From western frameworks to epistemically plural governance: a knowledge governance typology for regenerative agricultural supply chains in Africa

Purpose The paper develops a knowledge governance model for regenerative agricultural supply chains in Africa. Existing frameworks assume formal institutions, codified scientific knowledge, and reliable digital infrastructure. African settings, where indigenous ecological norms serve as protective ecological infrastructure operating near irreversibility thresholds, require a different starting point. Design/methodology/approach The paper follows a three-stage theory-building approach. Stage 1 reviews existing knowledge governance models and their limits in African settings. Stage 2 draws on published African case studies to specify recurring challenges. Stage 3 combines typological and prescriptive theorising to produce a 2 × 2 matrix of governance contexts, paired with if-then guidance. Findings The model organises knowledge governance contexts along two dimensions: (1) epistemic-cultural complexity, the challenge of integrating multiple knowledge traditions while respecting culturally specific norms around authority, access and sharing and (2) institutional-infrastructural risk, the vulnerabilities arising where formal governance infrastructure is absent or weak. Crossing them yields four archetypes: Ubuntu-grounded knowledge platforms, community-embedded knowledge stewardship, epistemically just knowledge partnerships and resilient knowledge networks, each with design rules for sharing norms, governance structures, justice safeguards and coordination mechanisms. Originality/value The paper makes three contributions. It introduces epistemic-cultural complexity as a core knowledge governance dimension in African supply chains; it reconceptualises knowledge polycentrism through Ubuntu, Ujamaa and Ọ̀mọ̀lúwabí while integrating the protective-ecological function of indigenous norms, showing that knowledge governance and ecological protection form a single coordinated problem; and it specifies a prescriptive typology assigning differentiated catalytic responsibilities to downstream supply chain actors.