NMK
Director General Prof Mary Gikungu, Murang’a County Deputy Governor Stephen Munania, and NMK Board Chair Edwin Abonyo during the official launch of the Indigenous Knowledge Innovation programme at the National Museums of Kenya on 28th January 2026.
The initiative seeks to turn traditional knowledge - long
preserved informally within communities - into protected intellectual assets
that can generate jobs, wealth and sustainable industries while ensuring
communities retain ownership and benefit from their heritage.
The programme, unveiled this week at the National Museums of
Kenya in Nairobi, will culminate in the 1st International Investment Conference
and Trade Fair on Indigenous Knowledge Intellectual Assets (IKIA Conference
2026), scheduled to take place in Murang’a County from April 21 to 23.
The conference will bring together community knowledge
holders, county and national governments, investors, entrepreneurs, researchers
and development partners to explore how indigenous knowledge can be converted
into market-ready innovations.
NMK said Kenya’s traditional foods, medicines, technologies,
performing arts, cultural expressions and heritage sites represent a largely
untapped economic resource that has for decades been vulnerable to exploitation
without benefit to the communities that developed it.
Speaking during the media launch, NMK Director General Prof
Mary Gikungu said the institution is actively identifying, documenting,
digitising and commercialising indigenous knowledge and intellectual assets,
treating them as a strategic resource for national development.
“The Indigenous Knowledge Documentation and Digitisation
Project in thirteen counties of Garissa, Kakamega, Kericho, Kilifi, Kisii,
Makueni, Marsabit, Muranga, Kisii, Siaya, Tharaka Nithi, Turkana and Vihiga has
been successfully rolled out,” Gikungu said.
“The project, among others, is fulfilling the core agenda of
NMK, in which intangible and tangible heritage is being harnessed and promoted
to contribute to the attainment of socio-economic development of the country.”
Prof Gikungu said the documentation exercise is being
implemented in phases and will eventually cover all 47 counties, in line with
the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act 2016.
“The main focus is to document and digitise indigenous knowledge assets of all the communities in Kenya,” she said.
“The first phase of documentation and digitisation has
resulted in the establishment of the indigenous knowledge innovation bank.”
The innovation bank, she explained, is a secure digital
platform that will store community knowledge at county level while linking it
to a national repository. The platform is designed to support value addition
and commercialisation, creating pathways for innovation while safeguarding
ownership and intellectual property rights for communities.
NMK Board Chair Edwin Abonyo said the initiative is about
reclaiming Kenya’s cultural identity and correcting years of neglect of
indigenous systems that existed long before Western influence.
“As a country, as a nation, as people, we forget that we existed way before the Western influence,” Abonyo said.
“We had our own traditional medicines, traditional foods and
traditional dances, but we ignored them for many years.”
Abonyo said the project has already been rolled out in 13
counties and that NMK’s intention is to expand it nationwide. He said the focus
is now shifting from documentation to practical use.
“We have reached a point where what we have documented must
begin to work for the people,” he said.
“What we are doing now is bringing that knowledge to the
forefront.”
Murang’a County Deputy Governor Stephen Munania, who was the
chief guest at the launch and will host the upcoming conference, said counties
have a critical role to play in turning indigenous knowledge into investable
assets that can support local economies.
“By investing in these assets, we are going to create
opportunities in the thousands of jobs, products and industries within this
sector,” Munania said.
“By recording indigenous knowledge and recognising it as
intellectual property, we are calling it what it truly is — an asset. And
assets must be invested in.”
Munania said Kenya risks losing billions of shillings if
indigenous knowledge remains undocumented and unprotected. He cited muratina, a
traditional drink developed by the Agikuyu community, as a clear example of how
communities lose out when their knowledge is commercialised elsewhere.
“You can find products like muratina being sold abroad, yet
the communities that originated them gain nothing,” he said.
“Someone in the UK is making millions of dollars by selling
it, and that is what we are trying to change.”
The deputy governor said the challenge now is to move beyond
stories preserved in people’s memories and turn them into nationally recognised
assets before monetisation.
“The shrines where people used to worship mean nothing if
those stories are not told,” Munania said.
“We need to move past stories being in the minds of people
by turning them into assets that belong to the country.”
According to NMK, the IKIA Conference 2026 will showcase
market-ready innovations rooted in tradition, including traditional foods and
cuisines, indigenous technologies such as pottery and regalia, medicinal
products, performing arts, cultural foods, crafts, creative arts, heritage
sites and cultural tourism experiences. Participants from the 13 pilot
counties, micro, small and medium enterprises, and community-based asset owners
will present their innovations to potential investors.
The conference will also provide a platform for discussions
on policy, intellectual property rights and commercialisation models, with the
aim of ensuring that indigenous knowledge holders benefit directly from
investments made using their heritage.
NMK officials said the programme is anchored in Kenya’s
Constitution and national legislation, which require the recognition,
protection and promotion of indigenous knowledge. They point to countries such
as China, India and Brazil, where cultural heritage contributes significantly
to national economies, as examples Kenya hopes to learn from.
