ILLUMINATING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE FROM AN INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVE: INSIGHTS FROM A QUALITATIVE STUDY WITH DAGARA COMMUNITIES OF LAWRA DISTRICT, GHANA

Abstract

This thesis draws on the wisdom of Dagara people in Lawra District, Ghana and illuminates the resilience of their community, describes their strategies to build community resilience, and explores how Dagara indigenous knowledge contributes to community resilience. The research is based on a qualitative case study that was carried out by the principal researcher with a Dagara woman and man as research assistants. Philosophically, the research subscribes to an indigenous research paradigm. Dagara women, men, girls and boys interviewed shared that in considering community resilience the important factors were the sense of community, the chronic environment of risk people face, the capacities they can draw upon to respond to risk, and the processes and strategies they use. They articulated the “the hand of resilience” which consists of five fingers/strategies for building community resilience: (i) revitalizing culture and spirituality, (ii) healing the ecological system, (iii) enhancing sustainable livelihoods, (iv) remembering the strengths and values of women and men and (v) taking action to overcome challenges. These strategies are based on a conceptual understanding of community resilience from the Dagara world view perspective that combines kanyir (courage and patience), longta (belongingness) and nolang (unity and togetherness). Learning from this research helped to articulate a transdisciplinary conceptual framework for community resilience and to propose a new model of community resilience informed by Dagara wisdom. During a time when resilience is getting much attention in the development literature this transdisciplinary study encourages people to consider learning from the Dagara and other indigenous people about their own conception of resilience, and their own strategies for ensuring resilience, so that the conceptualization and approach to building community resilience does not become another colonizing concept.