The North West University is a pioneer of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems in South Africa and the African continent at large (it all starts here). The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation - National Research Foundation Center of Excellence in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (DSTI-NRF CEIKS) is housed by the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (FNAS) at the North West University’s Mahikeng delivery site. 

The DSTI-NRF CEIKS partner institutions are the University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) which is the hub, North West University (NWU), University of Limpopo (UL), and University of Venda (UNIVEN). The DSTI - NRF CEIKS is also part of the African Institute in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIIKS), a UNESCO C2C, which is a global consortium of over 30 higher education and autonomous research institutions across all African linguistic regions. The Institute is based on the Hub and Nodes model. The AIIKS has its Hub at the DSI - NRF Centre of Excellence in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (CIKS), at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa. The CIKS is a Centre of Excellence (CoE) funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa. 

The main responsibilities of the CEIKS are to facilitate co created research, education and training, information brokerage, networking and service rendering. This is in line with the aspirations of the South African National IKS Policy (2004), CAPS (2011), IKS Bill (2016) and now the IKS ACT (2019) which has identified IKS as a national asset, a key component of human capital, decolonization, social cohesion, transformation and sustainable development. 

Indigenous Knowledge Systems is known as “Kitso ya tlhago” (Setswana), “Zivo yechivanhu” (Shona), “Bitivi ba ndaboku” (Tsonga), “Ulwazi le sintu” (isiZulu), “Ndivho nga ha mvelele na vhuvha” (Venda), Inheemse kennis stelsels (Afrikaans). Language, spirituality, epistemology, cosmology, philosophy, methodology, axiology are important component of IKS. The DSTI-NRF CEIKS host the Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (BIKS) which is a unique, professional four (04) years degree approved by the NWU Senate, Institutional Committee for Academic Standards (ICAS), now known as the Qualification and Academic Programme Planning (QAPP), South African Qualification Authority (SAQA), Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the Council for Higher Education (CHE). On the 05/05/2026, the DSTI - NRF CEIKS graduated 98 BIKS graduates at North West University, Mafikeng campus. The DSTI - NRF CEIKS also offers the Masters of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (MIKS) and the PhD in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (PhD IKS) with close to 20 extra ordinary researchers and professors.

The DSTI - NRF CEIKS is inter - multidisciplinary and it is involved in the teaching, learning, research and community engagement across and with two niche areas: Indigenous Agriculture, Climate Change and Food Security and the second one is Indigenous Arts, Culture and Heritage. The programmes at the DSTI - NRF CEIKS are developed and designed to recognize, develop, protect, promote and affirm IKS as a body of knowledge relevant to the global knowledge economy. The holistic and community-based nature of IKS provides a foundation for a link between researchers and IK holders and practitioners in local communities. The inter - multidisciplinary nature of IKS makes it unique and relevant to the North West University `s dreams, current discourse in African Renaissance, decolonization, transformation including cultural diversity.