At the symposium 36 papers were presented, expressing the wide range of subjects
covered by indigenous knowledge. The abstracts of a selection of 25 papers are presented
below. Most of the papers can be obtained from the International Institute of Rural
Reconstruction (IIRR) in Silang, Cavite, The Philippines.
Papers Presented
Below is an alphabetical list of all papers presented at the symposium.
Abaya, Eufracio C. Panagawat Iti Bagi: Understanding Local Praxis on Health, Sickness and Healing.
Adimihardja, Kusnaka Rice and Fish: Dual Function of Rice Fields among the Kasepuhan People in West Java, Indonesia.
Atte, Oluwayomi David Indigenous Knowledge and Local Level Development: The Participatory Approach.
Bhandari, Rajendra Man Singh and Ridish K. Pokharel The Indigenous Communal Forest Management System of Lachok Village, Kaski District, West Nepal.
Bhuktan, Jit P., Glenn L. Denning and Sam Fujisaka Traditional Organization of Livestock Farming System Among Nepalese Small Farmer Households.
Boonto, Sutee Karen's Indigenous Knowledge, Forest Management and Sustainable Development in Upland Northern Thailand.
Duhaylungsod, Levita Local Resource Management Strategies: A Case Example from Upland Laguna.
Fujisaka, Sam, P. Elliot, E. Jayson and A. Dapusala Where There Has Been No 'Green Revolution': Farmers' Upland Rices and Related Knowledge in Mindanao, Philippines.
Ghimire, N.P. Indigenous Methods of Livestock Health Care in Nepal.
Gonzaga, Trell The Agricultural Approach to Family Planning.
Gupta, Anil K. and Kirit Patel Survey of Innovations for
Sustainable Development: Do Methods Matter?
Hardison, Preston D. and William Harp The International Conservation Software Project.
Hyndman, David Ancient Futures for Indigenous People: Cultural and Biological Diversity Through Self-Determination.
Inglis, Julian International Program on Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Kabuye, Christine The Indigenous Food Plants Programme of Kenya.
Liebenstein, G.W. von, M. Veldhuis and G. M. van Westrienen Promoting the International IK-Network: The Supportive Role of CIRAN.
Macías-López, Antonio The Study and Utilization of Indigenous Knowledge Systems at CEICADAR.
Martinez, Ruben Z. Indigenous Knowledge Communication and Promotion among Non-Government Organizations in the Philippines.
Mathias-Mundy, Evelyn and Constance M. McCorkle Ethnoveterinary Research: Lessons for Development.
Messerschmidt, Donald A. Indigenous Knowledge (IK) for Community Forestry Management: The Link between Knowledge and Application, with Examples from Research in Nepal.
Mula, Rosana P. A Schema for the Establishment for an in Situ Gene Bank for Sweet Potato.
Mundy, Paul and J. Lin Compton Indigenous Communication and Indigenous Knowledge: Concepts and Interfaces.
Obomsawin, Raymond Culture: Today's Great Unanswered Issue in Development.
Palomar, Manuel K., G.R. Roa, R.T. Sanico, E.A. Vasquez, C.S. del Rosario and P.M. Tan Indigenous Knowledge on Pests among Sweet Potato Growers in Leyte.
Palomares, M.L.D. and D. Pauly FISHBASE as a Worldwide Computerized Repository of Ethno-Ichthyology or Indigenous Knowledge of Fishes.
Prain, Gordon D. Local Knowledge and Global Resources: User Participation in Crop Germplasm Research.
Reichel, Elizabeth Lessons from Indigenous Knowledge: Shamanistic Modes for Environmental Accounting in the Colombian Amazon.
Segismundo, Ma. Chona Filipino Traditional Medicine: Building a Relevant Health Care System.
Serrano, Rogelio, Romy Labios and Ly Tung Establishment of a National Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge: The Case of PHIRCSDIK.
Siar, Susana V., Rolando S. Ortega and Alessandro S. Babol Learning From Fishers: Indigenous Knowledge and SEAFDEC's Pilot Seafarming and Searanching Project.
Slikkerveer, L. Jan Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge Systems in Kenya (East Africa): Origins, Development and Prospects.
Tamang, Devika Indigenous Soil Fertility Management in the Hills of Nepal: Lessons from an East-West Transect.
Titilola, S. Tunji The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Rural Development Activities for Sustainable Development in Nigeria.
Ulliwishewa, Rohana Indigenous Knowledge System for Sustainable Development: The Case of Pest Control by Traditional Paddy Farmers in Sri Lanka.
Wongsamun, Chaicharn Indigenous Agricultural Technology: A Case Study in Northeast Thailand.
Please see for addresses of the authors listed above, 'List of participants'.
Abstracts
The abstracts of 25 papers are presented below.
Agriculture
Where There Has Been No 'Green Revolution': Farmers' Upland Rices
and Related Knowledge in Mindanao, Philippines,
S. Fujisaka, P. Elliot, E. Jayson and A. Dapusala
The paper examines the upland rice species and farmers' evaluations of these species in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental provinces in Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. Some 100 upland rice farmers from several municipalities were selected and interviewed about their upland rice cultivars. Each farmer was asked to name the upland rice cultivars he or she was growing in the current wet season of 1992, the area planted to each, the good and bad characteristics associated with each cultivar, cultivars planted in the past but discontinued and reasons for discontinuation (in Bukidnon only), and traits desired in an ideal upland rice cultivar. Respondents were also encouraged to discuss openly their rice cultivars, reasons for their choices, and ways that they obtained or selected cultivars.
Results showed that upland farmers in Bukidnon grow local rice cultivars, mainly Dinorado, along with some 17 others. Farmers in Claveria, Misamis Oriental, grow local cultivars (mainly Speaker) and the improved UPLRi5. This contrasts with the situation in the irrigated lowlands, where 'modern' varieties have been adopted.
In terms of desirable characteristics for rice varieties, farmers want high yields, adaptability to local soils, not overly long duration (but not so short that the crop is instable in the face of stresses), lodging resistance, high milling recovery, and pest and disease resistance. Farmers also emphasized taste and maintenance of taste in stored grain, hardness of cooked leftovers, attractiveness to birds and chickens, and the difficulty of handling awned rices. The farmers' knowledge of and selection criteria for rice cultivars are basically 'scientifically' sound. Farmers are correct in that plant architecture, grain size, and relative timing of grain development influence losses to birds; plant architecture influences weed competitiveness; aromatic plants can be relatively more attractive to some insect pests; some cultivars are more tolerant of acid or poor soils; and sharp awns are difficult to handle.
The authors emphasize that both farmers and researchers need to contribute to the development of improved and adoptable upland rices. Farmers can contribute selection criteria about which researchers currently know little, such as deterioration of taste over time, hardening of cooked leftovers or expansion when cooked. On the other hand, researchers will continue to investigate such things as nutrient uptake dynamics, mechanics of drought resistance, and different strategies for seeking blast resistance.
Providing a 'green revolution' in the uplands may be difficult precisely because farmers make sound selection choices, practise sound management, and are successful to the degree that the risks inherent in the system allow.
The Indigenous Food Plants Program of Kenya,
Christine Kabuye
The importance of indigenous knowledge in development, especially for the sustainable use of natural resources, has been recognized in Kenya through the Indigenous Food Plants Program (IFPP). This programme aims to improve diets as well as preserve cultural practices and biodiversity. It is part of two complementary centres at the National Museums of Kenya-- the Centre for Biodiversity and the new Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge. Both are charged with providing data for use in conservation and development.
IFPP has three components: ethno-botanical, research, and nutritional research and extension. Since its inception, it has involved rural communities, first as sources of information on food plants, and later, as promoters of the same foods on a larger scale in their communities. IFPP encouraged these communities to take a greater interest in the continued use, conservation, and propagation of 'wild' food plants.
The programme has collected and recorded information from communities. It is doing food value analyses on local plant materials. Results from these are taken back to the communities, together with recommendations for 'focal species': i.e. species that are most worthwhile to grow. From this research, a computerized database is being developed which contains information on food plants, their nutritional value, their appropriate habitat and growing conditions, and methods of preparation.
To promote the results of its research, IFPP has initiated several extension and promotional activities. These involve setting up demonstration gardens at museums; providing educational materials on focal species; supplying seeds to schools and communities; encouraging projects on wild food plants; holding training and promotional workshops; producing a quarterly newsletter in which latest findings are given; and participating in agricultural and world food days.
IFPP is learning from local people, who are now seen as having a contribution to make to improving food security, the nutritional base, and the preservation of cultural and indigenous knowledge. A few local species of vegetables and fruit trees have been found to be marketable. It is hoped that as new plants are cultivated, they will contribute to conserving biodiversity and to general national development.
Local Knowledge and Global Resources: User Participation in
Crop Germplasm Research,
Gordon D. Prain
The development of new plant hybrid varieties has accelerated the collection and conservation of crop germplasm. Large numbers of plant accessions have been collected; however, many have not been properly characterized. Rural people, on the other hand, are local experts, keen observers and classifiers of their immediate environment and especially of its resources. Their information on cultivars and associated practices should be utilized to complement global genetic resources research and development. This paper explores how this local expertise can be mobilized in an integrated genetic resources research initiative.
Mobilization can occur in three principal ways: through participation of users (1) as consultants, (2) as evaluators who receive new genetic material, evaluate it, pass information on to researchers, and disseminate good material among the local population, and (3) as research curators of in situ collections.
The three ways are illustrated with projects conducted by the International Potato Center (CIP) in Latin America and the User's Perspective with Agricultural Research and Development (UPWARD) in Asia. All projects involve tapping local expertise for the improved conservation and utilization of root crop germplasm. The projects focus on: (1) interdisciplinary collection of Ipomoea batatas germplasm and associated indigenous knowledge in Irian Jaya, Indonesia; (2) 'memory banking' of indigenous varieties and technologies-- systematic documentation of the indigenous practices of local farmers associated with traditional varieties of staple and supplementary crops; (3) group assessment of new sweet potato varieties: identification of farmers' selection criteria; (4) identification of farmers' selection criteria for the sweet potato through participatory trials; (5) farmer-managed integrated seed programmes; and (6) in situ conservation of root crop diversity in the Philippines.
Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge Systems in Kenya (East
Africa): Origins, Development and Prospects,
L. Jan Slikkerveer
Despite efforts to increase fertilizer and chemical use in Kenya, agricultural production has failed to provide the growing population with adequate domestic food products. Imported crop varieties have hastened the destruction, degradation and depletion of Kenya's natural resources and intricate ecosystems. In remote areas, however, communities still employ local knowledge to use native plants, herbs, crops and other natural resources.
Many Western technologies aimed at reducing the shortage of staple foods have failed. This is in part because agricultural and rural development programmes have ignored local cultures-- cultures that include the knowledge, perceptions, practices, and skills that have evolved over centuries to enable survival.
Local crops and plants with economic potential may disappear as modern, high-tech agriculture replaces traditional systems. The related knowledge on breeding, selecting, and growing these traditional plants will also disappear. There is thus an urgent need to investigate the origins and development of indigenous agricultural knowledge in Kenya.
A joint research project conducted by the National Museums of Kenya and the Leiden Ethnosystems and Development Programme has begun to document and revitalize indigenous knowledge in agricultural and natural resource management for sustainable development.
The research is based in part on an historical view of indigenous knowledge, derived from paleo-ethnobotanical studies in West Kenya. It also draws on ethnological methods developed at Leiden and on the assessment of beliefs and practices from the viewpoint of local people.
Indigenous Soil Fertility Management in the Hills of Nepal: Lessons
from an East-West Transect,
Devika Tamang
Outsiders commonly identify soil acidification, decreased agricultural output and soil erosion as major problems in Nepal. This paper investigates the farmers' view of soil fertility and related problems in Nepal's hill areas. Using exploratory and topical rapid rural appraisal, researchers gathered farmers' perceptions of soil fertility management, criteria for classification and descriptive techniques.
Many of the hill areas are relatively inaccessible. Transportation is mostly by pack animal and porters, limiting access to chemical fertilizers, seeds and implements, and restricting soil management options.
Farmers classify soil according to colour, texture, depth, consistency, internal-drainage and moisture-retention capability, temperature of soil, water and air, and slope, aspect, and elevation. Soil colour is the major criterion for classification. The darker the soil, the more fertile it is likely to be. The physical aspect of the soil determines the management regime; farmers consider at least two layers--the top, consisting of soil that is reached by the plough, and the layer immediately under it.
Over the years, the farmers have gained experience, skill and knowledge in soil management. They have found solutions to some of their problems in soil management. They know that to address the adverse effects of soil acidity, they have to use compost. However, with the increasing shortage of compost, there is a need to find other methods of treating the soil. The farmers agree that rapid increases in population, division of land, and the subsequent need to grow more food have made it essential to increase crop yield through the use of chemical fertilizers. They have devised and conducted a series of small-scale trials using both compost and chemical fertilizers and are aware of advantages and disadvantages of both.
Farmers consider water, fertility and labour management as interdependent, interactive and inseparable components of soil management. Several factors influence each of these domains. Water management, for example, depends on precipitation, slope, aspect, soil texture and depth, water temperature, cropping frequency, labour and information.
This paper gives examples of the different views farmers and outsiders may have on the same subject. Outsiders should acknowledge farmers as equal partners. They can learn from farmers' approaches to practical problem-solving, and should strengthen farmers' existing systems.
Indigenous Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development: The
Case of Pest Control by Traditional Paddy Farmers in Sri Lanka,
Rohana Ulluwishewa
This paper presents the results of interviews among thirty elderly farmers from the Ratnapura, Badulla, and Hambantota districts of Sri Lanka, who were questioned about their practices regarding pest control.
Local pest-control methods can be categorized as biological, botanical, and mechanical. The first category includes birds, rat snakes, spiders, frogs, lizards, and insectivorous fish species. The farmers protect their habitats by allowing big trees to grow in and around the fields to provide food for these beneficial organisms.
The farmers also identified plants which could resist and repel insects. Diospyros affinin, Anamirta cocculus, Ananas comosus, Euphorbia antiqourum, Garyota urens, Pongamia pinnata, Crotolaria retusa, Cycos circinalis, Cymbopogon citratus, Areca catechu, Cocos nucifera, Carica papaya, and Coleus amboinicus are some of the plant species used for botanical pest control. The fruits, leaves, bark and seeds of these plants are crushed, cut into pieces, and then buried, hung, or distributed in and around the field.
Food and light traps are the major mechanical pest control methods cited by the farmers. Rodents which damage the paddy are controlled by using food traps, while insect pests are caught in light traps. A sticky substance derived from Artocarpus heterophyllus is also applied to the winnowing fan to control flies.
Farmers have also developed various devices operated by wind or flowing water to generate frightening sounds that drive harmful animals away. They use scarecrows or puppets to frighten rats. They believe that sulphur generates a repelling smell that kept wild boars away from the farm.
Farmers said that certain religious practices, like the offering of food, flowers, and lighted oil lamps, would reduce pests. From a scientific perspective, this offering makes sense: birds are attracted to the food while insect pests are attracted to the light. This allows the birds to prey on the destructive insects.
The author concludes that these indigenous methods were time- tested, environmentally safe and economically viable in areas planted to traditional rice varieties. However, these were found ineffective for high yielding varieties. Hence, attempts should be made to incorporate modern technology into the indigenous methods, and to develop environmentally sound and effective pest control methods which could contribute to sustainable development. Modern machinery and sprayers, for example, could be used to improve the application of traditional botanical pesticides.
Indigenous Agricultural Technology: A Case Study in Northeast
Thailand,
Chaicharn Wongsamun
A survey of indigenous agricultural technology in northeast Thailand was conducted in 1987 under the Integrated Farming Systems Project at Khon Kaen University. A total of 2,961 questionnaires were administered to agricultural extension workers at the provincial, district and sub-district levels in 17 provinces of the northeast region.
The survey generated a list of 993 indigenous agricultural technologies for crop and animal production. Results of the survey also served as a basis for two case studies: one of sweet-potato growing, and another of compost-making in livestock pens.
On the subject of sweet-potato growing, data were collected through a semi-structured interview of six to ten farmers in each of the selected villages in Srisaket, Nongkai, Kalasin, and Khon Kaen. In Srisaket and Khon Kaen, sweet potato is grown in rainfed paddy fields after the rice harvest. In Nongkai, sweet potato is grown in dry season along the banks of the Mekong River. Farmers in Kalasin grow sweet potato in irrigated fields and in upland areas after rice.
The yield of sweet potato in four provinces ranged from 760 to 3,020 kg/rai (2.5 rai = 1 acre), depending on the location. The Nongkai farmers had the highest average yield, while Khon Kaen farmers had the lowest. The total production cost in four provinces ranged from 740 to 2,370 baht/rai.
The farmers favoured growing sweet potato because of the following: the crop can be planted in both rainfed and irrigated areas in the dry season and requires minimal care; the plant stock can be kept for a year; production costs are low; the yield can be cooked in different ways; it is easy to sell and can be exchanged for other foods; it has a long harvesting period; and the tubers can be kept for several days.
The case study of compost-making involved collecting data on how farmers produce and use compost, on socio-economic factors related to compost-making, and on the chemical properties of compost in livestock pens compared to normal compost and manure. The data were collected from three villages in the provinces of Roi-et, Srisaket, and Surin using a semi- structured interview technique. Compost-making involves placing rice husks, rice straw, peanut shells, tree leaves, and other crop residues inside the pens where animals walk over them. The animal manure and urine are mixed with these materials. After several months, the compost is removed and applied to the fields.
Chemical analyses showed that compost in livestock pens has lower percentages of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium than manure, and is lower in phosphorous and potassium than normal compost. This indigenous technology was suitable to the farmers because the technique is simple and low cost, and inputs are available in the community.
Forestry
The Indigenous Communal Forest Management System of Lachok
Village, Kaski District, West Nepal,
Rajendra Man Singh Bhandari and Ridish K. Pokharel
The study documents indigenous technical knowledge and the indigenous system of forest management in Lachok village, Kaski District, Nepal. Data were gathered using semi- structured interviews and tools of rapid rural appraisal and participatory rural appraisal. Respondents included members of the forest users' committee and key informants.
After the unification of Nepal in 1768-1769, hill forests were controlled by local officials known as talukdar, birtawal, bekhwal, and kipatwal. Villagers had to receive oral permission from these officials to cut down trees. Members of the influential village elite took over the forest as their personal property and registered the land in their names by paying revenue on the basis of bijan--the quantity of seed needed if the forest land was to be planted in agricultural crops.
Today the villagers use forest management systems based on their local knowledge and skills to control and sustain forest resources for their future use. Although the practices vary from caste to caste, the villagers are keenly interested in protecting their forest from illegal cutting. Protection of the forest is achieved by appointing forest watchers.
Small timber for making agriculture tools and green firewood are the major products of the forest. They are extracted once a year and in limited amounts. Some forests are managed as commons for the exclusive use of a particular clan. Therefore these major forest products are available only to members of castes or clans that manage areas of forest and have adopted an equitable distribution system among themselves.
In this system, the poor and low caste residents have free access only to the government forest, which is quite far from the village. This system, operating for the past two generations, has created discord among the villagers. At present, however, each clan forest has its own management system with distinctive rules and regulations, though the criteria for felling trees are generally the same.
Karen's Indigenous Knowledge, Forest Management, and
Sustainable Development in Upland of Northern Thailand,
Sutee Boonto
The paper focuses on the natural resource management system of the Karen hill tribe in Northern Thailand. This tribe of 250,000 people represents 50 percent of the upland population in this region. Most Karen live at elevations between 600 and 1,600 m above sea level. A community of 5 to 60 households will settle in a valley where lands with mountain streams are available for irrigated terrace cultivation. The surrounding hills provide space for rotating swidden agriculture. The village territory has relatively fixed boundaries.
Three key features characterize the resource management system of the Karen. These are (1) the indigenous social organization that controls the natural resources within the community; (2) customary norms, rules, and procedures for control, acquisition, maintenance, and transfer of natural resources; and (3) indigenous techniques for using resources that also conserve and preserve them.
The Karen classify the forests in terms of their density of arboreal vegetation: pa dong are virgin forests and advanced secondary forests with large trees more than 15 years old, while pa hlaow are forests growing back from rai hlaow (recently abandoned swiddens).
The Karen's indigenous social organization consists of two groupings. The nuclear family (1) is the largest traditional unit engaged in performance of community rituals and socio- economic activities. It is composed of the group of persons living together in a single dwelling. The community (2) is referred to as the hi phu. Embedded in this is the concept of territory and boundary, where prominent topographical features such as creeks, bridges, or valleys are marked and recognized by other communities. Traditional political leaders controlling access to community natural resources are the hi hko (the priest of the local tutelary spirits), the head of a hi phu, and the pga mi pga pga (council of elders). The latter is an informal institution consisting of elders deemed competent advisors in hi phu affairs. Membership in the community can be acquired either by birth or by marriage.
Natural resources within the hi phu are allocated and utilized for swidden cultivation, irrigated rice cultivation, livestock raising, hunting and gathering, burial, and house construction. All these activities are legitimized by a complex system of norms or rules that control the acquisition, maintenance, and transfer of land and water. These customary rules and procedures provide the villagers with the means to have access to and secure rights over the land. Three types of land rights operate within the Karen community: communal, corporate, and private or individual land rights.
The indigenous knowledge, values, and effectiveness of the forest management system of Karen societies have considerable potential for the sustainable use of natural resources. Likewise, the Karen's natural resource management systems should be used to achieve cultural continuity between the past and the present.
Situation-specific analysis (SSA) and participating land-use planning (PLP) can be used to preserve and use the Karen's indigenous knowledge for the purpose of generating social forestry programmes that are sustainable and sensitive to the needs of the Karen people.
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) for Community Forestry Management: The
Link Between Knowledge and Application, with Examples from Research in Nepal,
Donald A. Messerschmidt
Forestry development in Nepal currently focuses on the 'community forestry' concept, which is based on local resource management by user groups. This is in contrast to a history of forest legislation dating to the 1950s which has attempted to keep tight control on the country's natural resource wealth.
The paper provides a framework for the study of IK and illustrates it with numerous examples from forestry research in Nepal. The framework is divided into two parts. First, the author discusses the collection and understanding of basic IK. This section provides information on the nature of indigenous forest knowledge, who holds the knowledge, where and how the knowledge can be accessed, and what the knowledge means to the people who have it. The second part focuses on the application of IK: i.e. the link between resource management and ethno- knowledge. The examples cover activities such as forest- resource extraction, and forest-product consumption and utilization (in the household or the marketplace). Traditional systems of organizations established by social groups or communities to control access to and protect essential resources are also examined.
There is a wealth of indigenous knowledge regarding forest resources in Nepal. For community forestry to succeed in Nepal, forest development agents have to be aware of and appreciate indigenous knowledge. Otherwise they risk overlooking important facts and making crucial mistakes. Understanding IK, on the other hand, facilitates innovative planning and management contributing to the success of development projects.
Natural resource management
Resource Management Strategies: A Case Example from Upland Laguna,
Levita Duhaylungsod
In contrast to agricultural scientists who often have a specialized, fragmented view of a farming system, farmers commonly take a holistic approach to farming. Their practices reflect an understanding of the ecosystem as a whole. The latter also includes the community and its socio-cultural structure. Combining agronomic analysis with local environmental knowledge may help development programmes resolve their current dilemmas.
This paper describes the agricultural practices and calendar of the people of Patahan, a community located about 125 km south of Manila, in the Philippines. Extensive fieldwork demonstrates the complexity of a local agricultural production system. The Patahanin grow mainly coconut and pandan (often intercropped), rice, and some other crops. Where coconuts are not intercropped, the area between the trees is used for grazing.
The Patahanin use their land efficiently and may also employ conservation measures, though not always consciously. Land use patterns are determined by cultural norms and local and external systems of production and distribution rather than by land ownership. Their strategies are ecologically and culturally adapted and are crucial for their autonomy and continued survival. It is uncertain, however, whether and how long the Patahanin will be able to maintain their own culture and subsistence system against socio-economic forces increasingly impinging on their village.
Shamanistic Modes for Environmental Accounting in the
Colombian Amazon: Lessons from Indigenous Etho-Ecology for Sustainable Development,
Elizabeth Reichel
This paper describes shamanistic concepts of environmental accounting in the Colombian Amazon between two traditional shifting cultivators--the Tanimuka and Yukuna. Shamanism is a political and religious technique for managing societies through certain ritual performances, myths, and world views in such a way that a community respects the natural environment and community life as a social common good.
The Yukuna and Tanimuka number about 1,000 individuals who live mostly in a semi-sedentary pattern in communal houses called maloca. Their means of subsistence includes shifting cultivation, hunting, gathering, and fishing. They also do seasonal work in towns, mine for gold, sell manioc flour, and fish. They speak Spanish as well as their own language. Their chiefs guide them in their social responsibilities. They also rely on local shamans to direct their communities.
These societies have strong cultural traditions of indigenous sustainable development, in that they have a model for resource management which allows for long-term maintenance of human and environmental well-being without depleting the resource base. The shamans and some ritual specialists assess the trends in land-use patterns and guide the communities' production level as well as their conservation strategies. They practise 'travelling in thought' to map areas, re- establish ecosystem boundaries, and survey land, water and air to determine the size of the populations of various species. This environmental audit considers the impact of human activities on the universe and the cosmos and demonstrates the states of debt, credit or balance with nature as a whole. The shamans then prescribe or prohibit certain activities, prescribe forms of resource utilization, and commit the community as a whole to sustainable development. Every Yukuna and Tanimuka feels responsible for the environmental stability of regions that traditionally belong to them. The use of any resource, be it a plant or animal, has to be permitted by the human owner as well as the supernatural owner. Rituals elicit an exchange of information about environmental supply and demand in the region.
Aquaculture
Rice and Fish: The Dual Function of Rice Fields among the
Kasepuhan People in West Java, Indonesia,
Kusnaka Adimihardja
The Kasepuhan of West Java, Indonesia, are a people whose modes of living are based on traditional manners and customs. They live in several small groups spread throughout the southern districts of Banten, Sukabumi, and Bogor, their largest concentration being on the slopes of Mt. Halimun.
The Kasepuhan grow rice in two different ecosystems, huma (dry swidden fields) and sawah (wet fields). The harvest of both ecosystems occurs only once a year. Until now, they have rejected government proposals to increase the number of rice plantings to two per year. Such proposals conflict with their traditional beliefs.
On the huma, dry rice is grown using the slash-and- burn technique (swidden agriculture). The land is cultivated in sections of terraced fields called ais gunung or ais pasir. The Kasepuhan also make beds of rice in the plains at the base of the rather low hills around their villages. Generally after harvest time, when the rice fields are not being used for growing rice, the Kasepuhan utilize them for raising fish.
For the sawah, the farmers begin with babad (cutting), then mopok galeng (improving the paths between the fields). The next steps include ngangler (when one of the rice beds is used for seedlings), tebar (sowing), ngaberak (fertilizing), ngarambet (clearing of grass), babad galeng (clearing of the paths), and harvesting. These land-related activities are always accompanied by sacred ceremonies.
While non-Kasepuhan communities living in the same region immediately prepare the rice fields for a second planting following the harvest of their first crops, the Kasepuhan use this stage to raise various kinds of fish for three to four months. For them, this constitutes their adaptation to new government regulations. Fish raised by the Kasepuhan include ikan mas (carp, Cyprinus carpio), ikan nila (Osteochilus haselti), and ikan mujair (Tilapis mossambicus).
The traditional wisdom possessed by the Kasepuhan people in land cultivation is the indigenous knowledge system by which they manage their natural resources. This knowledge is closely related to their perception of the eternal quality of nature and the environment in which they live. This type of knowledge should continue to be utilized and developed as a means of ecological management within the sustainable development concept.
FISHBASE as a Worldwide Computerized Repository of Ethno-Ichthyology
or Indigenous Knowledge of Fishes,
M.L.D. Palomares and D. Pauly
Traditional knowledge about fish and fishing is being threatened by the rapid shift in numerous countries from traditional methods to modern and more powerful fishing techniques.
Such knowledge is being preserved and made available worldwide through FISHBASE, a computerized encyclopedia on fish. It is being developed at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
FISHBASE is a relational database covering all aspects of ichthyology, notably: systematics, common names (English, French, Spanish), distribution, commercial importance, morphology, physiology, ecology, population dynamics, genetics, pathology, and species introductions between countries. It also has a language-indexed bibliographic reference system. The flexible structure of FISHBASE allows for the integration of both recent and historical information on local knowledge about fish.
FISHBASE will be distributed on CD-ROM starting in 1993. Partners in the project
include ORSTOM in France, several museums in Europe and the USA, fisheries research
institutions in several developing countries, and individual experts. The authors invite
readers to help turn FISHBASE into the world's largest database on indigenous knowledge of
fish.
(For address, see 'Agenda and list of participants', under Palomares.)
Learning from Fishers: Indigenous Knowledge and SEAFDEC's Pilot
Seafarming and Searanching Project,
Susana V. Siar, Rolando S. Ortega, and Alessandro S. Babol
This paper documents indigenous knowledge gathered during the first phase of implementation of the Pilot Sea-Farming and Sea-Ranching Project of the Aquaculture Department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Centre (SEAFDEC/AQD). Research methods included individual and group interviews with village elders, community officials, women and fishermen.
In 1991, Malalison Island in Culasi, Antique, was chosen by SEAFDEC as the pilot site of the project. This Philippine island has a land area of only 55 ha. Subsistence fishing is the main source of livelihood of the some 400 islanders living in 74 households. The coastal waters of Malalison are common property of 12 out of 16 coastal barangays of Culasi and the nearby island of Batbatan. Approximately 1,364 households depend on Malalison fishing areas for their livelihood.
The islanders have a system of naming sea space and marking specific fishing spots through the use of landmarks. Bakura or takot are terms used to refer to any coral reef. Distances are measured in terms of dupa or fathoms. To be able to mark their fishing areas, the islanders use palangat, a system of triangulation using landmarks as reference points. They distinguish seven types of wind direction and are knowledgeable on variations in wind movements. They have developed the skill to determine good or bad weather and to land a boat in the mainland and put out to sea amidst turbulent waves.
Hook-and-line is the major fishing gear in the island, followed by spear and net fishing. Tuwad, a variation of spear fishing, is indigenous to Malalison. The islanders also use dynamite and poison. The people, especially the women and children, gather shells during low tide. They can determine which shelled species to catch by the mere presence and size of holes in the sand.
Major species of fish caught in Malalison include fusiliers, surgeon fish, mackerels, groupers, garfish, emperors, and parrot fish.
Veterinary medicine and livestock management
Ethnoveterinary Research: Lessons for Development,
Evelyn Mathias-Mundy and Constance M. McCorkle
Ethnoveterinary medicine deals with folk beliefs, knowledge, skills, methods and practices pertaining to the health care of animals. Ethnoveterinary research and development (ER&D) is the systematic study of ethnoveterinary medicine and its feasibility and application in development.
In describing the findings and status of ethnoveterinary research, the authors give a brief history of ethnoveterinary medicine and discuss local semantics and taxonomies, etiologies and diagnoses, and epidemiological knowledge.
A section on ethnoveterinary practices reviews methods of animal disease treatment and prevention through the application of medicines, surgery and manipulation, and magico-religious practices.
The authors illustrate with examples how the results from ethnoveterinary research can be applied in development:
Research needs in ER&D include the recording and documentation of ethnoveterinary practices, development of a database that lists ethnoveterinary plants and remedies mentioned in the literature, and design of ethnoveterinary kits to provide development professionals with information on what they can apply and what they should not.
Communication and organizations
Indigenous Communication and Indigenous Knowledge: Concepts
and Interfaces
Paul Mundy and J. Lin Compton
Despite its central place in the perpetuation of knowledge, indigenous communication has been neglected by academics and practitioners alike. Indigenous communication contrasts with the 'exogenous' communication systems of the mass media, bureaucracies, extension systems and the formal education system. But indigenous and exogenous systems overlap to a considerable degree, and distinguishing between them can be difficult.
Indigenous channels include (1) traditional performing arts (or 'folk media'), (2) indigenous organizations, (3) 'deliberate instruction' (child-rearing, traditional schooling and apprenticeships), (4) unstructured channels such as conversations at markets and in the field, (5) written and memorized records, and (6) direct observation. Unlike exogenous communication systems, indigenous systems are typically developed locally, are under local control, and use low levels of technology. Many also lack bureaucratic organization.
Indigenous channels have high credibility with local people, are important conduits of change, and offer opportunities for people's participation in decision-making. Development programmes can gather information through indigenous channels and then use them to disseminate information.
Sources of indigenous information can be categorized as: (1) indigenous experts (such as a farmer particularly skilled in raising goats), (2) indigenous professionals (such as healers and irrigation specialists), (3) innovators (people who experiment with and develop new techniques), (4) intermediaries (those who pass on messages, such as town criers and messengers), and (5) recipient-disseminators (all others who receive information, modify it, and pass it on).
Exogenous information can be carried by both exogenous and indigenous channels. However, most such information (such as details of a new rice variety) is carried by exogenous channels (e.g. through the extension service). This 'technology transfer' has been the focus of a large amount of research in advertising, journalism, and development communication. Examples of exogenous information passing through indigenous channels are a puppet show carrying family planning messages, or a traditional midwife teaching mothers oral rehydration therapy.
Likewise, indigenous information can be carried through either indigenous or exogenous channels. Most passes through indigenous channels; however, little research has been done on this. Little passes through exogenous channels, though there is great potential for this, as there is in developing research and extension systems that draw on indigenous knowledge and farmers' proclivity to experiment.
Development strategies should integrate indigenous knowledge and communication systems. Indigenous specialists should not be regarded as paraprofessional aides to exogenous professionals, but as experts in their own right. They should be tapped as expert consultants to advise in the planning and implementation of development efforts.
Sustainable development
Indigenous Knowledge and Local Level Development: The Participatory
Approach,
Oluwayomi David Atte
This paper discusses sustainable development strategies. The author argues that local-level development is only sustainable if local human and natural resources form the cornerstone of participation by outsiders. So far participatory approaches have meant the participation of local farmers in projects designed by outsiders, rather than vice versa. Ideally, however, participation should involve interaction between the ideas, knowledge, resources and technology of both insiders and outsiders. Participatory development must build upon what people know. Only by improving local capabilities rather than introducing outside know-how and technologies will the target group reach self-reliance rather than dependence.
Local knowledge of the environment is acquired through practical participation in environmental management and oral education. Examples from the literature illustrate that indigenous knowledge encompasses the whole range of human experiences.
The author suggests combining indigenous knowledge with relevant modern science. This will facilitate communication and cooperation between local people and outsiders. Examples from agriculture, medicine, and other fields demonstrate how indigenous knowledge can be used for local development.
Ancient Futures for Indigenous People: Cultural and
Biological Diversity Through Self- Determination,
David Hyndman
The Biodiversity Conservation Strategy (BCS) developed by international organizations such as the World Resource Institute and the United Nations Environmental Programme focuses on biodiversity, protected zones, marketing resources and intellectual property rights to the detriment of indigenous peoples. Alternative resource management strategies by indigenous peoples, on the other hand, emphasize self- determination, self-development, rights to land, cultural diversity, and control over their own resources. This paper discusses the positions taken in the present biodiversity debate and the role of indigenous knowledge for sustained- yield resource management systems.
On the BCS side, three positions can be differentiated: green capitalists, classical nature conservationists, and social ecologists. These are matched on the indigenous peoples' side by pro-indigenous capitalism, isolationists, and self- determination proponents. Previous attempts to conserve biodiversity by excluding indigenous peoples or through creating buffer zones have either compromised the needs of the indigenous peoples or resulted in severe environmental degradation. This has stimulated the awareness that biodiversity conservation not only means the conservation of natural resources but should include cultural diversity and the access and rights over natural areas.
In the past, Western industry and business exploited the knowledge and resources of indigenous peoples about medicinal plants without any compensation. It was only recently that 'green' and 'indigenous capitalists' started discussing sustainably marketing the rainforest.
The position of the indigenous self-determinationists and social ecologists acknowledges that indigenous people have intricate knowledge of their environment and long experience at managing it, and advocates that these people should be allowed to continue to manage their environment in the future. Three principles of indigenous management could be useful for biodiversity conservation: integration of economy and ecology; the acknowledgement of limits; and the need for self- sufficiency and the acknowledgement of beauty.
Indigenous knowledge has much to offer in the cause of biological and cultural diversity and resource management, but the potential value of this 'ancient future' is diminished in the modern world system, where the productive capacity of land and sea is assumed to be infinite. Because indigenous people are an integral part of the ecosystem they manage, removing them from it may, in some cases, have damaging effects, not only on people but on the environments they are protecting. Thus, the best guarantee for the survival of nature is the survival of indigenous peoples, and vice versa.
Culture: Today's Great Unanswered Issue in Development,
Raymond Obomsawin
One of the great unresolved issues in the world today is the largely unquestioning embrace by all human societies of the materialist system of culture that has recently evolved within the Western techno-industrial world. Capital-driven technological prowess has been regarded as the sign of cultural superiority. Hence, it has become difficult to envisage that there may be different paths to development. This paper critiques the Western model of development and mandates an alternative strategy based on the recognition and application of indigenous knowledge (IK).
The culture and world view of a society determine its response to basic questions about the nature of such things as education, health, housing, and community infrastructure. Technologies carry the values and ideals of the society that invented them. Hence, two issues are raised:
Four schools of thought now pervade all Westernized societal theory, namely: atheistic evolution, egocentric competition, relativism, and positivism. Such amoral materialist philosophy has debased human life and relationships. It has also evolved populations that are dependency-oriented, media-entranced, psycho-spiritually vitiated, greed-motivated, and self- indulgent. Genuine development necessarily begins with people retaining or assuming full responsibility over their own lives, and must progressively evolve as a dynamic living process from within self, family, and community.
IK can be the basis for an alternative development model. IK systems integrate multiple disciplines, and the resultant synergism demonstrate higher levels of efficiency, effectiveness, adaptability, and sustainability than do many of the conventional technologies.
Much IK has been lost through the years. Hence, there is an urgent need to preserve what remains. Formal education has inadvertently precipitated the loss of such vital knowledge. The extent of the consequence of such loss has not yet been carefully assessed. But in many farming communities, it has resulted in the corresponding loss of a livelihood. Age-old farming knowledge has been overwhelmed by the demands of a market economy, which dictates large-scale, mechanized, mono- crop agriculture.
Donor agencies and multilateral development banks must abandon politico-economic pursuits as a strategy for poverty alleviation and instead actively pursue the goal of building on local capacities for self-sufficiency.
A new and strategic focus that recasts the very nature of human and community development is required. Such a strategy will need to respect local knowledge and value systems, and harness these indigenous resources with the best and most useful contemporary knowledge in order to evolve a genuinely alternative socio-economic, educational, and political system. It would incorporate the following practical life principles: intra- and inter-community cooperatives, family reinforcing, bonding of young and old, self-scheduled and administered, holistically integrated, local and renewable resource-reliant, ecologically sound, locally-scaled, indigenous skill-based and employment-intensive, and self-sustaining.
Methodologies
Slikkerveer and Palomares/Pauly also express views
on methodologies.
Survey of Innovations for Sustainable Development: Do Methods
Matter?
Anil K. Gupta and Kirit K. Patel
The paper starts with a brief review of the historical attempt to build upon local innovations in India. It outlines the reasons for lack of attention to the richness of local knowledge systems.
The authors argue that short-cut methods to record indigenous knowledge, such as Rapid Appraisal, create an ethical dilemma and may fail to capture the institutional context of indigenous innovations.
The Honey Bee Network based in India takes a different approach by using culturally-rooted and embedded methods: (1) field surveys conducted by students during their summer vacation; (2) scientists, professionals and non-government organizations working with people; and (3) review of literature published in English and local languages. Important aspects of the Honey Bee philosophy are feedback of data to the farmers and compensation for providing information on innovations.
The authors differentiate six processes of innovations: (1) conceptual transformation, (2) improvisation, (3) accidental or serendipity, (4) collective or individual processes, (5) triggering new metaphor, and (6) innovations for fun or humour. Each process is illustrated with examples of local innovations.
The paper also discusses policy implications for building a farmers' network which will link formal and informal research systems. The authors suggest that this link must be forged in a manner that safeguards the local people's intellectual property rights, for the benefit not just of these people, but of most of humanity as well.
Methodology for the Study of Farmers' Agricultural Local 'Indigenous'
Knowledge Systems in Rural Development Programs: In-Service Training Program for
Research/Extension Practitioners--An Experience from Venezuela,
Consuelo Quiroz
Indigenous knowledge systems have been overlooked by the research community partly because of a lack of a formal methodology to collect, assess, and use such knowledge. This problem can be overcome through in-service training programmes aimed at preparing agricultural practitioners for such tasks. This paper describes the 'interpretive research' (IR) approach and discusses initial experience with this approach during an in-service training programme for researchers and extension workers.
IR has the following characteristics:
The in-service training programme for researchers and extension practitioners of the National Fund for Agricultural Research (FONAIAP) has two parts. The first part emphasizes the theoretical and philosophical aspects of the subject. The topics are: (1) introduction to the study of farmers' agricultural indigenous knowledge systems; (2) introduction to the viewpoint of interpretive, qualitative research; (3) introduction to ethnography; (4) fieldwork techniques; and (5) data analysis. The second part focuses on practical application of the knowledge and skills acquired in the first part. It covers such topics as writing field notes, writing memos, etic/emic approaches, participant observation, ethnographic interviews, use of audio-visual materials and equipment, and writing reports. The training programme takes five to six hours a week for 10 weeks.
The programme's first trainees felt that talking with farmers about IK was somewhat difficult because the trainees' previous education had emphasized different values, and because farmers were skeptical towards this new approach. Other worries included how the trainees' home institution would evaluate their learning about IK, since usually quantitative results obtained in a short period count, whereas learning and applying IK takes time.
Experience gained during the initial phase of the training programme has led to the following recommendations:
Indigenous knowledge network
Promoting the International IK Network: The Supportive Role of CIRAN,
G.W. von Liebenstein, M. Veldhuis, and G.M. van Westrienen
The paper outlines the importance of indigenous knowledge (IK) for development. It indicates that IK can be communicated through networking. Instruments include newsletters, workshops and symposia, databases, documentation centres, and electronic mail facilities.
The paper also describes the existing IK network and its centres at national, regional, and global levels. It focuses on the newly established Centre for International Research and Advisory Networks (CIRAN), which is part of the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (Nuffic).
CIRAN's major objective is to create facilities that help to strengthen the knowledge systems of developing countries. Its primary role is to manage the information systems of the global network in order to promote research on IK and its application in development.
The authors propose the following activities for the global network: publishing a newsletter entitled Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor; compiling a directory of individuals and institutions interested in IK; developing electronic mail facilities; creating databases on IK; organizing an international conference with donors; and compiling an inventory of related networks.
Annexes to the paper contain the addresses of the IK network centres, background information about CIRAN, the memorandum of understanding between the centres at global level, and a sample of the questionnaire for members of the international IK network.
The Study and Utilization of Indigenous Knowledge Systems
at CEICADAR,
Antonio Macías-López
Indigenous knowledge systems are components of most of the activities of the Centro de Ense¤anza, Investigación y Capacitación para el Desarrollo Agrícola Regional, or CEICADAR. These activities are:
In addition, CEICADAR intends to establish a unit that would catalogue IK information and document IK activities, and promote research, training and service in this area.
Establishment of a National Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge:
The Case of PHIRCSDIK,
R. C. Serrano, R. Labios and L. Tung
The Philippine Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development (PHIRCSDIK) was established in July 1992, at the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research and Development (PCARRD). Its mission involves the coordinated exploration and utilization of indigenous knowledge for sustainable agricultural and rural development in the Philippines. This paper provides information on PHIRCSDIK and outlines the activities planned for the next five years.
PHIRCSDIK's organizational structure includes an Advisory Board at the top, a Director, an Executive Council composed of eight national sector coordinators (NSC), and the National Secretariat staff. The Director spearheads the operation of PHIRCSDIK, whereas the Executive Council provides the overall direction and does corporate planning. The Advisory Board, composed of agency heads or representatives of local and international institutions, provides the overall policies for operation and advises PHIRCSDIK on matters of programme prioritization and resource generation. The National Secretariat is advised by the staff of PCARRD's Environmental Research and Development Programme and concerned specialists from other technical research divisions.
The eight sectoral areas of concern of PHIRCSDIK are environment and natural resources, agriculture, fisheries, animal health, human health, non-agricultural technologies, education, and local organization.
PHIRCSDIK has links with the Regional Program for the Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge in Asia (REPPIKA) in the Philippines, and the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge for Agriculture and Rural Development (CIKARD) in the USA. It plans to establish links with other national and regional IK resource centers. The identified areas for cooperation include information exchange, joint research and documentation projects, databanks, and training programmes. For its national operation, PHIRCSDIK taps the existing National Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Network (NARRDN) and other relevant government and non-government organizations. The three major information systems of PCARRD (the Research Management Information System, Research Information Storage and Retrieval System, and Agricultural and Resources Regional Technology Information System) play a vital role in storing IK information and data sets.
The five-year (1993-1997) plans and programmes of PHIRCSDIK are also discussed in this
paper.
Back to: top of the page | Contents IK
Monitor 1(2) | IK Homepage
Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl
(c) copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 1993.