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Editorial
Views on tuberculosis among the Igbo of Nigeria, by Ezinna Enwereji
Tuberculosis is a communicable disease that causes the untimely death of
some 75,000 Nigerians each year. The persistence of tuberculosis in a given
area is due to a complex web of factors: cultural values, beliefs and
practices, poor socioeconomic conditions, migration and urbanization, in
combination with an ill-managed and ineffective tuberculosis programme. Any
effective treatment of tuberculosis must be based on an understanding of
traditional cultural views and insights concerning the cause, spread and
treatment of the disease. This article assesses these views and suggests
ways to improve communication at the community level.
Traditional use and sale of animals as medicines in Fiera de
Santana City, Bahia, Brazil, by Eraldo Medeiros Costa Neto
The therapeutic use of animals and animal parts, such as skin or fat, to
treat common human ailments like coughs and asthma has been little
researched. This article presents the findings of a study carried out in
Northeastern Brazil, where traders and users of these products were
interviewed, and detailed information was obtained on the traditional
therapeutic use of 17 different animal species. In view of the fact that six of
those species are in danger of extinction, the author advocates the creation
of policies designed to promote the sustainable use of the species, for the
benefit of future generations.
Indigenous knowledge of miombo trees in Morogoro, Tanzania,
by E. Munyanziza and K.F. Wiersum
In forestry policy and theory there is increasing interest in altering the
orientation of forest management from state-controlled and professional to
community forestry management, making use of indigenous knowledge and
skills. This article stresses the need to re-examine the knowledge of
forestry and agriculture among the people. This will highlight the dynamics
and limitations of what local people know, and help us to decide when and
how to make use of indigenous knowledge in forest management.
Focus on: Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation Programme
The documentation of indigenous innovations in soil and water conservation
is only a starting point: the next step is publicizing those innovations,
communicating them to others, and making them accessible to cultivators in
comparable situations elsewhere.
Guest column by Louk Box
Louk Box is director of the Maastricht-based European Centre for
Development Policy Management and professor of international cooperation at
Utrecht University (the Netherlands). His views are based on adaptive
agricultural research (1978-1992) among experimenting cultivators in Latin
America and in the Netherlands (Wageningen Agricultural University).
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Indigenous Knowledge
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