTRAG as a BERT-enhanced retrieval-augmented generation framework for preserving Awori and Ogu indigenous knowledge · 2026 · DOI

• Limited empirical evidence on indigenous woody species management practices. Lack of understanding of how smallholder farmers manage woody species.

  Indigenous management practices of woody species: implications for biodiversity conservation and community livelihoods in Western Ethiopia · 2026 · DOI

• However, the role of kinship and the transmission of variety in the formation of agrobiodiversity have not been systematically addressed.

  Agrobiodiversity dynamics in traditional socioecological systems: An agent‐based model approach on the role of kinship systems and variety transmission · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should explore the practical application of this framework in primary education settings by examining how teachers can effectively integrate Indigenous knowledge and value-based learning into early education curricula across diverse educational contexts in India.

  Bridging Policy and Practice: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Value-Based Education in Primary School Curriculum under the Indian National Education Policy · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should focus on the application of indigenous knowledge in addressing global challenges such as climate change and sustainable development. Future research should explore the methodological trends in IKS research. Future research should consider the importance of indigenous knowledge in sustainable development and climate change.

  The Forest's Script: Deciphering a Decade of Tribal Indigenous Knowledge and Ecological Resilience in West Bengal (2016–2026) · 2026 · DOI

• The study highlights the need for further research on the methodological trends in IKS research.

  The Forest's Script: Deciphering a Decade of Tribal Indigenous Knowledge and Ecological Resilience in West Bengal (2016–2026) · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of effective preservation and digitization strategies for IK materials in Nigerian academic libraries. The need for a contextually validated, community-centred preservation and digitization framework tailored to the Nigerian academic library context.

  Preservation and Digitization of Indigenous Knowledge Materials in Academic Libraries: Evidence from Northern Nigeria and the PIKAD Framework · 2026 · DOI

• The study addresses the gap in understanding the production and transmission of knowledge in everyday life, particularly in the context of food and cuisine.

  From Hearth to Heritage: Culinary Knowledge Systems of the Agraharam (19th –21st Century)- A Case Study of Kalpathi Village, Kerala · 2026 · DOI

• The paper highlights the need for comprehensive planning in infrastructure, digital equity, cultural protection, and data governance.

  Journal of Community Informatics Special Issue: Charting Sovereignty in the Digital Age: Tribal Leadership, Broadband, and the Rise of Tribal Digital Sovereignty · 2026 · DOI

• The research highlights the need to explore the gendered dynamics that shape the use of vaginal practices. The study aims to address the lack of research on the importance of indigenous knowledge in addressing women's health and wellness.

  Indigenous knowledge and the adoption of vaginal practices among rural women: Insight from Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe · 2026 · DOI

• It addresses a gap in documented empirical knowledge regarding specific drought forecasting and mitigation strategies adopted by the Ndau people. Hence, this study presents a case study with recognisable and actionable strategies from a minority indigenous group in Zimbabwe, thereby contributing to the literature on IKS-based drought coping and mitigation strategies.

  Indigenous knowledge systems-based drought coping strategies and mechanisms of the Ndau people of Chipinge district, Zimbabwe · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of government and institutional support for IK, with a mean of 86.00%. The lack of integration with modern technologies, with a mean of 62.13%.

  Indigenous knowledge for innovation and sustainable livelihood in Ghana’s informal economy · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of empirical evidence in Ghana showing how IK systematically contributes to innovation and socio-economic outcomes in the informal sector.

  Indigenous knowledge for innovation and sustainable livelihood in Ghana’s informal economy · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need to understand the socio-demographic and geographic factors that influence local community knowledge of conservation initiatives. Previous studies have not fully investigated the relationship between socio-demographic factors and conservation knowledge.

  Socio-demographic and geographic factors influencing knowledge of the local community on community development initiatives supported by Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), northern Tanzania · 2026 · DOI

• The research highlights the need for policies that explicitly address the documentation and integration of indigenous knowledge.

  Documentation and integration of indigenous knowledge in public libraries for inclusive information services in Ghana · 2026 · DOI

• There is a gap in the understanding of the continuity of colonial ideas in contemporary early literacy policies. There is a need to examine the effects of colonial ideas on Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Zambia.

  At the cultural interface: Colonial ideas in Zambia's contemporary early literacy policies · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need to combine traditional Indian knowledge with modern science and technology. The potential of Indian Knowledge Systems in solving modern-day problems is not fully understood.

  Indian knowledge Systems helping the mankind in the present generation · 2026 · DOI

• The paper highlights the need to recognize ancestral knowledge as legitimate knowledge.

  La integración del paju en el proceso de enseñanza: Un análisis de la cosmovisión docente en la Amazonía ecuatoriana · 2026 · DOI

• Social influence was found to have the most predictive power among the high‑level variables. Small and medium enterprises’ intentions to adopt e‑banking are also predicted by aspects such as performance and effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and trust and disruption. The implications for banks in the CMA region are as follows.

  Ubuntu as a contributing factor to small business e-banking adoption · 2026 · DOI

• Limited exposure of women to conservation discussions due to household responsibilities or sociocultural norms. Differences in perception of natural resources between those with indigenous knowledge and those with modern knowledge.

  Socio-demographic and geographic factors influencing knowledge of the local community on community development initiatives supported by Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), northern Tanzania · 2026 · DOI

• AP1 – List of theories identified AP2 – Elaboration on the purpose of teaching these theories PP1 – List of theories identified PP2 – Why mainly western theories Main category: planning theories taught Planning theories taught to students were reviewed for the possibility of leveraging IK to decolonise the curricula. The review reveals that South African planning theories curricula are mostly Eurocentric.

  Leveraging Indigenous Knowledge to Decolonise Planning Theory Curricula and Practice for Empowering Future Planners · 2026 · DOI

• Reduced fallow cycles (15-20 years to 2-5 years) constrain soil regeneration - Cultivation on steep slopes (> 20-30%) under high rainfall accelerates erosion and nutrient loss, leading to declining productivity and increased environmental degradation - Limited access to markets, technology, and institutional support further restricts its economic…

  Shifting cultivation in Northeast India: status, sustainability challenges and future prospects · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agriculture

• Dismantling the Divide Between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge · Development and Change · 1995 · 1,405 citations
• Connecting Diverse Knowledge Systems for Enhanced Ecosystem Governance: The Multiple Evidence Base Approach · AMBIO · 2014 · 1,048 citations
• Ways of knowing, being and doing: A theoretical framework and methods for indigenous and indigenist re‐search · Journal of Australian Studies · 2003 · 866 citations
• Framework for integrating indigenous and scientific knowledge for disaster risk reduction · Disasters · 2009 · 442 citations
• The Development of Indigenous Knowledge · Current Anthropology · 1998 · 441 citations
• Indigenous knowledge and science revisited · Cultural Studies of Science Education · 2007 · 401 citations
• The use of indigenous knowledge in development: problems and challenges · Progress in Development Studies · 2005 · 311 citations
• Coming Full Circle: Indigenous Knowledge, Environment, and Our Future · The American Indian Quarterly · 2004 · 303 citations
• An Anthropology of Knowledge · Current Anthropology · 2002 · 287 citations
• The right to research · Globalisation Societies and Education · 2006 · 280 citations

Most recent work

• From farm to resilience: evaluating the role of indigenous food plants in nutrition, market access, and livelihoods in the forest agroecological zone of Nigeria · Agroforestry Systems · 2026
• Social-ecological changes in traditional vanilla agroecosystems and their key role in biocultural landscape restoration · Ecology and Society · 2026
• Key lessons from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ farming systems: insights from a global review · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2026
• Crediting and citing Indigenous Knowledges within research · BioScience · 2026
• Indigenous knowledge systems in the collaborative governance of wetlands conservation in rural areas of Zimbabwe · South African Geographical Journal · 2026
• Legitimising Indigenous knowledge systems as a pathway to sustainable development · Discover Education · 2026
• Implications of land uses and land cover conversion on soil quality in the lower Alwero watershed Gambela region Western Ethiopia · Discover Sustainability · 2026
• Integrating agronomy into the framework of Sustainable Development Goals: a review · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2026
• Unlocking the ethnobotanical wisdom of millets: reviving ancient grains cultivation in the North Eastern Himalayan region of India for food, feed, fodder, and nutritional security · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2026
• Indigenous agricultural communication systems as pathways for knowledge transfer and adoption of sustainable farming practices in rural Ghana · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2026

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