Indigenous Religious Environmentalism in Africa

Religion & development/Religion and development, 2024

In Africa the environment is sacrosanct and treated with great respect, particularly in communities where traditional beliefs and practices prevail. The sacredness of the environment is based on the African people's fundamental belief that the spiritual and the secular worlds are two sides of the same coin endowed with divine power and presence. As a result, the line of demarcation between the two worlds is blurred. They complement each other in the sense that each derives its meaning, significance and importance from the other. Since the natural world is imbued with the divine, it is considered an extension of the supernatural world. In the absence of written legal frameworks, the environment, in indigenous communities, is protected through religious beliefs and practices. This article analyses the basic approaches of the African people towards nature and their fundamental belief that the environment is an integral part of God's creation and must therefore be preserved and conserved for future generations. The article notes that in contemporary Africa the emphasis on material values is leading towards the total destruction of the environment, thus putting humanity at the intersection of self-destruction -something that needs to be avoided at all costs. Religion & Development 2 (2023) 445-462

Association for the Promotion of African Studies, 2021

AFRICAN INDIGENOUS ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS: RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

This research article is about the African religious worldview in conservation of natural environmental resources using the Sengwer tribe as a case in point. The Sengwer are a hunter -gatherer tribe who inhabit the Cherang'any Hills forests in the northwestern part of Kenya. The current environmental situation in the area is worsening due to the destruction of the water catchment area, which threatens human existence in the region. Measures laid down by the government and various stakeholders to tackle environmental degradation have not yielded the expected results. This prompted research to ascertain the Sengwer religious worldview on natural resource conservation and the challenges they face in utilizing their indigenous religion to combat environmental crisis. The findings of the study established that the Sengwer religious worldview dovetails with environment conservation. The main components of the Sengwer worldview, the Supreme Being, ancestors, the universe, the community and their social system provided a framework for sustainable utilization and conservation of natural resources. The study identified the various challenges that the Sengwer face, and the measures they have taken to ensure that they can utilize their religion to tackle the environment crisis. This paper provides salient recommendations on how various stakeholders can partner with and utilizes the indigenous African religion in conservation efforts, and is expected to benefit government agencies, policy makers, and researchers in environment matters and religion.

International Journal of Religion and Human Relations Vol 12(1), 2016

African Traditional Religion recognizes the sacred quality of the ecological system because it serves as dwelling place for divinities, deities, spirits as well as the medium through which the sovereign or Supreme Being (God) can be reached. It has been discovered that the influence of modernism and secularism has created an irrevocable havoc and devastation to the ecological system and unspeakable catastrophe to African Traditional Religion. The objective of this paper was to examine the African ecological philosophy as a practice and ideology of resolving the present world ecological problem. This article adopts phenomenological method. The work recommends that both government and traditional societies should put serious measures to check the wanton destruction of the ecological system.

and the Environment The world is currently experiencing the severe consequences of the mismanagement of the environmental. This environmental crisis is posing a serious threat to the existence of the human person alongside other living organisms within the ecosystem as the exploitation of nature is finding expression in deforestation, desertification, extinction of species, forced migration, bush fire, air pollution, soil erosion, oil depletion, ozone depletion, greenhouse gas increase, extreme energy, water pollution, natural disasters, metals and solid minerals depletion, etc., (Gwamna 2016). Chiras (1989) sums up the fears in these words: "Together, the problems of overpopulation, depletion, and pollution have created an ecological crisis-a threat to the integrity of natural systems of which humans are part, and therefore a threat to the survival of human life." (p. 5) Regarding deforestation, which involves the removal of forest products, thereby converting the land to a non-forest use, is resulting in the damage of the habitat, biodiversity loss, aridity, etc. As a result of the disappearance of tropical rainforests, ecosystems preserved in these thick forests are facing extinction. Human activities such as digging of the soil and cutting down of plants have led to erosion (Ehrenfed 1978). Thus, nutrients needed by plants are washed away by erosion; there is also the reduction of the quality and quantity of land, the pilling of sediments inside streams, lakes, brooks and other bodies of water, etc., which is not healthy for the orgnisms residing in these water bodies. There is also the pollution of the air, land and water bodies with toxic substances and noise which impair the normal functioning of the ecosystem by spreading tropical diseases, extreme weather condition, crop failures, poor crop Introduction African Ecological Spirituality Edited By: Ikechukwu Anthony KANU, OSA, PhD xi today. Pope Francis (2015) articulates the need for a wholistic approach to ecological crisis thus: We urgently need a humanism capable of bringing together the different fields of knowledge, including economics, in the service of a more integral and integrating vision. Today, the analysis of environmental problems cannot be separated from the analysis of human, family, work-related and urban contexts, nor from how individuals relate to themselves, which leads in turn to how they relate to others and to the environment. There is an interrelation between ecosystems and between the various spheres of social interaction, demonstrating yet again that the whole is greater than the part (no. 141). This is very important given the place that the human person occupies in the world or the universe. The human person is not just like other existing realities; and this is not in any way meant to disregard the integrity of other existing realities but to emphasize the central place of the human person in the ecosystem. The promotion of urbanization, industrialization and communization at the expense of the human person without whom such a promotion has no value is not sustenable (Delaney, 2009). Focusing on the rights of human persons as equal 'citizens' of this earth, Francis (2015) adds that: "human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life, and happiness, and endowed with unique dignity. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people's lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture" (no. 43). Interestingly, in the face of all these, Africa is today united by the consciousness that individual destinies are caught up with the health of natural systems at the national, regional and continental levels. This Book of Readings on African Ecological Spirituality: Perspectives in Anthroposophy and Environmentalism A cursory glance at the historical development of African anthroposophy, reveals that African earth-based spiritual traditions and innovative spiritual practices that are emerging in response to the painful realities of climate change, mass extinction, biodiversity loss, and the disruption of local and global ecosystems have for long not received the attention that it deserves. This work, therefore, would become one of the greatest ornaments and lights in the world of African eco-spirituality as it responds to questions that are long overdue from the world of African spirituality.

Bangladesh journal of bioethics, 2022

The pantheistic view of nature enshrined in African traditional religious beliefs and thought system has propelled a myriad of African scholars to hold that human-nature relations is environmentcentered. This is a result of the ineptitude of some scholars to critically analyze the complexity involved in the discourse on human-nature relations in traditional African religious beliefs. An in-depth understanding of African traditional religious environmental ethics requires a full grasp of African ontology. On this note, to clear this age-old misconception about traditional African notions on humannature relations, this research aims at simplifying the complexity or ambiguity surrounding the discourse. The paper argues vehemently that African religious belief in human-nature relations is absolutely anthropocentric.

E-JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (EHASS), 2024

Environmental destruction in Ghana appeared to be the hottest of the political issues in the run-up to the 2024 General Elections. The study sought to unravel the possible factors militating against Ghana’s efforts in the fight against environmental destruction. It also postulates certain intentional and coordinated activities that the religious bodies in Ghana can undertake in contributing to salvaging the ecological crisis. Using the qualitative method, and a purposive sampling technique, some players in the environmental economy such as individuals, traditional leaders, religious leaders, and government officials were interviewed. In addition, for firsthand information, efforts were made to visit some Akan communities to observe how the people behave toward their environment. This paper argues that the ecological narrative in Akan communities has changed chiefly because of social conflicts, engineered by factors such as the basic needs of humans, politicization, desacralization, materialism, economics, “development,” culture, chieftaincy, international relations, tenancy, religion, civil action and many more. However, Akan religious people to whom this paper has pointed fingers as part of the problem, have what it takes to contribute to salvaging the environmental crisis in Ghana. The paper recommends that religious bodies engage in the intensification of ecological conversation and building ecological congregations by employing eco-pedagogy and making investments in environmental protection ventures in Ghana.

2020

Using an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, this study investigates the ecotheological contributions of three main interlocutors from East and Southern Africa, namely Samson Gitau, Kapya Kaoma and Jesse Mugambi, all of whom are African theologians. The three theologians seek to address ecological degradation from an African ecological perspective, by drawing on African Indigenous Knowledge Systems and African Christianity and Religiosity. The contributions of the three theologians in their respective chapters enable the study to identify the systems and practices that are under-researched and not utilised even though they are ecologically sensitive systems. Owing to a number of factors, African Indigenous Wisdom Knowledge Systems have not been adequately explored. African Indigenous Wisdom is a body of knowledge systems with ecological overtones. From a theological and African religiosity perspective, Gitau, Kaoma and Mugambi highlight the need for natural theology to be adopted by the Church as an institution. Gitau stresses the importance of relations based on the African concept of God, humanity and creation. The study addresses the gap in the existing knowledge by drawing on the main interlocutors to investigate the ecological crisis and by adopting an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach. According to this approach, as applied by Gitau, Kaoma and Mugambi, the indigene's systems are not adequately explored and churches in Africa are ecologically insensitive. African churches ought to embrace Indigenous Wisdom Knowledge Systems and form an African eco-theology. The study has brought to the fore the ecological overtones of African religious belief systems and African Christianity that, together, provide the basis for Christian ecological ethics inside and outside the faith community. Gitau, Kaoma and Mugambi condemn the Church as an institution and other voices for not taking a leading role in addressing contemporary ecological issues.

Natural resource management issues in developing countries are increasingly mimicking western theories and the contribution of indigenous cultures and institutions are often overlooked. This research examines the role traditional belief systems and indigenous knowledge and practices have played in the management and conservation of natural environmental resources in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Some cultural practices and belief systems like sacrifices, worship, the Tindaanaship organization and the Tingaane civilization and how the Tindaanas (chief priest) communicates through the Tingaane (shrines and sacred groves) to the ancestral spirits or gods, how the people are punished if the gods are provoked were examined. The study revealed that the significant attribute of the belief systems that rest on the ascription of supernatural powers to some parts of the environment as the home of the gods has significantly helped to conserve the natural environment. The protection of these homes/areas from utilization, exploitation and use explicitly encourages conservation of environmental resources. Forbidden areas and totemic items/objects associated with worship immensely promoted conservation of resources. Over the years, traditional belief systems, practices and indigenous knowledge strategies that conserve the natural resources have been eroded or corroded by western cultural infiltration and religion. The study recommends a re-visitation of the traditional belief systems and cultural practices that promote the management, preservation and conservation of natural resources for the sustainable development of the Upper East Region and the nation at large.

Th e way many Ghanaians relate to the environment now is not the best; they just do not care about how to handle the environment in a sustainable way. Th ey have forgotten that life is environment and environment is life due to rapid cultural change, population explosion etc. Th ere is indiscriminate logging, annual bushfi res, illegal surface mining, bad farming practices, dumping of human and industrial wastes into our water bodies and the like. It is estimated that over 90 percent of Ghana’s high forest has been logged since the late 1940s. Th e sanitation situation is growing from bad to worst as the records show. All eff orts to salvage the situation over the years have failed to yield the needed results. It is for this reason that this paper argues strongly for the inclusion of indigenous Ghanaian religion and culture in this fi ght, for they have proven to be eco-biased religion and culture due to the environmentally benefi cial mechanisms inherent in them. Specifi cally, the traditional Akan use their conception of land, taboos, totemism, sacred groves and sasa to ensure the conservation of nature. Th erefore, this paper believe, the time has come for us to forge a common ground in our eff orts to fi nd a lasting solution to our environmental problems from both the perspectives of science and that of Indigenous Spiritualities and Culture.