Nankie M. Ramabu

Decolonising Research examines the effectiveness of Indigenous research methodologies for studying Africa while also examining their effectiveness for

The chapters in Decolonising Research: Indigenous Methodologies in Sub-Saharan Africa collectively illuminate the urgent need to reimagine research paradigms through the lens of indigenous epistemologies, ethics, and lived realities. Each contribution challenges the dominance of Western-centric methodologies by foregrounding African voices, philosophies, and cultural practices as legitimate and vital sources of knowledge. Whether through intersectionality in fieldwork, the ceremonial richness of Nilotic societies, or the ontological significance of silence, the book underscores the diversity and depth of indigenous ways of knowing that have long been marginalised in academic discourse.

There is a growing interest in conceptualising research participants’ voices across various disciplines and cultures, including African studies. However, the antithesis of voice—participants’ silence—remains largely unexplored. Known as “tidimalo” in Setswana and “lingo” among some Nilotic Lwo-speaking groups in southern South Sudan, silence is an integral part of communication across cultures. Despite its significance, silence has been marginalised and excluded from dominant discourse and qualitative research methodologies. This chapter draws on the two authors’ doctoral research conducted in Botswana (Ramabu) and South Sudan (Bedigen), focusing on vulnerable populations of women and children. Ramabu researched how Botswana's child protection system safeguards children from sexual abuse. Whereas Bedigen’s work focused on indigenous peacebuilding methods among the Nilotic ethnic groups in South Sudan (i.e., Dinka, Nuer, Acholi, Shilluk, and Anuak). It explores practical methodological approaches to engaging with silence during the research process and using it as data to complement voice utterances. The research highlights how silence has historically denied agency to women and children, excluding them from public spheres and decision-making processes.The chapter presents practical methods for generating, analysing, and interpreting silence, redefining it as more than an absence. It emphasises the potential of silence as a fruitful, creative, and ethical avenue for Botswana and South Sudan African communities. By paying attention to silence, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of cultural nuances and enhance indigenous knowledge generation. The chapter also discusses the implications of silence in decision-making and policymaking, advocating for its inclusion in ethical and integrated research inquiries.

A key contention underpinning both the motivation for producing this book and our approach is that Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has been the focus of Western-led research across multiple disciplines. The methods used and knowledge gained are often influenced by Western rather than African perspectives. While the outcomes of such research have contributed to recognisable national policies in the region, most research methodologies employed are Western-centric, often viewing Africa as a problem or a place without credible methods or processes of knowing. The persistent use of Western-centric theories and expertise has proven inadequate in providing a holistic understanding, leading to unsuitable theories, practices, and less pragmatic or sustainable solutions to various problems (i.e., political, social, and economic) on the continent. Moreover, African Indigenous knowledge systems are increasingly viewed as sources of knowledge, truths, and epistemic value in decolonising the curriculum. Yet, very little is known or recognised about suitable subaltern methodologies for researching SSA and the relevance of such Indigenous methods/processes in uniquely framing the epistemology/content of modern studies on the continent. This book suggests that methodologies utilised in SSA studies should originate from and align with the day-to-day processes of knowing (e.g., indigeneity, positionality, ethics, ceremony, botho, orality, silence, and joking relationships) that are often employed among major ethnic groups in South Sudan, Northern Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Nigeria, and Ghana. Our overall aim in this edited book is to address these deficiencies in both the theoretical and methodological research literature. As such, this book seeks to contribute to nuanced research methods and processes, indigeneity, and decolonising research methods.

Recently, there has been an academic shift in which decolonial rhetoric has generated interesting discussions highlighting the need to protect and promote indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) towards a decolonial solution. In Botswana, an Indigenous knowledge book by Chilisa et al. advocates for decolonising research methods, suggesting it could lead to curriculum decolonisation. However, research methods that are aligned to Botswana IKS remain undeveloped and unapplied. The chapter is conceptualised on the Afrocentric methodological approach, which emphasises the importance of African people participating in the knowledge construction and the methodologies utilised. Simply put, Botswana communities should see themselves as active agents in knowledge generation. Afrocentricity operationalises decolonisation of research methods, placing the Botswana people at the centre of knowledge production concerning phenomena and broader global affairs. Botswana’s knowledge generation is guided by the philosophy of Botho, which enshrines several moral codes and developmental values, forming a basis for decolonial scholarship.

Executive Summary This policy brief provides lessons learned from development of Botswana Christian Health & AIDS Intervention Program (BOCHAIP) 2022-2026 strategy. In this strategy development paper, we outline the process of strategy development in a community health service providing non-governmental organization, six months of strategy implementation and make recommendations for strategic planning. The findings from this community-based organisation’s strategic plan development process extends scholarship on non-governmental organization strategy planning and development scholarship The findings from this paper could be utilised by other civil society organisation that experience similar strategy development process realities while taking into consideration the uniqueness of each organisation.

This article examines perceptions of sexual functioning, satisfaction, and risk-taking related to voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) in Botswana. Twenty-seven focus group discussions were conducted in four purposively selected communities with community leaders, men, and women. Discussions were analyzed using an inductive content analytic approach. Perceptions of VMMC’s impact on sexual functioning and satisfaction varied. Increased satisfaction was attributed to improved penile health and increased ejaculatory latency time, whereas decreased satisfaction was attributed to erectile dysfunction and increased vaginal irritation during sex. Most participants thought sexual disinhibition occurred after circumcision; nevertheless, some women said they used male circumcision status as a marker of HIV status, thereby influencing sexual decision-making and partner selection. Messaging should emphasize that VMMC does not afford complete HIV protection. Optimizing VMMC’s impact requires increasing uptake while minimizing behavioral disinhibition, with a balance between potential messaging of improved sexual functioning and satisfaction and the potential impact on sexual disinhibition.

The continued debate in the field of bioethics, and my experience in the field, led to a pursuit of the question of collective moral claims and their justification. Being confronted with collective agency, the research process had to diverge from the traditional bioethics framework of individual autonomy to take into consideration the situation on the ground. This paper reflects on the fieldwork bioethical experiences which could inform current bioethical standpoints. My research findings suggest the consenting process in Botswana communities differs from conventional research ethics that are employed in other settings. Further research is required to determine the involvement of Kgosi [Community Leader] in the autonomy process in order to enhance protection of human subjects in local context. The findings in this study could help inform ongoing research on human subjects in the Botswana context as well as other settings with social autonomy realities.