An Indigenous Language Model for Innovation and Technology Transfer in Agriculture.

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture requires effective communication of new innovations and technologies in the field to the people at the grass roots. Effective communication occurs through a language that the communicants understand best. Language is part of culture and culture as a way of people’s life encompasses beliefs, taboos and attitudes. These aspects affect how people perceive, internalize, react to and embrace issues, innovation and technology issues included. Information pertaining agricultural issues in Kenya is passed down to the people at the grassroots predominantly through English and Kiswahili. However, majority of the people engaging in agricultural activities at the grassroots use indigenous languages as their main language of interaction. Indigenous languages are the most effective engines of peoples’ cultures and self-identification forming cultural legacies through which all forms of human interaction are embraced. This then implies that indigenous languages have a key role to play in achieving the nation’s agricultural goals. Nonetheless, the importance of these languages in the agricultural process has been relatively neglected, compromising the achievement of sustainable agriculture. Adopting a descriptive design, this study demonstrates how indigenous languages relate to the transfer of innovation and technology for sustainable agriculture in Kenya. It further suggests a model for the incorporation of indigenous languages into the agricultural process, in Kenya, for sustainability.