Abstract:
Indigenous knowledge is a local knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society. Soil and
water conservation practice using indigenous knowledge is a successful practice since they got
tremendous benefit. The objectives of the study were the exploration of the indigenous knowledge
in soil and water conservation practices for agricultural development in rural communities of
the Finfinnee special zone. The study used cross-sectional design. Data was collected from 85
respondents relevant to the study during the period between March and April 2017. Focus group
discussion, interviews and observations were the instruments of the study. The results were
presented using quoted phrases/statements, bar chart, percentage, pictures and brief
explanations. The finding showed that, people in the study area have good perception; There
were types, tools and mechanisms to acquire, share, store and use indigenous knowledge which
were weedduu sabaa, seenaa faaruu, walaloo, suunsuma, hibbo-hibbaka, geerarsa, oduu durii
odeessii, jigii, ciigoo(sabooka-soorgo- soorko), mammaaksa and sirbba, and the developed
framework clearly transformed common sense of the farmers’ engagement with their own
indigenous institutions (Gadaa system and Waaqeffanna) However, there were factors affected
the indigenous knowledge practice such as the expansion of Finfinnee and urbanization,
globalization and nationalization, weakening of indigenous institutions, population growth, lack
of mass media and lack of technical know-how of professional and administrative bodies. The
study concludes the sense that improves Indigenous knowledge in soil and water conservation
practice in acquiring, sharing, storing and usage. The study recommends that all sectors should
be involved in institutionalizing the Indigenous knowledge in soil and water conservation
practice that may reflect for farmers’ bottom to top practice and future study should consider
incorporating various technologies like knowledge based system, case based system, hybrid
system for effectiveness and efficiency of Indigenous knowledge in soil and water conservation
practices.
