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Editorial
From process to innovation: land use intensity practices among
smallholder rice farmers in Eastern Nigeria, by E. M. Igbokwe
This article examines local rice production in southeastern Nigeria, where
smallholder farmers selectively adopt the technological packages
disseminated by extension workers, while continuing to experiment with
solutions designed to meet their specific needs. In his conclusion the
author maintains that not only these practices but also the older, more
experienced farmers themselves deserve to be taken seriously by extensionists
and agricultural policy makers.
Ethnobotany, IPR and benefit-sharing: the Forest People's Fund in
Suriname, by Edward C. Green, Kenneth J. Goodman, and Martha Hare
The Forest People's Fund provides a concrete example of how local people
who share their own knowledge can also share the benefits that accrue from
that knowledge. The Fund is a mechanism by which the Maroons and Amerindians
of Suriname receive 'up-front' compensation and will share in a
pharmaceutical company's future earnings from new drugs found with their help.
It could serve as a model for the compensation of intellectual property
rights, and help to secure a legal status for indigenous knowledge.
Local oil palm management styles in Bénin: wealth or a source of wealth?,
by Dorothea Wartena
'The oil palm is a source of wealth' according to the Fon, who live on the
Abomey Plateau in South Bénin, and have been engaged in palm oil export
production since the middle of the 19 th century. The Adja people, on the
nearby Aplahoué Plateau, did not start to systematically exploit the oil palm
until the 1920s. They say, 'The oil palm is our wealth', because it brings
status and money, and improves the soil. This slight difference in
perception reflects two different management techniques. Which of these will
prove to be the most sustainable?
Palmeraie jardin as a sustainable alternative for oil palm production,
by Paolo Segalla
The traditional agro-forestry system of Porto Novo in Southeastern Benin,
which is known as 'palmeraie jardin' (oil palm garden), is described and
analyzed in this article. The author suggests that this oil palm management
system, if adapted, could be a sustainable alternative to the present
systems of oil palm management.
Focus on:
Traditional ecological knowledge
Role and significance of 'tradition' in indigenous knowledge.
Guest column by Ning Wu
Rethinking IK's role in ecological restoration and the conservation of
biodiversity.
Dr Ning Wu: professor and head of the Center for Ecological
Restoration and Development Studies (CERDS) at the Chengdu Institute of
Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. |
Indigenous Knowledge
IKDM 7-1 as PDF file 
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