Read the full report at http://www.uneca.org/eca_programmes/sdd/documents/Knowledge%20policies%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20in%20Africa.pdf

I have copied a select few paragraphs here:


In the African context, however, strong Evangelical and Islamic undercurrents with
enormous funds and power have been proliferating on the fertile grounds of poverty,
illiteracy, despair, innocence, credulity, trustfulness, anxieties and vulnerabilities. This
strong faith-based knowledge is changing the environment-economy equation. At the praxis
level, for instance, the islamization of knowledge has transformed the Sahel, the Magreb
and the Horn into massive pastoral grounds, with deforestation and soil erosion, aimed at
raising sheep for, among others, the celebration of Aid el Kebir. The human crises in the
heart of Christian Africa (Rwanda) and in the heart of Islamic Africa (Darfour) can also be
seen as environmental (eco-socio) crises. Page 12


7 Knowledge Demythologization and Remythologization

7.1 Scientific knowledge and scientific culture (knowledge de-deification


Mythologies hypnotize people, particularly early in childhood. They manipulate societies as
much as societies manipulate them. In Africa, mythological Gods - not scientific knowledge
- pervade African mindsets. These gods have the power of invading all areas of human life
(To a man with an empty stomach, food is God -Mahatma Gandhi). This is exemplified by
the following examples taken from the local press. A group of Imams in northern Nigeria
obstinately defends the idea that God commands all African men to grow beards in a certain
shape and a certain length. A young Mauritanian girl agrees with genital mutilation, veiling
and forced marriage ‘because god wants me to’. A preacher in Sudan explains the particular
way god wants wives to be beaten by their husbands. Still more telling is perhaps what is
not making news. Indeed, the African Christian mindscape, for example is full of truly
amazing weird winged anthropomorphic figures or humanoids such as phantoms, ghosts,
spirits, angels, archangels, guardian angels and devils. It is full of myths, such as divine
conceptions, immortality (pharaohs), after-lives, guiding stars, annunciations, miracles and
salvation – mythologies that predate Christianity.
These mythologies are kept alive with extensive rituals and celebrations. Mythological
indigenous knowledge, on the other hand, is filled with deities, spirits, superstitions,
fallacies, fictions, specters, phantasmagorias, chimeras, misconceptions, confabulations,
palavers, fantasies, and ancient cults, rituals and taboos. In many African languages the
word ‘god’, particularly in Islamic and Christian Africa, is continuously repeated throughout the day in salutations, enquiries, thanking, etc. Mythologies and superstitions are
by no means limited to Africa and to developing countries but African mythologies,
whether imported or home grown, are not helpful for bringing about a scientific culture and
is – under certain conditions - quite useless, if not counterproductive, to achieve sustainable
development. It is useless, for instance, for competing with China in low-tech industrial
goods, the main industrial competitor of Africa. There is an urgent need for de-deifying
African knowledge.

7.2 Faith-based knowledge lacks critical values (knowledge valuation)
Faith-based medieval (Middle Eastern) orthodox knowledge could also contribute more to
the sustainable development effort. This knowledge provides sound ethical bases for
development but these are largely incomplete and insufficient for sustainable development.
It profoundly influences the collective psyches, behaviors and development of many
Africans. Indeed, Evangelical24 and Qur’anic25 knowledge, for instance, promoted by
ubiquitous knowledge centers (churches and mosques), is amongst the most powerful ‘soft’
knowledge ever fashioned by humans and possibly the most influential knowledge
possessed by many Africans, who, in turn, are somewhat possessed by this knowledge. This
double possession may excessively focus many African minds and actions on speculative
knowledge for life-after-death (Wiredu, 1992) and on irrelevant and unproductive
knowledge for sustainable development. It is worth recalling that when Christianity
conquered the Roman Empire in the 3rd century it precipitated Western civilization into a
one-thousand years decline and when Islam conquered large parts of Africa in the 8th
century it kept them somewhat frozen, in many fundamental aspects, one thousand years in
the past.

To contribute more to sustainable development, this knowledge could evolve into more
efficient value-laden knowledge, such as democratic governance; fundamental freedoms;
gender equality and the full utilization of feminine talents, ingenuity and knowledge;
affection and care for nature; a concern for the future; superiority of scientific knowledge
over saintly scriptures; and a focus on life before death26 – all necessary conditions of
knowledge-enhanced sustainable development. Indeed, an emphasis on life before death and
an emphasis on relevant and reliable knowledge for sustainable development could save
millions of lives. Vigorously promoted by a pervasive and expanding physical and human
infrastructure27 - not exactly a fountain of fresh knowledge - this knowledge, in many
circumstances, constitutes a virtual owners’ manual for one’s life, especially for Africansof-
one-book (Hamel, 2004), which under certain conditions may not be conducive to
sustainable development. Page 24