Factors Influencing Indigenous Knowledge Data Elicitation from Herbal Medicinal Practitioners in South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge (IK) has faced and is still facing threats of extinction owing to lack of or inadequate documentation of its processes and usefulness. Researches in IK have, for many years, suffered a herculean task of data elicitation which in essence has negatively affected its documentation. This study was carried out to establish factors that influence IK data elicitation. Traditional medicinal indigenous knowledge (MIK) formed the scope of the investigation with a limit to herbal medicine practices in South-western Nigeria. Grounded theory research design employing interviewing and direct observation data collection methods was used to collect data from purposive sampled respondents of 20 herbalists across six states of South-western Nigeria. Findings revealed that familiarity and compensation facilitate openness of knowledge holders to share information. Thus, researchers should engage the service of key informants and be willing to compensate knowledge holders for their effort so as to achieve a successful enquiry process.

Keywords: South-western Nigeria, Data elicitation, Indigenous Knowledge, Grounded Theory, Traditional Medicinal Indigenous Knowledge