AI tools may help Kenyan libraries preserve vanishing plant and farming knowledge
Ethnobotany
Traditional plant medicines and agricultural practices passed down through generations in Kenya exist mostly as oral knowledge, and without better systems to record them, those remedies and land-care techniques disappear when their keepers do.
Communities across Kenya hold deep knowledge about local plants, farming, and medicine, but much of it lives only in people's memories and spoken traditions. Special libraries attached to government and research institutions could be ideal places to save this knowledge, but they lack the tools to do it well. Researchers are now asking whether AI technologies could fill that gap by recording, organizing, and making this knowledge searchable before it's lost.
Key Findings
Kenyan academic libraries have begun exploring AI adoption, but lack of awareness and readiness remains a significant barrier
Oral Indigenous knowledge is structurally vulnerable to loss due to its tacit, unstructured, and experiential nature
AI technologies including knowledge graphs, automated transcription, NLP, and machine learning are identified as viable tools for Indigenous knowledge preservation, though infrastructural and policy gaps persist in emerging economies
chevron_right Technical Summary
This systematic review examines how AI tools like natural language processing and knowledge graphs could help special libraries in Kenya better capture and preserve Indigenous knowledge, which is currently at risk of being lost as oral traditions fade.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
A Systematic Review of Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous Knowledge Management in Special Libraries in Kenya
Indigenous knowledge comprises ecological and environmental knowledge, agricultural knowledge, medicinal knowledge, historical knowledge and cultural heritage and craftmanship deeply imbedded in th...
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Indigenous knowledge refers to the accumulated understanding of plants, ecosystems, and traditional practices developed by local and indigenous communities over generations. This knowledge is invaluable to plant science because it often points researchers toward medicinal properties, ecological
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