IK Monitor Publications (7-2)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, July 1999

Contents IK Monitor (7-2) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | © copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 1999.

Publications

Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) (1998) AJP materials (1) Caring for our town environment -Reduce, reuse, recycle of garbage -For neo-literates in urban areas. (2) ) Herbal plants. Keeping our traditional wisdom alive. Each booklet: 11 pp. AJP materials are learning materials produced under the Asia-Pacific Joint Production Programmes of for Neo-Literates in Rural Areas. The AJP materials are first developed in English as protoypes. They are the result of cooperative efforts of literacy and subject experts in the Asia-Pacific countries and UNESCO. The booklets are not for sale. AJP materials are distributed to literacy and education organizations upon request by official letter. Published by ACCU, Japan Publishers Building, No. 6 Fukuromachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162,-8484 Japan.
Tel.: +81-3-3269 4559.
Fax: +81-3-3269 4510.
E-mail: literacy@accu.or.jp
http://www.accu.or.jp/litdbase

(See also IK&DM 6(3), where this publication was first mentioned under 'Preview: Important new books'.)

Literacy organizations are encouraged to adapt the prototypes and create their own versions which are better suited to the daily lives and learning environments of the target learners. Two new AJP prototypes were sent to the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor editorial office because they are particularly relevant to Monitor readers. They deal with sustainable development and traditional knowledge of plants. We asked Dr Mere Roberts to review the booklets. She sent her review also to ACCU, along with her detailed suggestions for improvement. Dr Roberts' input was highly appreciated by director Shigeru Aoyagi of the ACCU Literacy Promotion Divsion, who called it 'important feedback that will surely contribute to the further improvement of our literacy learning materials.' The review follows.
Caring for our town environment...
This little booklet has the commendable aim of educating urban dwellers about garbage. It uses a 'comic book' style and format to communicate some simple messages. These include ways in which individuals in their own homes can reduce, reuse and recycle garbage--and even obtain some financial rewards for their efforts.
The idea and the approach are excellent. However, as the subtitle indicates, the booklet needs editing: the grammatically incorrect 'Reduce, reuse, recycle of garbage' should be 'Reduction, reuse and recycling of garbage' or: 'How to reduce, reuse, recycle garbage'. Some reformatting to eliminate grammatical and stylistic errors is also recommended. Still, it is a great little book.
Herbal plants... This excellent little booklet contains a number of important messages. It uses an appropriate means of conveying these messages--that of narrative or storytelling. As the old woman reminds the young mother with a sick child, all peoples over many thousands of years have acquired a wealth of knowledge about how to treat human diseases. Herbal treatments form a major component of traditional medicinal knowledge, and provided the historical basis for western medicine. Today the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples concerning their plants continues to be sought after and used by modern pharmaceutical companies.
So the major message here is that herbal medicines have a long and respectable history, and even today can provide a very effective--and cheaper-- alternative to western medicine. This is particularly so for those who do not have easy access to, or are unable to afford, the latter. Herbal treatments for common aliments such as colds, diarrhoea, skin complaints, and intestinal worms are described by means of a coloured drawing of each plant and a recipe for its preparation.
More subtle are the messages about the need to respect and value one's own cultural knowledge base and the elders who hold that knowledge.
Both of these booklets are commendable educational initiatives. Once the fairly minor deficiencies are corrected, the booklets deserve widespread circulation and use.
(Dr Mere Roberts, School of Environmental & Marine Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand)

Apffel-Marglin, F. (ed.) with PRATEC (1998) The spirit of regeneration. Andean culture confronting western notions of development. 252 pp. ISBN 1 85649 547 7 cased, ISBN 1 85649 548 5 limp. USD62.50 hardback; USD22.50 paperback. Zed Books Ltd., London & New York, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK.
Tel.: +44-171-8378 466.
Fax: +44-171-833 3960.

This book is the fruit of collaboration between the Peruvian anthropologists, agrologists and peasants who work in the Andean Project for Peasant Technologies (PRATEC), and the American editor who facilitated the presentation of this way of looking at development, which is opposite to that of the English-speaking world. Frédérique Apffel-Marglin is professor of anthropology at Smith College, Northampton (USA). She became very impressed with the way PRATEC is working. Since its establishment in 1990, the network has been working with professionals in rural development who are of Andean peasant origin. Through PRATEC, they teach courses in Andean agriculture and culture. By de-profession-alizing themselves, the members of PRATEC freed themselves from the constraints of academic disciplines, focusing instead on the challenging task of writing on peasant agriculture and culture from the Andean point of view. They see themselves as merely supporting what the peasants themselves are doing. The word 'regeneration' in the project title refers to the way the peasants are once again taking control of the land and re-establishing their own mode of cultivating it. It also refers to the way they are organizing themselves after a long period of western, and mainly capitalist, development.
The impact of PRATEC's courses seems enormous, a real 'ear and eye opener' for most of the participants, who are professionals in rural development. Most of them are graduates of universities which train their students for market-directed farming systems. In PRATEC courses, students learn about self-supporting, sustainable ways of life. The holistic way of life still present in the Andes is a source of inspiration to scientists who are genuinely interested in regenerating indigenous knowledge for purposes of development. 'Regeneration' does not mean to generate something again from nothing; rather it is the emergence of new forms of life already contained in existing ones.
Science is founded on the assumption of an opposition between humans and nature, and a clear separation between the knowing subject and the known object. Humans who make chacra --that is, grow plants, raise animals, and understand the soil, water, and climate--converse with nature. But in the Andean-Amazonian world, all creatures, not only humans, make and nurture the chacra. 'All nurture and are nurtured. Also the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountain, the birds, the rain, the wind... even the frost and the hail are nurturing us.' (Grillo 1994)
I myself am a Dutch development worker who lived in the region from 1975 to 1984. At that time I noticed with worry how quickly indigenous knowledge present in Andean peasant communities was deteriorating and getting lost-- valuable knowledge of sustainable food production and local healthcare--a source of knowledge that could be important for our survival and common future. Only the type of regeneration from within that is described in this book--a pride through self-awareness--could put up a barrier to invading cultures. I am extremely happy to have read this book. It has helped me to put together the pieces of the puzzle, to understand more and more the cosmovision of the Andean people. This book, moreover, has helped me to get a better understanding of the power and politics behind so-called 'modern development'. It is a must for everybody interested in what the so-called 'under-developed world' can teach the so-called 'developed world'.
(Hans Carlier, Project Earth, independent consultant in sustainable agriculture and permaculture, Zutphen, The Netherlands)

Bayer, Wolfgang and Ann Waters-Bayer (1998) Forage husbandry. The Tropical Agriculturalist. ix + 98 pp. ISBN 0-333-66856-1. GBP7.00. Published by: Macmillan Education Ltd., Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, UK in cooperation with the CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation), P.O. Box 380, 6700 AJ Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Tel.: +31-1256-329 242.
Fax: +31-1256-814 642.

Researchers and development agents have substantially changed their views of pastoral and smallholder farming economics in recent years. After many disappointments in development projects and following many social, anthropological and economic studies, it is now widely accepted that pastoral and smallholder farmers are no less efficient in using productive resources than are modern ranchers or crop farmers. Local communities have plentiful knowledge and successful practices relating to animal husbandry, even though herders or farmers probably do not have detailed knowledge of the biology or digestive systems of ruminants. Their observations of animal behaviour and livestock performance in relation to different types of forages have led them to make certain choices in the species and breeds of animals they keep and to adopt certain practices for managing their animals and forage resources.
The complete but concise discussion in this book of the digestive physiology and feeding behaviour of ruminants, the biology of forage vegetation, and the functions of different types of forage resources helps to explain why these practices are so effective, and why they hold potential for being integrated into wider farming systems and modern development projects.
In the last few decades, many of the development agents, scientists and students who deal with animal production have been regarding forage in a narrow sense. They are concerned mainly with growing and storing forage for use in ways developed for livestock production in temperate climates. They pay little attention to how available forage resources are used, and they forget that forage cultivation accounts for only a small part of the resources employed by pastoral and smallholder farmers. This book corrects such misunderstandings. Its nine chapters explain the principles and dynamics of forage husbandry within existing pastoral and smallholder farming systems, and suggest clearly how the indigenous practices could be further developed.
The book offers an excellent and up-to-date survey of knowledge pertaining to forage husbandry, indicates the potentials and constraints of externally developed innovations in forage husbandry, and offers development agents guidelines for understanding the forage-husbandry practices they see and for assessing development needs. The appendices contain a list of the main species that are used to feed livestock: various grasses, legumes, trees and shrubs. The list is invaluable for selecting species that could be introduced and cultivated in the tropics and subtropics. The clear presentation and easy-to-read style make the book an especially valuable guide for readers from non-English speaking countries. It is a must for anyone concerned with the management or production of forage, whether as a researcher, student, extension worker, practitioner or policy-maker. The book shows how indigenous practices of forage husbandry can be an important component in the sustainable development of livestock husbandry.
(Ning Wu, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Science, China)

Gerichten, Nora von (1998) 96 Ways to write better proposals. 8 pp. WLG et al. Procurement Monitoring, Ltd., 311-3360 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6R 2B2 Canada.

Tel.: +1-604-221 1651.
Fax.: +1-604-221 4310.
E-mail: wlg@ihermes.com

This eight-page booklet is designed to give those who are burdened with the task of writing project proposals some practical, experience-based advice on how to prepare proposals that will win a tender or interest a sponsor. The booklet has 11 sections in which the author dispels some discouraging misconceptions about proposals, cautions against pitfalls in the process of preparing them, covers the mechanics of putting a proposal together, and stresses the need for solid, consistent work if a proposal is to succeed. The philosophy underlying the arguments is simple and straightforward: do not underestimate your chances; when you submit a proposal make sure that it is a concise, quality product that convinces the reader; be careful not to promise what you cannot deliver; be informed; join hands with others when necessary; and learn from mistakes.
The booklet is a bit of a hybrid product, combining practical tips with cautionary remarks and morale boosters. Although the title suggests that it is a manual or guide, the booklet is simply too concise to fulfil that function. It does not differentiate between the types of work for which proposals are written, for example. It seems that the author had projects in mind with tangible, material end products, such as buildings and other structures. As a consequence, she stresses the importance of specifying end results over activities and approach. But in projects such as development projects-- where social research, management, monitoring and evaluation play an important role--it can be the approach that defines the desired end product.
For readers without any experience in proposal-writing, the booklet does not contain enough information to guide them through the whole process without further assistance. But if they take the author's advice and search databases, ask questions of informed sources, and seek serious partners, they will be able to go a long way. For beginners I would suggest that they gain experience by linking up with an experienced partner. They can then learn the trade while working together on a project proposal, using the booklet as a reference.
For those who do have experience, the booklet is a feast of recognition in a parade of major do's and don'ts. The value of the booklet lies in this list of things to avoid and things not to forget when writing a proposal, and in the emphasis it places on keeping the perspective of the funder in mind as one conceptualizes and writes a proposal.
The author invites readers to contribute to a continuous process of revising the booklet so that it will get better and better at addressing the needs of its users. In this interactive way, the booklet has the potential of becoming even more useful and eventually of growing into a full-fledged manual. But even small as it is, the booklet is a very useful tool.
(Ad Boeren, Senior Adviser, Department of Educational Studies and Consultancy, Nuffic, The Hague, the Netherlands)

Guendel, Sabine (1999) Participatory innovation development and diffusion: Adoption and adaptation of introduced legumes into traditional slash-and-burn peasant farming systems in Yucatan, Mexico. 81 pp. ISBN: 3-933984-07-6. DM10. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) mbH, Tropical Ecology Support Program, Postfach 5180, D-65726 Eschborn, Germany.
Fax: +49-6196-79 6190.
E-mail: TOEB@gtz.de

This is a shorter version of the original book, published in 1997, which was reviewed by Ann Waters-Bayer in the preceding issue of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor (see IK&DM 7(1)). The aim of the new edition is to make the publication more accessible by giving it a format which highlights the main steps required for learning the process of innovation development. More emphasis is placed on lessons and recommendations for natural resource management. A section has been added about institutionalizing the approach, and the editing has been improved. The new edition is still in English, however. The reviewer in the Monitor had recommended the publication of a Spanish edition since the fieldwork was done in Mexico.
The publisher reports that the translation of the book in Spanish is now ordered and will be available in August 1999.

Haugen, Christine and Patrick B. Durst (1997) Directory of selected tropical forestry journals and newsletters. 2 nd Edition. RAP Publication 1997/17; FORSPA Publication No. 19/1997. viii + 130 pp. Individual copies of the directory are free. For larger shipments, postage and handling may be charged. Please write to: Patrick Durst, regional forestry officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200 Thailand.
Fax: +66-2-280 0445.
E-mail: Patrick.Durst@fao.org

(See also IK&DM 6(3), where this publication was first mentioned under 'Preview: Important new books'.)

Being a sociologist, social anthropologist, political scientist and leader of the group studying the socio-cultural aspects of trees and forests at the Chair of Forest Policy and Forest Economics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, I rely on periodicals for most of my information about forests and the use of natural resources from a social and cultural point of view. Therefore I am grateful that Christine Haugen and Patrick B. Durst undertook the Herculean task to update and broaden the scope of the first directory, published in 1993.
The new directory is a selected compilation of 449 periodicals in 24 languages (although most are published in English, Spanish or French). Unfortunately, periodicals in languages of the newly independent countries of the former Soviet-dominated East have not been taken into account. Particularly valuable, however, are the short descriptions of the focus of each periodical, and the various indices which make it possible to search the directory by species, geographical region or country, language, or technical keyword. This makes it a handsome tool for entering the world of publications on forestry and the use and management of renewable natural resources.
Although the directory is incomplete and will continue to require updating, and of course could not be otherwise, it is a practical and highly useful reference work to have at one's disposal. The appendix that lists 'Electronic Forest Resources on the Internet' at a glance is a useful source of information indeed. Indigenous issues are covered in this directory as well, yet only 11 titles of periodicals are listed as dealing with these issues. It could be a challenge to everyone in this field to do some exploring in order to expand this list.
I hope that this publication will have more editions, either as printed documents or--better yet--on the World Wide Web, and that many more hitherto little-known periodicals will be brought to the international community's attention. This booklet can be recommended to professionals working in science, technology and the humanities, and to activists and decision-makers who are engaged in environmental politics, particularly from within non-governmental organizations.
(Klaus Seeland, Chair of Forest Policy and Forest Economics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland)

Holland, Jeremy and James Blackburn (eds) (1998) Whose Voice? Participatory research and policy change. 254 pp. ISBN 1-85339-419-X. GBP5.75. Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd., 103-105 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4HH, UK.
Blackburn, James and Jeremy Holland (eds) (1998) Who Changes? Institutionalizing participation in development. 199 pp. ISBN 1-85339-420-3. GBP5.25. Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd., 103-105 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4HH, UK.
Tel.: +44-171-436 9761.
Fax: +44-171-436-2013.

These two books can be considered a coherent follow-up to the international workshop on Participatory rural appraisal and policy which was held at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) of the University of Sussex (UK) in May 1996. All contributors attended the workshop; they represent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, consultancy groups, governments, and bilateral and multi-lateral institutions. The books deal with participatory approaches to development cooperation. Their publication is timely in view of the increasing use of participatory rural appraisal (PRA), which is encouraged not only by many development agencies, but also by big donor organizations like the World Bank and the European Union. Governments around the world are using these methods at all levels and in many sectors, including agriculture, forestry, education, and health. PRA is used in projects to combat violence and poverty, to improve the management of natural resources, and to deal with gender issues. In principle there is no sector in which PRA cannot be used, although I know of no examples of its use in banking, transport, ICT or other more commercially oriented sectors.
Most people who actually work with or study indigenous knowledge will know that participatory approaches form the basis of any attempt to access this knowledge. But PRA is more than this. In a sense, PRA is a political choice, since the poor are used as active analysts of their own situation. This is why PRA is often referred to as a post-positivism, action-research approach. It is different from conventional socio-economic research in that it is process-oriented, turning the subjects (i.e. the poor) into researchers or analysts who are seeking ways to improve their own situation. This is why PRA is used almost exclusively as a methodology for empowering the poor. The two books present evidence of how commonplace it has become in the development community to use PRA in order to improve the lot of the poor. It seems that a battle was won in the 1980s and 1990s; the interventionist approach based on the technological superiority of donor countries has finally been defeated. With the publication of these books, PRA's elevation to the mainstream of development cooperation seems certain. The foreword by Robert Chambers confirms this, since Chambers can be considered a key expert on the practical aspects of Third World rural development. His book Rural development: Putting the last first (1983) and his other work build on the attempts of Paulo Freire to establish a 'dialogue of learning' with the poor. The two books result logically from these developments, besides being the outcome of the workshop on participatory approaches. As stated in the introduction, they address two main challenges:

(i) how to ensure that all target groups have a balanced voice;
(ii) how to change the attitude and behaviour of the so-called 'development professionals' employed by governments, donors and small NGOs.

The first book, Whose voice?, presents many case studies, illustrating the fact that the target groups' participation is being sought in many sectors. A separate section of the book is devoted to participatory assessments of poverty. This is especially relevant in light of the World Bank's policy (since 1992) to carry out such assessments in all borrower countries in order to complement more traditional analyses. The last part of Whose voice? Is a reflection on the outcome of the IDS workshop, and concludes with an afterword by Robert Chambers. He states that participatory monitoring and evaluation (next to appraisal) by (target) groups themselves will close the gap with policy makers on grassroots development.'
The second book, Who changes?, is more innovative than the first in that it shifts attention from the groups that are traditionally the targets of participatory approaches to other possible actors, and discusses how the approaches should be changed in order to make participation work for these new groups. The volume elegantly describes the main challenges faced by PRA today: how to scale up the methods for use in larger projects, how to apply participatory approaches in new areas and for new organizational structures, and how to ensure that participation is institutionalized. The second book also presents many case studies. It is interesting to note that Who changes? has no afterword, however. Perhaps this has to do with the differences between this book and Robert Chambers' other major work, Whose reality counts? Putting the last first (1997; see IK&DM 5(1)), in which Chambers strongly challenges conventional wisdom and argues against the generalization of a world divided into North and South, rich and poor, and donors and recipients.
On the whole, Who changes? is more practical and perhaps more realistic than Whose voice? because it combines conventional methodologies with post-positivism, action-research methodologies, such as PRA and participatory poverty assessments (PPA). In other words, the authors seek to combine quantitative data, which underlines the division between the haves and the have-nots, with more specific yet divergent views of the same reality as seen through the eyes of different stakeholders.
The books share an elaborate theoretical framework. Here again, it is the second book that is most challenging. It gives a lucid presentation of terminology and the historical context of participation in development. The editors introduce PRA as meaning 'participatory reflection and action' and explain that it is different from 'participatory rural appraisal' in that it can be used in non-rural situations and for purposes other than appraisal. In my view, this new meaning of PRA is a better expression of its current use. There is no doubt that both publications are a must for all development professionals. They will find examples which are relevant to their country or sector. The books make a first attempt to systematically document experiences of taking participation to a larger scale. One point of criticism would be that because the books present so many cases clearly based on extensive empirical evidence, there is little room left for theoretical analysis and comparison of cases. Still, especially for readers like myself whose organizations administer donor money for developing countries, it is instructive to be confronted once again with the pitfalls and challenges of participatory development. The publication of these books may indeed herald the start of a new era in development cooperation, as Chambers concludes in the first volume. He writes, 'After Whose voice?... the world should never be the same again.' (p. 200) The books themselves sometimes carry this too far and are overly optimistic about the impact of participatory approaches. Yet at other times, the authors play down the impact, and we read that the essence is '...to be humble, and listen, respond to and respect the knowledge, perceptions and feelings of the other, rather than to lecture and impose.' (Blackburn and Holland, p. 5)
(Bram de Hoop, programme officer, Cooperation Programmes Section, Nuffic, The Hague, the Netherlands)

International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) (1996; unaltered reprint 1998) Recording and using indigenous knowledge: A manual. 211 pp. ISBN 0-942717-70-8. USD15 plus mailing costs. A full-text version is available on the Internet at htpp://www.panasia.org.sg/iirr/ikmanual/

In the USA and Canada, the manual is available for USD30 + USD5 shipping costs from Pact Publications, 777 UN Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA.
Tel.: +1-212-697-6222.
Fax +1-212-692-9748.
E-mail: dcoluccio@pactpub.org
http://www.pactpub.com/ (search for 'indigenous knowledge')
Orders for the manual can be placed in the Philippines by contacting:
Joy Caminade, Head, Publications Unit, International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), Y.C. James Yen Center, Biga, Silang, Cavite 4118, Philippines.
Fax: +63-46-414 2420.
E-mail: pub-iirr@cav.pworld.net.ph

Indigenous knowledge has been described as the latest buzzword in development. Yet there are still many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who are blind to this valuable resource or who do not know how to make use of it and therefore stick with their top-down attitude. With its very attractive presentation, this volume could go a long way to change this attitude. At a recent NGO workshop on animal health and ethnoveterinary medicine in Rajasthan (India), where the manual was on display, it certainly garnered a lot of attention. The manual is the outcome of a participatory workshop held in 1994 by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in the Philippines. The effort was coordinated by Evelyn Mathias, a veterinarian with additional anthropological training, who is an authority on indigenous knowledge and one of the pioneers of ethnoveterinary medicine.
The information is presented in a well-organized manner, and generous illustrations throughout add to its readability. It starts out with an in-depth definition of indigenous knowledge and a description of its uses. The second part presents the various methodologies used for recording indigenous knowledge, including sample selection, interviewing, group work, diagrams and audio-visual media. Part 3 deals with the assessment of indigenous knowledge (IK), a crucial subject since IK should not a priori be regarded as right or useful, and can even be wrong. Part 4 gives actual examples of how IK has been useful in development by presenting brief case studies, most of them drawn from the Philippines. Part 5 is a guide for asking questions on a wide variety of topics. The questionnaires should not be considered as blueprints for collecting information, but rather as frameworks to be adapted to local circumstances. The book is rounded off by Part 6, which offers a list of useful resources for the practitioner.
This book will serve as an inspiration to all NGOs working in rural development. It is a wise decision of the publisher to make reprints available besides offering a full-text version that can be downloaded from the Internet. It is a book that should not be missing from the library of even the smallest rural development NGO. I would like to make only one critical remark. I received an unaltered reprint, which implies that much of Part 6, the list of resources, contains address information that is out-of-date 1 . The contact persons and addresses listed for IK resource centres, for example, deviate from the current list published in the IK Monitor.
(Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, independent consultant on livestock and pastoral development, and project coordinator, League for Pastoral Peoples, Ober-Ramstadt, Germany)

Editor's note 1 This problem has been solved, at least for readers with access to the Internet. In the online version of the manual, the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction has replaced outdated address particulars with a direct link to the Monitor's website, where the listings for the IK resource centres are guaranteed up-to-date.

International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) (1998) Sustainable agriculture extension manual for Eastern and Southern Africa. 241 + xx pp. ISBN 0-942717-91-0. USD7.50 plus postage for Africa; USD12 plus postage outside Africa. Special arrangements can be made for courier and air freight services. Order from: Isaac Bekalo, Regional Director, Africa Regional Office, IIRR, P.O. Box 66873, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel: +254-2-446 522.
Fax: +254-2-448 148.
E-mail: iirraro@form-net.com

Sustainable agricultural development is becoming an increasingly broad and complex field, the practical application of which is usually divided into highly specialized subdisciplines such as soil science, credit and marketing, and livestock management. This means that there is a lack of practical approaches to sustainable agriculture which integrate all facets of the farming system. Within the context of southern and eastern Africa, the book addresses this need directly by covering almost every aspect of sustainable agriculture in a practical manner suitable for grass-roots application.
The manual is divided into nine sections, each devoted to a different facet of sustainable agriculture: technology, development and extension, credit and marketing, land use, gender, soil and water conservation, soil fertility, cropping systems, livestock extension, and livestock technologies. Within the various sections, subtopics cover specific technologies, i.e., how they work, how they are implemented, and the strengths and weaknesses of each. Line illustrations are employed to visualize techniques, and numerous examples from across the region show how various technologies for sustainable agriculture have succeeded or failed. There are appendices containing references and the names of resource and training organizations.
One of the strengths of this work is the breadth of its approach, which includes the agro-ecological, socio-economic and organizational dimensions of sustainable development. It manages to integrate a wide range of topics in a simple and straightforward manner, and will be particularly helpful for anyone working in grass-roots agricultural development, such as NGOs, extension agents, and community groups. But despite its wide coverage, there are several areas of sustainable development which are conspicuous by their absence. For example, no attention is given to the role which local agricultural knowledge and practices play in development. By ignoring indigenous knowledge and its potential contributions to agricultural development, this manual overlooks one of the most effective platforms for productive and sustainable farming systems. In addition, the importance of agricultural biodiversity, in the form of traditional crop varieties which have been adapted to local ecosystems, is largely neglected.
Despite such omissions, this manual is valuable as an integrated guide to the practical application of agricultural development technologies. It can provide an important starting point for anyone seeking a hands-on approach to the technologies of sustainable agriculture, in Africa as well as further afield.
(B.L. Myer, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town, South Africa)

Lok, Rossana (ed.) (1998) Huertos caseros tradicionales de América Central: características, beneficios e importancia, desde un enfoque multidiciplinario. (Traditional homegardens in Central America: characteristics, benefits and importance from a mutidisciplinary perspective). 234 pp. ISBN 9977-57-311-5. USD13 plus postage. Centro Agronómico de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), 7170 CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica.
Fax: +506-556 1891.
E-mail: bibliot@catie.ac.cr

The editor of this book, Rossana Lok, has a long history of experience in the study of traditional tropical homegardens in Latin America. She coordinated a multi-disciplinary research project on the subject for the Centro Agronómico de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). She is currently working in an agroforestry project for CATIE and the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).
The publication, supported by IDRC, AGUILA and ETC-Andes, brings together information from a number of research projects conducted in Central American countries between 1994 and 1998. Eleven researchers with diverse scientific back-grounds collaborated in the publication.
The first chapter presents a general introduction to the topic and defines the theoretical framework for the following chapters. Chapters 2 through 8 describe various aspects of traditional home-gardens: bio-physical characteristics, ethnobotany, plant diversity, small-scale livestock production, classification of zones within the homegarden, agro-ecology, divisions of labour, and socio-economic and sociocultural considerations.
The case studies presented in chapters 2 through 8 are rich in quantitative information and provide detailed insight into the subject. Several cases are particularly illustrative of the rich diversity of natural resources that can be managed within a small space, and of the importance of homegardens in overall livelihood strategies.
Although the book aims to provide a holistic analysis of these complex and diverse systems, the format does not facilitate a holistic understanding. Crop production and plant diversity are the main focus of most case studies, and livestock and crop-livestock interaction take a subordinate place. The existence and importance of local knowledge of homegarden management tends to get rather lost as a result of the scientific style chosen to present the findings, and it is sometimes difficult to identify who is the source of the information presented in the case studies, and whose criteria have been used for the classifications, etc. The voice of the local people rarely comes through. Nevertheless, the book is a valuable resource because of the wealth of varied data that is brought together on an important subject.
In the concluding section the editor lists six general recommendations for future extension projects and programmes dealing with homegardens. It is important, she says:
1. To begin from the culture and knowledge of the people concerned, and to adopt a participatory approach.
2. To take into account the plant species available locally and to experiment with these over a longer period of time. The exchange of genetic material should be encouraged, and the naturally occurring vegetation respected.
3. To aim for a better coordination of livestock and crops within homegarden systems.
4. To direct any intervention or extension project towards raising people's standard of living. This is why it is so important to understand all the functions a homegarden can have.
5. Not to forget the gender aspect.
6. To encourage organic, low-fertilizer-input approaches to homegardening.

The main readership of this book will be academics from various disciplines who share an interest in traditional homegardens.
(Sabine Gündel, ETC Ecoculture, the Netherlands)

Pradhan, Pirthiman, Maniram Moktan and Prem Kumar Lagha (eds) (1998) Perspective on the conservation and sustainable use of chirata (Swertia chirata)in Eastern Bhutan. 40 pp. + 15 annexes. RNR Research Centre-East Khangma. Tech. Doc. No. 12. Renewable Natural Resources Research Centre, Extension and Irrigation Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Royal Government of Bhutan, Khangma, Trashigang, PO Kanglung, Trashigang, Bhutan.
Tel./fax: +975-4-35 122.
This report grew out of an ethno-botanical survey conducted in three villages of eastern Bhutan. With financial assistance from the Integrated Horti-cultural Development Project of the Ministry of Agriculture, the researchers from RNR Research Centre East pooled a large body of information on the exploitation and conservation of chirata (Swertia chirata), which is one of the most important pharmaceutical resources in Bhutan. In November 1997 the inter-disciplinary team assessed the social and economic situation of the sample villages using participatory rural appraisal techniques, identified the ethnomedical indigenous knowledge (IK) in use and carried out botanical surveys to assess the resource base of chirata and its sustainability.
The report is well organized and has a clear structure. This makes the information it contains more accessible to the readers for whom it is intended: ethno-botanists and development practitioners working in Himalayan regions. Within the twelve sections, not only the role of chirata in the economy of local households is described and discussed, but also the indigenous knowledge and practices related to collection, post-harvesting and marketing, as well as current developments in this area. And finally, a number of valuable conclusions have been reached.
Today many people are aware of the key role played by medicinal plants in the development of human society, and even in forest conservation. However, insufficient attention has been given to the preservation of the existing knowledge. This report focuses on one example, a representative species of medicinal plant, in order to underline the significance of ethnomedical IK in sustainable development. Having heard the stories from three villages in Bhutan, people recalled similar plants which grow in other developing regions. The local people realized that they could sell medicinal plants in the market, and since then it has been increasingly harvested. Due to the lack of a sound management plan, however, supplies became depleted. Today people are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainable development. If the collection of plants in each village is governed by well-defined community rules and regulations, and participatory approaches are used in decision making, there is no violation of the old unwritten rights pertaining to collection areas. This report suggests that for the conservation and sustainable use of resources, a Management Plan (MP) should be drawn up for Management Units (MU), based on traditional village boundaries. The most appropriate action would be to create a Common Property Resource Unit, which would concentrate on developing MPs and managing the Common Property Resources (CPR) in a sustainable way. These suggestions will no doubt be used as a reference for the management of resources in the remote mountainous regions.
However, this report has one weak-ness. A great deal of material from field surveys is presented in tables and figures, but there is little in the way of evaluation and discussion. The recommendations for future development are on the macro-level, and not enough practical and functional approaches are suggested for the benefit of local communities.
Despite this drawback, the report provides a very comprehensive analysis of indigenous practices related to chirata. It may be expected to contribute to our understanding of the role of ethno-medical knowledge in the Himalayan regions, and help us to find better ways of preserving it. It will be of interest to those concerned with ethno-medicinal practices, and the integration of IK into development and conservation.
(Ning Wu, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Ramirez, Ricardo (1997) Understanding farmers' communication networks: combining PRA with agricultural knowledge systems analysis. Gatekeeper Series No. SA66. ISSN 1357-9258. 20 pp. GBP4.00; subscriptions to the Gatekeeper Series are free of charge to Southern individuals and organizations. International Institute for Environment and Development, 3 Endsleigh St, London WC1H 0DD, UK.
Tel.: +44-171-388 2117.
Fax: +44-171-388 2826.
E-mail: sustag@iied.org

Ricardo Ramirez is a consultant and doctoral student at the University of Guelph, Canada. He worked for several years with the FAO Communications Development Service, coordinating the Information and Communication Unit of ILEIA (Centre for Information on Low-External Input and Sustainable Agriculture) in the Netherlands. This booklet is based on his experiences not only in the Philippines, but also as a consultant in Ethiopia, and with ILEIA in Peru.
He describes an approach that brings together farmers, extensionists, researchers and other stakeholders in rural development (e.g., traders and administrators), with a view to identifying actors and linkages in information exchange. The approach is based on the concept of AKIS--agricultural knowledge and information systems--which recognizes multiple actors in innovation and two-way information flows.
Some elements of participatory rural appraisal (e.g., mapping, ranking, and crop history) were combined with the AKIS methodology in the following process:
- farmers map their major production systems, enterprises, infrastructure and tenure;
- farmers trace the history of innovation in major enterprises, in order to identify key actors;
- researchers map linkages, which are then verified by farmers;
- farmers and researchers jointly analyze the linkage performance;
- researchers interview input suppliers, municipal officials and others whom farmers have identified as key actors;
- an action plan to modify roles and improve linkages is drawn up.

The results call the transfer-of-technology model into question. The farmers gained little from research; their main source of information comes from other farmers. The examination of ways to improve information exchange revealed the need for extensionists to become information brokers and facilitators, helping farmers form new linkages or improve existing ones, in order to support innovation in agricultural development.
The initial steps are well described, but there is no information on how the action plan was drawn up and by whom, and what happened during its implementation and evaluation. A follow-up report on these points would be highly interesting.
The approach begins with local knowledge of agricultural change and sources of information; this helps farmers visualize their communication networks and identify room for improvement. It shows planners of agricultural programmes how these can be redesigned to serve farmers better. The booklet will be of most use to planners and advisors, extension trainers, and researchers of knowledge systems.
(Ann Waters-Bayer, ETC Ecoculture, the Netherlands)

Starkey, Paul (1997) Networking for development. 103 pp. ISBN 1-85339-430-0. GBP9.95 (plus packing & postage) International Forum for Rural Transport and Development, New Premier House (2nd Floor), 150 Southampton Row, London WC1B 5AL, United Kingdom.
Tel.: +44-171-278 3670.
Fax: +44-171-436 6880.
E-mail: ifrtd@gn.apc.org
http://www.gn.apc.org/ifrtd

Networks are popular tools in almost every type of sustainable development, facilitating communication between the various local, national and international partners. Despite the important role they play, the organization of networks has received surprisingly little attention. This little book makes an important contribution to the field by exploring in practical detail the key issues involved in developing and maintaining effective lines of communication for sustainable development.
Published by an organization which specializes in international networking, the book is divided into two parts. The first discusses the steps involved in setting up networks and the hurdles that must be overcome; it describes the different types of networks, the benefits of networking, and general guidelines for networking. Electronic networks are included, as well as more formal collaboration. Of particular note is the section devoted to the kinds of problems faced by networks, ranging from a lack of clear objectives, to insufficient resources to misinformation. Other sections outline the possible difficulties involved and present the different options for addressing them.
The second part presents a series of detailed case studies which illustrate how various types of networks operate in practice. Examples are drawn from animal traction networks across Africa, but the issues involved could easily come from any discipline or from any region of the global South. Actual situations are described which correspond to most of the general problems presented in part one. Both successful and failed solutions are pre-sented, along with the lessons learned in the process. The strength of these case studies is that they are not intended to present a concrete model of how com-munication networks should operate. Instead, they show the kinds of processes involved in establishing networking needs, designing and implementing networks, and diagnosing and solving problems.
This concise work thoroughly explores the strengths and weaknesses of an important tool for sustainable develop-ment, yet it is written in a simple and clear style. Although it does not address indigenous knowledge (IK) directly, its applications are clear and powerful for those involved in any sort of IK-related network. As a result, readers of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor are likely to find this book extremely worthwhile, especially for individuals or organizations becoming involved in networking for the first time.
(B.L. Myer, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town, South Africa)

Ullah, Saleem (1996) Adapting indigenous forest management. Prospects for integration of scientific and indigenous management practices in Dir, Pakistan. M.Sc. Thesis in Tropical Forestry, Dept. of Forestry, Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands. 82 pp. In the Netherlands: NLG25; international orders: NLG50 plus postage. Order from: MSc Programme Tropical Forestry, Wageningen Agricultrual University, P.O. Box 42, 6700 AH Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Tel: +31-317-484 426.
Fax: +31-317-483 542.

The author is currently with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in Sarhad, Pakistan. His thesis is based on his experiences with the Malakand/Dir Social Forestry Project in Northern Pakistan, and on fieldwork in the same area.
His dissertation focuses on indigenous forest management (IFM) in relation to village land use planning, and compares it with scientific forest management as practised by the Forest Department. The feasibility of a merger of the two is discussed. The aim of the study was to systematically describe indigenous forest management and its effect on the local vegetation. A general study of IFM practices was carried out in twelve villages, and two of these were singled out for detailed, in-depth analyses. The core of this dissertation is the description of indigenous forest management techniques, institutional regulations (such as the control of access to forest produce), the utilization of forest products (such as timber harvesting), and other forest-related practices, including grazing).
Saleem Ullah's account offers valuable insights into living conditions in the rural communities of Northern Pakistan. The villages studied were categorized on the basis of the effectiveness of forest protection, management practices, and land tenure arrangements. The focus was on the extent to which the village communities make use of traditional patterns in managing their forests.
This report contributes to the discussion on how independent and self-reliant village communities are in the management of their natural environment, in particular their forests. The author does not, however, address the forest policy impact of IFM, or the question of local political empowerment through the self-management of renewable natural resources. Instead, he stresses the advantages of the village land use planning system as a transitional stage and a means of overcoming the antagonism between the stakeholders and the forest administration. This thesis will appeal to all those who are interested in empirical studies on indigenous forest management, i.e., sociologists, foresters and professionals in the field of natural resource management.
(Klaus Seeland, Chair of Forest Policy and Forest Economics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland)

Wautischer, Helmut (ed.) (1998) Tribal epistemologies: Essays in the philosophy of anthropology. 239 + xvii pp. ISBN 1-84014-128-X. GBP39.95 Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Gower House, Croft Road, Aldershot, Hants GU11 3HR, England.
Tel: +44-1252-331 551.
Fax: +44-1252-344 405.
E-mail: ashgate@cityscape.co.uk
http://www.ashgate.com

In their explorations of the nature of human knowledge, anthropologists and philosophers are increasingly turning towards perspectives which contrast 'Western' and 'local' ways of knowing. In the same spirit, this edited volume focuses on the nature of knowledge, presenting a series of theoretical discussions on how knowledge and meaning are structured and manipulated among local peoples. Its authors come primarily from the social sciences, but also include 'hard' scientists, and members of indigenous groups.
The ten papers are distributed across sections which focus on methodologies for studying local epistemologies; the ethnographic assessment of knowledge; the mediation of meaning by shamans; and the roles of communal knowledge in a culturally diverse world. Each piece employs a similar approach, which consists in describing local or traditional ways of knowing, and detailing the structure and function of knowledge within a society. This description becomes a jumping-off point into highly philosophical discussions of the nature of knowledge. As a work rooted in psychological anthropology, many of the contributions attempt to explore aspects of knowledge and consciousness which are unique to individual cultures, contrasting these with structural conditions which may be basically human. Individual contributions draw examples from Native North America, Siberia and the South Pacific.
While interesting, most of the papers here draw heavily on the conceptual framework of psychological anthropology, in which knowledge is formed discursively as it is actively created, shaped and transmitted by individuals and institutions. This line of thinking could have several potential contributions for researchers working with indigenous knowledge (IK), and there is a definite need for works which explore the discursive aspects of IK in a practical manner. Unfortunately, like many anthropological works rooted in psychological theory (along the lines of 'French' Structuralism), this volume defers to theoretical discussions, essentially applying the analytical approaches of literary criticism to ethnography and the oral traditions of local peoples. Moreover, the complex writing style of many of the authors makes their papers difficult to follow.
This volume has a great deal to contribute to the postmodern debate on how knowledge is generated within society, and how it is approached by the social sciences. But readers of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor are likely to find Tribal epistemologies only tangentially relevant to the practical study of IK. Although this work will probably be welcomed by philosophers and psychological anthropologists as a theoretical exposition, it offers little which is applicable to sustainable development.
(B.L. Myer, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town, South Africa)