Bayer, Wolfgang, and Ann Waters-Bayer (1999) La gestion des fourrages. 246 pp.
ISBN 3-8236-1309-X. DEM40; USD30 plus fee for postage. Translated by Jean-Michel Brohée and Edith Meyer. Supported by CTA and GTZ. Margraf Verlag, P.O. Box 1205, D-97985 Weikersheim, Germany.
Tel.: +49-79-3430 71.
Fax: +49-79-3481 56.
E-mail: margraf@compuserve.com

This book is a French translation of Forage husbandry, published in 1998 by Macmillan Education Ltd. Ning Wu reviewed the English version in the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor of July 1999 (IK&DM 7(2), p. 29). The two authors have had long and distinguished careers in rural development, agriculture and pastoralism, which have taken them all over Africa and the tropics. Their work on indigenous knowledge has featured in earlier issues of this journal.
The book begins with a detailed discourse on different kinds of farming and herding around the world: nomadic pastoralism, sedentary agro-pastoralism, mixed farming, and urban and pre-urban farming. The technical background to livestock feeding and nutrition which follows includes descriptions of the composition and digestibility of the main forage groups. The book then goes on to review indigenous practices relating to the management of livestock grazing (e.g. free grazing, zero-grazing, tethered grazing) and the management of different kinds of fodder (naturally occurring fodder, fodder as a by-product of other plant use, cultivated fodder). In the chapter on the conservation of fodder crops, the authors review traditional haymaking and silage production. They also discuss how farmers supplement forage with minerals, by-products, and kitchen scraps. Finally, the chapter entitled 'Research and development in fodder management' shows the progression from conventional R&D to a more participatory approach that acknowledges what local people know about using fodder.
The book is very readable and is well illustrated with photographs, tables, and graphs. Its annexes would be useful for fieldwork; they contain lists of important forage plants divided by species and cultivars, a glossary, and a list of further reading. I recommend this text for francophone development workers, extension agents, and anyone interested in the sustainable management of livestock.
(Marina Martin, Projects Co-ordinator, VETAID, UK. E-mail: mail@vetaid.org. http://www.vetaid.org)

Berkes, Fikret and Carl Folke (eds) (1998) Linking social and ecological systems: Management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. 437 pp. ISNB 0-521-591406. GBP50. Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK.
Tel.: +44-1223-312 393.
Fax: +44-1223-315 052.

In thinking about sustainable development, scientists, policy-makers and activists alike struggle to understand the dynamic equilibrium between human behaviour and the environment. Linking social and ecological systems explores a new approach to understanding natural resource management and sustainable development at the micro- and macro-levels of human ecology. This edited volume explores the interplay between social and ecological systems by investigating different areas of human-ecosystem interactions from a holistic perspective which views social systems (including socio-cultural, economic and political structures) and ecological systems (including fisheries, farming and silviculture) as a single entity. The volume represents a significant departure from the boundaries of disciplinary science, which traditionally study either social or ecological systems while viewing the other as a separate 'black box' or constant factor. The view promoted here, of the social and the ecological as a single integrated system which is best researched and managed as a whole, is an important step in natural resource management.
This work is the product of the Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and is edited by Fikret Berkes (Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Canada) and Carl Folkes (Beijer Institute). The contributors are experts drawn from different areas of natural resource management in different parts of the world. The contributors and editors together have produced a powerful work.
The strength of this volume lies in the breadth of distinctive contributions which are all based on a common conceptual framework. The framework is built using ideas which are familiar to anyone working in fields related to sustainable development: local property rights, ecological resilience, adaptive management, and local knowledge. These ideas are blended with a strong emphasis on a systems approach, allowing the examination of individual elements without losing sight of the whole. The framework provides the common foundation on which the subsequent chapters build. For example, the definitions of all key terms are defined and explored at the start of the work, and then used in a consistent manner throughout-a rare occurrence in edited volumes.
The body of the work is comprised of four sections, each focussing on a different theme within the conceptual framework: approaches to learning from local systems; the emergence of new and adaptive systems; the relationship between local experiences and national or regional forces; and methods for employing new understandings in order to design new approaches to management. Within these sections each chapter presents a sort of case study. Although concerned with different areas of resource management in different parts of the world, each of these studies addresses how social systems develop management practices based on ecological knowledge, and how these socio-ecological systems are adept at (or ill-suited to) dealing with the fluctuations within ecosystems or socio-economic contexts. Each contribution manages to expresses unique perspectives without departing from the volume's conceptual framework.
While most of the 15 chapters contain clear arguments and substantive evidence, several contributions stand out as particularly valuable. Gilsi Palsson's contribution (Chapter 3) on the balance of local and scientific knowledge in the Icelandic fishing industry provides exciting insights into the ways in which overlapping discourses on natural resource management can simultaneously complement and compete against one another. Chapter 7 (by Michael Warren and Jennifer Pinkston) focusses on changing agroforestry practices among Yoruba farmers in Nigeria, illustrating the complexities of simultaneous social and agro-ecological change. Finally, Chapter 12 (by Christopher Finlayson and Bonnie McCay) uses the recent collapse of the Newfoundland cod industry as an example of the ways in which local, regional and international policies and practices combine to place insurmountable stresses on a resource management system. These chapters achieve the brand of holistic interdisciplinary science which the editors promote; in treating social and ecological systems as an integrated whole, the authors of these chapters achieve closer insights than either approach could achieve alone.
If there is a weakness in this work, it is its implicit geographic bias. The majority of case studies are drawn from the global North. This is unusual for a work concerned with human-ecological interactions, as most of the world's biodiversity, and certainly the greatest human threats to that biodiversity, are located in the global South. This decision is justified by the editors as an attempt to avoid 'isolated groups and anthropological curiosities' (p.18) and focus instead on ecological and social systems which face modern market realities. This rationale rings hollow, however, as it means that relatively little attention is given to the macro-economic realities which face the modern developing world, such as massive trade imbalances, debt burden and structural adjustment (to name but a few). Such topics are conspicuous in their absence. Surely these political and economic forces, as well as purer market forces, are important in shaping the social-ecological behaviour of thousands of local communities? This omission proves to be one of the few shortcomings of an otherwise well-balanced work.
In all, Linking social and ecological systems is an important volume which may well signal a new direction in interdisciplinary understandings of natural resource management. Although most of its examples come from the global North, the greatest value of this work lies not so much in its conceptual framework as in the comprehensive thematic approach taken by the editors and contributors. This will be of interest-and more importantly, of use-to almost anyone whose work is related to natural resource management or sustainable development. Readers of IKDM, whether scientists, policy-makers or activists, will find it helpful for understanding and managing the complexities of local social and ecological dynamics.
(Landon B. Myer, South Africa Medical Research Council, Mtubatuba, South Africa)

L.P. Bharara (1999) Man in the desert. Drought, desertification and indigenous knowledge for sustainable development. xx + 394 pp. ISBN 8172331932. USD43.30. Scientific Publishers, 5-A, New Pali Road, P.O. Box No.91, Jodhpur 342 001, India.
Fax: +91-291-613 480.

Dr L.P. Bharara is an eminent rural sociologist devoted to the study of arid lands, with emphasis on human ecology, socio-economic surveys, agricultural extension and rural development. He recently retired from the Central Arid Zone Research Institute in Jodhpur, Rajasthan (India), where he had served for more than 35 years.
This book is excellent. It examines how the people of the Rajasthan region of the Thar desert have survived in the midst of drought and desertification. The author looks at the problem from a socio-ecological point of view, showing how people from different castes and economic groups have adopted different strategies. Especially valuable are the detailed accounts of people's perceptions and historical recollections of drought and how it has affected the relationships between land, vegetation, humans and animals. The author also discusses the extent, causes and process of desertification.
Part one describes the setting, and Part two presents the socio-ecological implications. Part three presents the knowledge and perceptions on the basis of which local people have survived in a sustainable way. This part is rich in detail: for example, about how local people forecast the weather, harvest rainwater, conserve and manage land resources as common property, and practise agro-forestry.
Indigenous knowledge, according to the author, is know-how and wisdom acquired through the observation of specific natural and social phenomena in combination with the experience of supernatural powers influencing life. The basis for forecasting the weather and predicting agricultural yields is one form of indigenous knowledge, vital for coping with natural calamities. Villagers in the arid region of Rajasthan have developed their own indicators for predicting drought. Drought occurs frequently enough for the villagers to empirically verify their predictions, which they make on the basis of climatic factors and changes they see in vegetation and animal behaviour, for example. The research shows that climatic factors (rainfall, wind direction, etc.) are the main traditional indicators: more than 80% of the peasant households perceive and interpret these, sometimes as omens. The indicators based on changes in vegetation are second in importance, interpreted by 75% of the households. Half of the households perceive and interpret specific animal behaviour, whereas less than half see certain human behaviours as indicators. The indicators on which drought prediction is based have been woven into the folk culture and are evident in local sayings. Interestingly, social relations are also part of the predictions. For example, it is believed that if on the eve of a festival in March a person is refused a favour by a friend, there will be famine. But if the friend is generous, the year will be good.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the study is the comparison between the villagers' predictions for a given year on the basis of their own indicators, and a description of the same year based on western scientific measurements of rainfall, crop maturity, etc. Were the predictions using traditional indicators accurate or not? Over the 94 years that local predictions have been recorded, the average accuracy over four categories of indicators proved to be 55%. But if the indicators based on climatic factors and changes in vegetation are considered separately, the accuracy rate goes up to 78% and 68% respectively. This is very accurate indeed. Moreover, the research shows that a holistic perception of natural phenomena provides a truer representation of reality than mere figures about rainfall or modern scientific methods of yield measurements can ever do.
Among the chapters that describe and analyze local knowledge and practices pertaining to the use of land and resources is a particularly fascinating chapter about the traditional methods for harvesting rainwater in Rajasthan. The underground tanks for collecting and storing drinking water (kunds) are described in detail, as is their use. Without a kund, a household would have to make trips of 10 to 15 kilometres to get water. It was the discovery of these kunds by Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain that inspired them to write their excellent book Dying wisdom. The rise, fall and potential of India's traditional water harvesting systems. (See IK&DM December 1998, Vol. 6(3), p. 29.)
The last chapter provides valuable insight into the way local people perceived the activities, constraints and achievements of a Desert Development Programme that had focussed on transferring technologies, generating income and developing human resources.
This book is a must for anyone concerned with the problems of drought and desertification, whether as a scientist, planner, policy-maker, student or development worker. The only possible omission is a specific reference to the perceptions and knowledge of women.
(L.Ch. Schenk-Sandbergen, Associate Professor, Anthropological and Sociological Centre, Faculty of Political and Socio-cultural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Garrett, Martha J. and Claes G. Grandqvist (eds) (1998) Basic sciences and development: Rethinking donor policy. xxxiii + 145 pp. ISBN 1-85972-562-7. GBP32.50. Ashgate Publishing Company, 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

This book comes at a potentially important time as governments and people in the Asia-Australia region address issues of development with regard to the newly emerging nation of East Timor. The question of how best to assist our newly independent neighbour is on the minds of many people, and some form of long-term planning needs to emerge from what seems, at least on the surface, to be chaos. Garrett and Grandqvist, who have strong scientific backgrounds as well as experience of science in developing countries, have drawn together authors who have brought a variety of important perspectives to this debate.
The basic message of the articles is that a substantial portion of development money should be directed towards 'capacity building' in the basic sciences in developing countries. Rather than the whole development dollar being devoted to aid projects, some of it should be spent to create a cadre of well-trained indigenous scientists who would be able to apply their knowledge in locally specific and appropriate ways.
The book presents a clear and easily understandable argument in favour of longer-term thinking and the development of local capabilities. Essentially, the authors argue that the proposed diversion of aid money could be the long-term key to breaking the cycle of dependence on external development expertise. In the opinion of the authors, a local culture of science would be a precursor to independently planned and executed development programmes. The topics discussed in the book include the importance of re-shaping the 'basic science' infrastructure in developing countries and strategies for doing so; an assessment of current teaching, research and development trends in these fields in developing countries; and the need to refocus current donor support. The design of the book, with its clear headings and user-friendly navigability, enables the reader to grasp the salient points after only a quick scan.
Given the clarity of the title and the expertise of the authors, the specific nature of these discussions is apparent. The book's focus is an important one. Capacity building in indigenous contexts does, however, need to be thought of in a broader sense as well, where long-term education strategies in the basic sciences play a crucial part. This volume adds an important chapter to the key issue of developing indigenous capacities for research and management. There is little doubt that local people have to be able to negotiate their way through the political and cultural minefields of the contemporary, globalized economic system. But at the same time they need to remain cognisant of and responsive to development in their local context.
(Greg Williams, School of Resource Studies, Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Northern Territory University, Darwin, Australia. E-mail: greg.williams@ntu.edu.au)

Giger, Markus (1999) Avoiding the shortcut: moving beyond the use of direct incentives. A review of experience with the use of incentives in projects for sustainable soil management. 61 pp. ISBN 3-906151-32-8. CHF15 for organizations and individuals in the North; free of charge for development organizations and institutions in the South. A Spanish version will be available in May, 2000, and an abbreviated French version in June 2000. Order from: Centre for Development and Environment, Institute of Geography, University of Berne, Hallerstraße 12, 3012 Berne, Switzerland.
Tel.: +41-31-631 8822.
Fax: +41-31-631 8544.
E-mail: cde@giub.unibe.ch
http://www.cde.unibe.ch
All versions can also be downloaded from the CDE website at http://www.cde.unibe.ch/
(see under publications)

This book is of direct practical use to policy-makers, project planners, and project staff. It concerns the use of incentives in projects to improve soil management. The major message is that direct incentives do not work. A group of experts, coordinated by Markus Giger from the Centre for Development and Environment of the University of Berne, guide the reader to this conclusion. While we may have ethical, environmental and economic reasons to include direct incentives and subsidy-based approaches in projects, we are shown conceptually and practically why they do not work. The arguments are supported by research from the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies, and the University of Berne. Highlighted examples based on experiences around the world help readers to understand why direct incentives do not achieve the purposes for which they are intended. The results are discussed of specific projects that used food-for-work or cash-for-work, or that provided inputs or services free of charge or at subsidized rates. The use of direct incentives often keeps projects on schedule, but the results achieved are short-lived.
The report is practical, as evidenced by the 'Checklist for donors and planners' that follows the executive summary. The checklist formulates questions and offers suggestions for action. The report concludes with a 'minimum agenda', which summarizes the findings and makes recommendations. A list of references is provided.
The report points out that other options for furthering sustainable land management do exist and are being used. It outlines the key conditions, instruments and problems associated with these options and discusses the conceptual basis of each. 'The general objective,' says the author, 'should be to increase the options available to resource users.' Three major strategies are proposed for replacing the use of direct incentives:

1. Removing constraining factors and working towards gradual improvement of indirect incentives.
2. Putting greater emphasis on participatory innovation processes.
3. Finding new ways of co-financing resource conservation.

Three types of policy incentives are discussed and examples are provided. Situations are defined in which subsidies for implementing soil conservation could be useful, such as those based on external benefits and public goods.
The report is well structured, well written and attractively laid out, all of which helps to engage the reader in its important content. The report makes a significant contribution both to improving the sustainability of land conservation efforts and to enhancing the role that indigenous knowledge and participatory technology development can play in the sustainable management of land resources.
(Deirdre Birmingham, independent consultant, Alpharetta Georgia, USA. E-mail: deirdreb@mindspring.com)

Gottschalk-Batschkus, Christine E., Judith Schuler and Doris Iding (eds) (1997) Frauen und Gesundheit - Ethnomedizinische Perspektiven - Women and health - Ethnomedical perspectives. 448 pp. ISBN 3-86135-563-9. DEM88 (plus fee for postage). VWB - Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung, Berlin, Germany.
Tel.: +49-30-251 04 15.
Fax: +49-30 251 04 12.
E-mail: 100615.1565@compuserve.com

This volume is a special issue (No. 11) of Curare, a three-monthly journal for ethnomedicine, produced by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnomedizin (Society for Ethnomedicine) in Berlin, Germany. It consists of a collection of 52 articles of which 27 are written in German and 25 in English. 47 female and 23 male authors from Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada and Australia contributed to it. Each paper begins with a short abstract in both German and English. The volume ends with a brief index of keywords in both languages.
Because it is impracticable to summarize all 52 manuscripts in a way that would do justice to the individual intentions, significance and power of expression of each contribution, I will limit myself to some observations. This compilation provides an astonishing amount of information and knowledge-mainly rich, culturally informed material. The book's actual Leitmotiv is 'women and their struggle for a healthy and satisfying life'. These are described from widely divergent perspectives, discussed by a number of disciplines, and illustrated with stories from various geographical regions. There are a great variety of topics covered in this book and we find in it reports from all over the world. To mention a few: the preparation of girls for adulthood-including its darker sides like teenage pregnancies, sexual violence, female genital mutilation; female concepts of health and sickness and women's quest for healing; images and definitions of motherhood; the impact of traditional practices and modern medical interventions on pregnancy and birth; women as healers, witches, spouses, as sufferers of psychiatric and somatic illnesses, as family carers and midwives; women as underprivileged and discriminated labour migrants in Europe and Latin America; women as victims of the AIDS pandemic and of economic and political chaos; women as refugees of war.
The chapters, as is usual with this type of joint ventures, vary widely in design and character. There are papers resembling fairy-tale narratives, there are critical essays, detailed enumerations, scientific reports based on quantitative or qualitative research methods with more or less accurate statistics, anthropological texts, historical accounts, pleas for change, calls for research. To my mind, most articles represent the state of the art in their particular fields. What is really missing in this wide-ranging work is a thorough introductory chapter, providing a clear structure with well-defined areas, linking texts with challenging conclusions. On the technical side I find it disappointing to notice very many spelling errors, especially in the English documents.
Overall, however, I find this an admirable piece of work. Yet it is a pity that this wealth of information and knowledge is collected into one single, rather expensive edition, thus creating the risk that only a small circle of insiders in the Western world can benefit from its publication. Many lay persons (women and men alike), researchers and practitioners in developing countries just do not have the resources to purchase such an asset. Apart from that, it will be a problem for many a person to find time to read this volume from cover to cover.
In the preface of this book, Professor Beate Schücking notes that 'the international range of this volume serves to arouse curiosity and to prompt comparison.' Indeed, many contributions are overt or covert invitations to exchange experiences, problems, questions, feelings, ideas, insights and to communicate about possible solutions or to develop alternative approaches. One way to reach larger audiences is by making knowledge more accessible, for instance by producing electronic versions of recorded and/or written material and to disperse these freely via the Internet. I think 'sharing' will become a key word in the next decades, and the Internet is a great tool for that.
(Florie Barnhoorn, University of Amsterdam, Ph.D. Study Centre for Women, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. E-mail: barnhoorn@pscw.uva.nl. http://www.pscw.uva.nl/pwv/tbc/tbc.html)

Green, Edward (1999) Indigenous theories of contagious disease. 313 pp. ISBN 0-7619-8941-2. USD24.95. AltaMira Press, a Division of Sage Publications Inc., 1630 North Main Street, Suite 367, Walnut Creek, California 94596, USA.
E-mail: explore@altamirapress.com
Edward Green is a well-known author who has worked as a medical anthropologist in several countries of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. Although geographically diverse, the subjects of Green's work and publications all show his commitment to public health and applied medical anthropology. The majority of Green's research deals with African ethnomedicine, which he has studied for nearly 20 years.
This important new book, Indigenous theories of contagious disease, paves the way for effective working relationships between indigenous healers and the providers of biomedical health services, and for more effective health promotion and disease prevention across the world, according to W. Penn Handwerker in the foreword. Green's own opening sentence is pungent: 'The popular stereotype of African indigenous medicine is of magic, witchcraft, sorcery, and spirit possession, set against a background of throbbing drums.' (p.11) Green points out that this focus on witchcraft has blocked the incorporation of ethnomedical findings into public health programmes. He is convinced that health researchers and policy-makers do injustice not only to public health but also to science and medicine if they ignore and dismiss indigenous and personal medical theories in their attempt to mitigate the ravages of infectious disease. (p.18) By not taking into account the people's own beliefs regarding contagion, biomedically trained professionals miss potentially key insights that could have helped them to improve their characterizations of illness and their medical services. Instead, they fail to understand why local people refuse to take their advice or follow their recommendations.
With this study Green wants to bridge the gap between what he terms 'indigenous contagion theory' (ICT) and western biomedical norms of etiology and treatment. He shows that 'contamination' is an African code word for pollution. The word 'contagion' was used by many of the healers he interviewed to refer to what they understood to be infectious diseases: for example the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, bilharzia, epilepsy, and diarrhoea.
The book contains abundant data showing that indigenous contagion theories occur globally. The data are convincingly presented country-by-country and include descriptions of the concepts and theories maintained by local healers and other respondents regarding infectious diseases. The book also offers a useful graphical summary of indigenous contagion theories and the codewords that are connected with each of them. (p. 87)
As a researcher studying tuberculosis, I found one part of this rich book extremely interesting. Green makes it clear that at present the most detailed research findings available concern STDs and diarrhoeal disease. This, he explains, is because these diseases are the priorities of recent programmes of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and other major funders of applied health research in developing countries. Green suggests that other infectious diseases account for more morbidity and mortality than the higher-profile AIDS-tuberculosis and malaria are two examples. These diseases should be of great interest to researchers, says Green, because they require culturally appropriate interventions, they can increase susceptibility to HIV/AIDS, and they illustrate the range and significance of ICTs.
In the final chapter, Green argues that we are more likely to see health programmes benefit from ethnomedical research if we place emphasis where it deserves to be: not on witchcraft beliefs-which is probably the area of least compatibility between indigenous medicine and Western public health-but on naturalistic understandings of contagious illnesses. I would recommend Indigenous theories of contagious disease to medical anthropologists and others who are interested in the bio-socio-cultural and historical underpinnings of ICTs, as well as to anyone with a concern for indigenous knowledge and development.
(Mirjam J.E. van Ewijk, European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER), Research Programme: Migration, Health and Social Integration, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. E-mail: M.vanEwijk@fss.uu.nl http://www.ercomer.org/staff/MEW.html)

Haverkort, Bertus and Wim Hiemstra (eds) (1999) Food for thought. Ancient visions and new experiments of rural people. 237 pp. ISNB 1-85649-723-2. GBP14.95; USD22.50. Zed Books Ltd., 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK.
Tel.: +44-20-7837 8466.
Fax: +44-207833 3960.
and ETC/COMPAS, P.O. Box 64, 3830 AB Leusden, the Netherlands.
E-mail: compas@etcnl.nl 

This book is the outcome of a workshop that took place in April 1996 in Bolivia. It was conducted by organizations that are partners in COMPAS (Comparing and Supporting Endogenous Development), which is an international programme designed to explore the diversity of rural peoples' knowledge, to encourage local experimentation based on farmers' own cosmovisions, and to foster inter-cultural dialogue on indigenous knowledge, learning and experimentation pertaining to agriculture, the use of natural resources, and health. In the words of David Millar, director of CECIK (Ghana Centre for Cosmosvisions and Indigenous Knowledge) and author of a chapter in the book on traditional African worldviews, 'Cosmovision is a social construct that includes the assumed interrelationships between spirituality, nature and mankind.'
Food for thought presents case studies from different parts of the world. These form the basis for a number of generalizations and conclusions. The book also discusses such subjects as mantras, 'bioprospecting', intellectual property rights, gender, relationships with sacred plants and animals, and the role of astrology in agriculture.
I would like to draw attention particularly to Chapter 3, 'Revitalizing local health traditions', written by Darshan Shankar. He maintains that the key to an appreciation of cultural diversity is to accept the fact that cultures are guided by their own epistemologies. Development agencies usually see these as a set of superstitions. It is important to work with traditional institutions, however, and this requires tact and social skills. Outsiders should not only accept and respect the decision-making and community processes particular to the community in question, but also be prepared to take part in those processes.
The book shows how rituals have been used in many parts of the world to enhance crop growth and animal husbandry and to chase away wild animals or pests that damage the crops. Farmers' perceptions and understanding of ecology, crops, land, labour, livestock and agricultural implements are based on knowledge received from their elders as well as on their own long experience in the natural laboratory of their fields.
Throughout the book we find examples of how indigenous knowledge systems are rapidly losing ground as a result of the political and economic effects of a globalization process that has its intellectual and philosophical roots in mainstream western cultures. In many parts of the Third World, western 'development' has been responsible for ecological disasters resulting from deforestation and the introduction of monocultures for the world market. COMPAS members are trying to do something about this. Their main aim is to understand and appreciate indigenous reality, concepts of life and cosmovisions, and thus not to be limited to conventional scientific and technological options. As Cosmas Gonese points out in one of the chapters, development workers 'need to be critical of all knowledge systems and to extract what is appropriate, combining the good from various sources to create a better and more sustainable environment.'
I do agree with the authors when they say that IK is disappearing. Indeed, both natural and cultural resources are under risk of extinction in many parts of the world. For this reason, Food for thought should be read in particular by decision-makers and politicians. The book contributes to a paradigm for sustainable development by examining the cultural aspects of sustainability and by providing concrete examples which show that traditional knowledge can be a valuable source of new information and new insights that complement western science. For this reason the book is also recommended for professionals working in the field: agriculturalists, ecological anthropologists, ethnologists, historians, lawyers, biologists, and environmental engineers. As a teacher, I would recommend it for use in courses of human ecology, ecological anthropology and agriculture.
(Eraldo Medeiros Costa Neto, ethnobiology researcher, Feira de Santana State University, Brazil E-mail: eraldont@uefs.br http://www.sbee.org.br)

Jones, Peta (1997) Donkeys for development. 168 pp. ISBN 0-620-22177-1. ZAR15 or USD5 per copy plus shipping (ZAR10 or USD2 per copy or, if 25 copies or more are ordered, ZAR80 or USD20 per parcel). Payable by check (preferred), money order or bank deposit to SA account FNB 260149 60286591554. Published by: Animal Traction Network For Eastern and Southern Africa (ATNESA) and Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Research Council of South Africa. Order from: Donkey Power/Peta Jones, P.O. Box 414, Louis Trichardt, 0920 South Africa.
Tel.: + 27-15-5177 011.

Indigenous to north-east Africa and the Near East, donkeys are hardy animals that can withstand heat and dryness and are often the only livestock survivors of severe droughts. Donkeys thrive on poor food and can outperform cattle by as much as 120%. Donkeys plough, pull carts, carry heavy loads, help in milling and pumping, and guard sheep. Their manure contains a lot of fibre and is useful for stabilizing sandy soils. Despite these many advantages, development professionals and scientists have been slow in realizing the great economic potential of this species. The last decade, however, has witnessed a dramatic increase in interest and demand for donkeys, paralleled by a growing need for hands-on information about their use and care.
Aimed at development and extension workers and peasant farmers, this practical guide introduces the basics of keeping donkeys and working with them. Seven chapters discuss and illustrate: what it means to have donkeys, how to choose them, how they reproduce and the care they require during and after pregnancy, how to keep and feed them, how to take care of their health, what equipment is needed for putting them to work, and how to train them. The guide is written in easy English and contains 47 diagrams and 35 photos. A glossary explains selected veterinary and animal science terms, and a list of further reading shows the reader where to turn for further information.
For newcomers, the text provides a realistic picture of what it means to keep donkeys, highlighting not only the advantages but also the difficulties and problems. But people familiar with donkeys can also benefit from the guide as it comprehensively summarizes a lot of information useful under field conditions (e.g., estimating body weight and age, criteria for choosing a donkey, looking after an orphaned foal, and many instructions on how to make work equipment). The text contains numerous practical tips which reflect the author's more than 12 years of hands-on experience. She has not only worked as a teacher and consultant on the subject of donkeys but herself lives in remote rural areas of Africa and depends on donkeys for transport and cultivation.
The guide draws on both traditional and modern knowledge. It does not necessarily label the two as such, but introduces and blends them as suits local, smallholder conditions. This makes the booklet an excellent example how traditional and modern knowledge can be combined to complement each other in practice.
The guide has one drawback: although the chapters are divided into small sections under different subheadings, it is not always easy for readers to locate the information they are looking for. There is no index and the table of contents shows only the chapter headings but not the subheadings. There is some repetition between the chapters, and information sometimes appears in unexpected places. For example, the same drawing of a hoof is presented in chapters 2 (p. 37) and 5 (p. 74). Medicinal plants used against internal parasites are listed in the section 'Keeping donkeys' under the subheading 'What can be done to keep down parasite infestation of pastures' but not among treatments under 'Veterinary considerations' (although there is a cross-reference referring to the other chapter). In short, it would make it much easier for readers if future editions would be tightened up and better structured, and if an index were added.
Nevertheless, the guide is a great introduction to donkey-keeping and a useful aid for field practitioners and trainers.
(Evelyn Mathias, Independent Consultant, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany)

Margoluis, Richard and Nick Salafsky (1998) Measures of success: Designing, managing, and monitoring conservation and development projects. 363 pp. ISBN 1-55963-612-2. USD35. Island Press, 1718 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009, USA.
Fax: +1-202-234 1328.

(See also IK&DM 7(1), p. 38, where this book was first mentioned under 'Preview: Important new books'.)

I am conducting ethnobotanical research in Southern Venezuela and, together with my husband, have been involved in applied conservation work for several years. Currently, we are advising KUYUJANI, the indigenous organization of the Caura River, on the design of their own projects for sustainable natural resource management. In the context of that work, we have found Measures of success to be an excellent guide to the design, management and monitoring of conservation and development projects. It is easily adaptable to projects in other fields, such as community development, health or education. Its well structured approach combines elements from various formal approaches to planning and management (e.g., 'adaptive management', 'ZOPP method', 'results framework', 'logframe analysis') and reflects the rich personal field and office experience of the authors and their colleagues within the Biodiversity Support Program.
In this guide, projects are conceptualized as iterative cycles that require: (1) the design of a conceptual model based on local site conditions; (2) the development of a management plan: goals, objectives, activities; (3) the development of a monitoring plan; (4) the implementation of management and monitoring plans; (5) data analysis and the communication of results; and (6) the utilization of the results for purposes of adaptation and learning. Although the material presented might not be new, the merit of the book lies in the logical and friendly presentation and its accessibility for the non-academic reader. Written primarily for conservation practitioners and community stakeholders, it is richly illustrated with line-drawings of working situations. It includes data tables and flow charts, and provides a lot of detail, for example about basic field techniques from the social and natural sciences, and basic statistical analysis. It also offers tips on data presentation, and a glossary of terms that will help the reader for whom English is not the native language.
Following this guide helps practitioners to make their assumptions more explicit. This makes it easier to conceptualize and implement good projects, but most importantly, to document and evaluate their success. Aside from its main audience, the book can benefit a much wider group of readers (e.g., students, donors, government officials) thanks to its well-structured text and a page design that make it easy to read at different levels of detail. Furthermore, a list of suggested reading at the end of each chapter facilitates further research on specific steps of the project cycle. Measures of success mainly provides a framework for the conceptualization of new projects, but the material presented can also be helpful for the evaluation and improvement of ongoing projects.
Although indigenous knowledge is not explicitly mentioned, the guide repeatedly states the importance of having local stakeholders take part in the design and monitoring of the project, and introduces a variety of methods for doing so. For example, as part of the design of the conceptual model, it is suggested that local stakeholders be consulted regarding the threats and opportunities for conservation. The techniques of key informant interview, matrix ranking and preference ranking are introduced in this context, and participatory rapid appraisal methods are presented as possible monitoring activities.
(Dr Claudia Knab-Vispo, Instituto de Investigaciones Ecologicas Orinoco-Esequibo, Fundacion La Salle de Ciencias Naturales, Tumeremo, Edo. Bolivar, Venezuela)

Pandey, Deep Narayan (1998) Ethnoforestry: Local knowledge for sustainable forestry and livelihood security. vii + 91 pp. ISBN 81-86231-42-0. INR295; USD35; GBP20 (shipping charges not indicated). Himanshu Publications, 4379/4-B, Prakash House, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-2, India.
Tel.: +91-11-325 5920.
The book (text only) can also be downloaded from the Internet at http://education.vsnl.com/deep/index.html

The premise behind this book is that combining the forestry-related knowledge of local communities with that of scientifically trained foresters is a key to successful forestry management. The author defines ethnoforestry as the 'continued practice of creation, conservation, management and use of forest resources, through customary ways, by local communities.' He provides many examples, mainly from India, of indigenous forest- and tree-related knowledge and practices. The practices are classified according to their functions as protection ethnoforestry, plantation ethnoforestry, and production ethnoforestry. Pandey shows how these practices are often consistent with practices of modern 'scientific' forestry and how some of these practices have been adopted by foresters in various projects.
There is quite a lot of discussion in the book about the slow emergence of the field of 'ethnoforestry' and the lack of attention it has received. To some extent this emphasis is misleading. While the name 'ethnoforestry' is new, anthropology and forestry, among other disciplines, have paid considerable attention in recent years to indigenous forestry knowledge and practices, including indigenous institutions for forest management and so on. In fact, examples of such studies are cited in the book. This misleading emphasis is only a minor distraction, however. The strengths of the book lie in the wealth of examples it gives, and in the argument it presents for the relevance of indigenous knowledge and practices to collaborative forest management activities.
Deep Narayan Pandey is an Indian forester with long experience in, and intense commitment to, the implementation of people-friendly forestry and conservation projects. He currently works at the Indian Institute of Forest Management at Bhopal. His technical forestry background and field experience give strength to his advocacy of 'equity of knowledge' (meaning, essentially, that both indigenous and scientific knowledge should be taken seriously) and the relevance of ethnoforestry to 'scientific' forestry. The book will be of interest to a variety of readers with interests in forestry and development, especially (but not only) those with a special interest in India. However, the US dollar and pound sterling prices are excessive for such a small book. Therefore it is a good intitiative that the full text of the book is being made available for free on the Internet: http://education.vsnl.com/deep/index.html.
(R.J. Fisher, Regional Community Forestry Training Center, Bangkok, Thailand. E-mail: ftcrjf@nontri.ku.ac.th)

Pasquale, S., P. Schroder and U. Schultze (eds) (1998) Lokales Wissen für nachhaltige Entwicklung: Ein Praxisfuhrer (Local knowledge for sustainable development: a practical guide). 160 pp. ISBN 3-88156-709-7. DEM19; OES139; CHF18. Verlag für Entwicklungspolitik Saarbrücken GmbH, Auf der Adt 14, D-66130, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Tel.: +49-6893-986 094.
Fax: +49-6893-986 095.
E-mail: vfesbr@aol.com

(See also IK&DM 7(1), p. 38, where this book was first mentioned under 'Preview: Important new books'.)

This guide, written in the German language but with indexes in English, is based on the 1995 special edition of the periodical Entwicklungsethnologie, which dealt with local knowledge and development: the relevance of culturally specific knowledge for development processes. I was asked to read and comment on the guide from the point of view of my own research and practice experience. I am an anthropologist specializing in ethnomedicine in Africa, mainly with the role of spirituality in illness, medicine and healing in Tanzania.
This book's stated purpose is to encourage the use of indigenous knowledge in development projects and international cooperation by facilitating cross-cultural exchange. The ultimate aim is to help improve living conditions in Third World countries. The editors say that in both North and South, indigenous knowledge resources are still being used too little.
Although the editors' own backgrounds seem to give them a special interest in land-use issues, they deal with a broad range of subjects, including legal property rights and the role of gender. This makes the guide interesting for government officials, consultants, development workers and project leaders. It can be used for an initial orientation to nearly any topic. But for anyone seeking more specific information-on indigenous health care in a certain geographical region, for example-the guide will be disappointing. In my case, it offered only a few references pertaining to medicinal plants, traditional health care, and specific diseases. A practical guidebook like this one, but more limited in scope and more detailed, would have been more useful to me. Nonetheless the guide can be helpful to anyone who is starting to plan a project or joint research that takes a participatory approach. It will convince them of the importance of incorporating IK resources into their project from the very beginning.
(Jessica Erdtsieck, International Development Research Associate at the Amsterdam Institute for Global Issues and Development (AGIDS), University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. E-mail: j.erdtsieck@frw.uva.nl http://www.frw.uva.nl/agids)

Renard, Geneviève, Andreas Neef, Klaus Becker and Matthias von Oppen (eds) (1998) Soil fertility management in West African land use systems. Proceedings of the Regional Workshop University of Hohenheim, ICRISAT Sahelian Centre and INRAN, 4-8 March 1997, Niamey, Niger. 600 pp. ISBN 3-8236-1272-7. DEM120; USD90. Margraf Verlag, P.O.Box 1205, D-97985 Weikersheim, Germany.
Tel.: +49-7934 3071.
Fax: +49-7934 8156.

This book contains a very wide-ranging collection of papers dealing with issues of soil fertility and soil management, mainly in the drier areas of West Africa. The principal chapters deal with (1) Technologies for fertility management; (2) Soil and water conservation and agroforestry; (3) Crop-livestock interaction; (4) Political and economic aspects; and (5) Farmer participation in research and development. Together with several review papers, the five keynote papers, one for each chapter, provide an effective summary of current knowledge and thinking about solutions for the increasingly alarming degradation of soils in these fragile environments. They outline the challenges to agricultural development, in particular the need for a massive application of a combination of 'ecological' and chemical methods for building and maintaining fertility. The over-riding impression left by the review papers is that it is not for lack of knowledge of physical and biological processes that the degradation of soil resources continues up to the present day.
It is therefore rather depressing to note that a large portion of the many research papers cited in the various chapters demonstrate the lack of imagination and relevance that characterizes much of current research, especially the researcher-managed variant. How many more years of controlled experiments do we need to convince ourselves that mulch reduces erosion, P enhances N utilization, crop rotation is better than mono-cropping, legumes add nitrogen to the soil, etc., etc.?
This is not to say that the farmer's perspective is missing entirely. A few studies report on indigenous practices of fertility management and soil conservation, or on ways in which farmers combine traditional strategies with introduced fertility practices (i.e. fertilizer). Others advocate a range of measures and policies to stem the ongoing decline in fertility. There are also papers dealing with on-farm research methodogy, but the number of papers reporting on actual farmer-managed technology and technology adoption does not exceed four or five, out of a total of 82. And this is despite decades of promotion of participatory on-farm research! The participants in the workshop apparently felt uneasy about this themselves. During the working group discussions which concluded the workshops, they called for much more farmer involvement in the future. But in view of what many of them have been doing up to now, this would mark quite a change.
To end on a positive note: the book does bring out very clearly the contributions and the limitations of conventional soil fertility research in West Africa. It also clearly demonstrates that it is high time for researchers to leave their ivory towers and start getting some of their findings implemented on real farms, and to lend a hand not in the capacity of all-knowing savants, but as the farmers' servants.
(H.J.W. Mutsaers, consultant, Agricultural Research and Rural Development, Nedworc Foundation, Zeist, the Netherlands. E-mail: hjwmutsa@knoware.nl)

Sande, Theo van de, 'Socio-economic pitfalls of enhancing indigenous capabilities in household fermentation'. Article first published in 1997 in Food Control 8(5/6) pages 303-310. Now published in the Reprint series Ministry of Foreign Affairs as no. 24, February 1999 (with permission from Elsevier Science Ltd). Free copies can be requested from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SBO/OC, P.O. Box 20061, 2500 EB, The Hague, the Netherlands. Fax: +31-70-348 6253. Refer to the publication's order number: OSDR 0327/E.

Dr Theo van de Sande is a senior expert in the research and developing countries department of the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he is a specialist in biotechnology research. He has held positions at universities in Amsterdam and Twente and has conducted research on the interaction between science (especially biotechnology), politics and society.
In the article, Van de Sande says that the Green Revolution ignored the experience and knowledge of small-scale farmers. Consequently, only people in more favourable agricultural areas profited. In other areas, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, malnourishment increased. To illustrate the point he offers two tables from FAO: 1) Trends in food production, and 2) Occurrence of malnutrition. But these date from 1985 and 1987 and 1998, respectively. A more current publication would have given the recent trends.
As a vital element in food security strategies, post-harvest fermentation technology is receiving a lot of attention, and efforts are being made to improve traditional methods. Van de Sande points out, however, that improving any technology is not only a technical issue but also a social, environmental and economic issue.
The attempt to upgrade soy fermentation in Indonesia is given as an example of the consequences of focusing only on the technical aspect. The author describes the different fermentation processes used in the production of soy sauce in China, Japan and Indonesia. Because the methods are different, the end products are different. He also provides basic information about how finance is obtained in Indonesia, and how soy sauce (kecap) is marketed. The author concludes that most of the Japanese innovations would be inappropriate in Indonesia. The small-scale production of kecap is not standardized in Indonesia and there is wide variation in the quality of the product. Certain steps in the production of kecap are still a trade secret in Indonesia. This makes it difficult to do research on the technology involved. The products are sold mainly in rural areas and are bought by people in the low-income group. The large-scale production of kecap is standardized, however. Althouth the taste is similar to the traditional kecap, it is of better quality. These products are sold in the urban markets and are bought by people in the high-income group.
The case illustrates the fact that problems and their solutions are rarely universal or solely technical. The author recommends the active participation of local small producers in the design and execution of research projects. He also recommends a multidisciplinary approach to research designed to upgrade food production.
The paper highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge in research and development, and makes useful reading for researchers, policy-makers and funding agents. 'Indigenous fermentation of soy sauce in Indonesia' would have been a better title, however.
(J.O. Amarteifio, Senior Lecturer, Department of Basic Sciences, Botswana College of Agriculture, Gaborone, Botswana. E-mail: jamartei@bca.bw)

Selener, D., J. Chenier and R. Zelaya (1997) Farmer-to-farmer extension: lessons from the field. 140 pp. ISBN 9978-04-324-1. USD15 (postage included). International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), New York. Available in English and Spanish. Orders must be prepaid. Please send check in US dollars or European currency (equivalent to USD15) payable to IIRR, to: International Institute for Rural Reconstruction, Apartado Postal 17-08-8494, Quito, Ecuador.
Fax: +593-2-443 763.
E-mail : daniel@iirr.ecx.ec

With its clear writing style and careful avoidance of technical jargon, this short (140 page) book will be useful to local community and extension workers, rural development specialists and researchers alike. It is a concise and complete guide to the process and pitfalls involved in the design, organization and implementation of projects led by 'farmer promoters'-resource-poor farmers whose primary income is from farming and who have been selected for their innovation and leadership. The publisher has kept costs down by using an attractive soft cover, by limiting the book's length, and by avoiding a need for photographic illustrations. The common trap into which some very useful books fall has thus been avoided: they become too expensive to reach the people for whom they are intended. This is not the case here. The authors and publisher are to be congratulated.
There are two main sections to the book. The first part (Chapters 1-13) provides a detailed account of different approaches and options that can be taken in 'farmer-to-farmer' research. It gives the characteristics of farmer promoters and describes the how and why of their work. This section was based on two workshops, one held in Ecuador and the other in Honduras. It is clear from the content of these chapters (on topics selected by the farmer promoters themselves for their importance) that these were real WORKshops, not 'talkshops': all chapters have detailed and useful content which clearly summarizes years of field experience.
The second part (Chapters 14-18) presents five case studies from Latin America. Although the situations in Ecuador, Mexico and Nicaragua are quite different, the case studies raise and analyze key questions. The two case studies which I found most telling were Chapter 15 (by Marcía Lopez and Abelardo Rivas) and Chapter 18 (by Luis Felipe Ulloa). The first of these, from Nicaragua, discusses a farmer-to-farmer programme of the National Union of Farmers and Livestock Producers, and describes the advantages and disadvantages of the various activities of farmer promoters. Chapter 18 carefully examines a key question: how and under what circumstances should farmer promoters be compensated for their work? This is important not only for the farmer promoters themselves, but also for development organizations concerned about the efficiency and sustainability of their programmes.
Readers will undoubtedly find two features of this book especially useful. First, boxes of text scattered throughout all the chapters summarize the positive and negative aspects of various options in farmer-to-farmer extension; and second, each chapter finishes with a list of recommendations. What I also found refreshing was the clear and open way that negative points were raised-backed up by the authority of experience and unobscured by 'political correctness'.
I reviewed this book as someone who grew up and has worked in Africa rather than in Latin America, where the workshops and case studies on which the book is based were situated. On this basis, I would suggest that many of the book's lessons have an appeal and application far wider than just Latin America. At the same time, it is a measure of this book's strength that it recognizes the fact that: 'Even though development projects may have similar objectives, they all have differences as well. Diverse factors and components within a given project require adaptation of the farmer-to-farmer methodology. Projects differ in their policies, emphasis and strategies, and include diverse types of activities which determine whether promoters should be specialist or generalists, should work in their own or community in other communities, or should be remunerated or not. Other important aspects that should be taken into account are the geographic coverage of the project and its duration..... In summary, the project characteristics are key factors in determining the best alternatives within each component of the farmer-to-farmer methodology.' (p. 80)
(A.B. (Tony) Cunningham, Regional Co-ordinator, WWF/UNESCO/Kew People and Plants Initiative, Fremantle, Australia. http://www.kew.org.uk/peopleplants)

Sissoko, Keffing (1998) Et demain l'agriculture? Options techniques et mesures politiques pour un développement agricole durable en Afrique subsaharienne. Cas du Cercle de Koutiala en zone sud du Mali. Documents sur la Gestion des Ressources Tropicales / Tropical Resource Management Papers No. 23. 179 pp. + 37 pp. of Annexes. ISBN 90-6754-551-1. NLG40 including fee for postage. Published by the Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR), P.O. Box 9101, 6700 HB Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Tel.: +31-317-484 293.
Fax: +31-317-484 292.

This book contains the results of a doctoral thesis study by the author, who has been involved in agricultural research in Mali since 1983. The reported work is a model-based study of the technical and political requirements for sustainable agricultural production in an area in Mali that has a relatively high population density and a production system dominated by cotton. The work was carried out while and after the author worked in the well-known Production Soudano-Sahélienne (PSS) project, lastly as its national coordinator. It applies PSS-developed concepts and methodologies outside the project's immediate target zone, using a range of actual research data and estimated parameters.
The study considers sustainability from the point of view of plant nutrient balances. It defines an assumedly ideal production scenario integrating crops, livestock and forestry, and calculates the land allocation and inputs required to optimize results, satisfying a number of pre-set production goals including, of course, maintenance of the soil nutrient stock. A range of production practices observed among farmers are then compared with the ideal scenario, and the requirements are defined for moving the existing systems closer to sustainability. These requirements range from farm-level resource allocation and the adoption of improved practices to government policy on prices, market development, extension and research.
The essential message emerging from the study is that agriculture in the area can move forward towards a highly productive and sustainable system through a combination of technical innovations and supportive policies taken by government at different levels. The author's technical conclusions will come as no surprise to most agriculturists: land use according to its suitability, integration of a forestry and animal fodder production component, intensive livestock-keeping and the use of manure, and application of improved production practices aimed at optimizing the use of resources. A major limitation of the work, which is also acknowledged by the author, is the absence of the risk factor in the analysis, which has a strong influence on farmers' decision-making.
One wonders whether the same results could not be arrived at using a much simpler analytical approach which would make the results more useful for applied research and extension. Hopefully, the author can find the opportunity to work on such an approach in the future. Also, a large part of the book discusses development-related issues of a general nature. At times this seems only to serve the purpose of attaining the required number of pages for a Ph.D. thesis. Nevertheless, the book provides useful information about production conditions in an important area of Mali, and delivers an optimistic and well-argued case regarding the potential for agricultural development and the unavoidable need for external nutrient sources.
(H.J.W. Mutsaers, consultant, Agricultural Research and Rural Development, Nedworc Foundation, Zeist, the Netherlands. E-mail: hjwmutsa@knoware.nl)

Sinith Sittirak (1998) The daughters of development. Women in a changing environment. 153 pp. ISBN 1-85649-588-4. GBP12.95; USD17.50. Zed Books Ltd., 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK.
Tel.: +44-171-837 8466.
Fax: +44-171-833 3960.

Sinith Sittirak is a feminist from Thailand who started to question the Western concept of development and its impact on ordinary people the moment she began to study for a master's degree in Environmental Studies at Toronto's York University. Her Canadian classmates asked her, 'What does development mean to you, Sinith?' She realized that this question was crucial, and decided to make it the core of her thesis. The book presents the main points of her thesis in six chapters, each of which answers the question what 'development' means to her.
Sittirak went through a process of discovery, of 'decolonization' as she calls it, in order to get a clearer picture of 'neo-colonization'. She writes, 'What the Thais have received from development is deforestation, polluted rivers and large numbers of poor and prostitutes.' She found that the patriarchal ideology which operates in the form of capitalism and neo-colonialism has brought irreparable damage to the relationship between life and nature, and has made the form and content of human relations sexist, classist and racist. She says that it is ironic that only after travelling 10,000 miles to study environmental subjects and learn new technical terms, did she come to understand that this 'new' knowledge had already been taught to her, at a practical level, year after year, by her mother. Sittirak concluded that her mother was suppressed, devalued and marginalized by the Thai elites' propagation of modern development. Now the elites are talking hypocritically about self-sufficiency as a virtue, whereas-according to Maria Mies, who wrote the preface to the book-development has in fact destroyed the good life for the majority, and above all for women and nature.
Sittirak is one more of the critical feminist voices from the South who no longer place their hope in the myth of development but rather in the preservation and restoration of their mothers' subsistence economies. This is why Sittirak is now travelling all over the world with her project, called My mother: an unwritten environmental education curriculum, in which she has documented her mother's lifestyle and eco-awareness. The exhibition includes photos plus her mother's 'recipes' for protecting and preserving nature and curing minor illnesses.
The book raises many questions. In the first place, ordinary people in 'underdeveloped' countries are not the only 'victims' of development, which in this book is a synonym for capitalist patriarchy. In the preface, Maria Mies refers to the universal impact of the development paradigm and the 'absurdity of the growth mania'. These are also evident in her mother's village in Germany, where more or less the same processes have destroyed life (indigenous knowledge and subsistence), says Mies. In the Netherlands these same processes have been described by Geert Mak in his well known novel Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd (How God disappeared from Jorwerd), a small village in Friesland.
In Sittirak's book I missed a more hopeful, concrete and balanced analysis of the 'good' things that have emerged in the North and South in response to critical awareness of the 'bad' consequences of development. This journal is one example of the effort to rediscover and rehabilitate traditional indigenous knowledge as a basis for empowerment.
(L.Ch. Schenk-Sandbergen, Associate Professor, Anthropological / Sociological Centre, Faculty of Political and Socio-cultural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
For more information, contact: Women and Environmental Network in Thailand (WENIT), 535/18 Jarunsanitwong Rd 39, Bangkok 10700, Thailand.
Tel. / fax: +662-411 4046.

Ulluwishewa, Rohana (1997) Searching avenues for sustainable land use: the role of indigenous knowledge between market forces and state's interventions. A case study from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Studies Vol. 6. 56 pp. + 2 maps. ISBN none. CHF15. Published by, and, available from: University of Zurich, Dept. of Geography, Winterthurerstr. 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.

This book is based on in-depth study of seven villages in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. These villages use the 'cascade system', which means there is a series of linked village 'tanks' along the main axis and side valleys of a small river, each tank irrigating an area of paddy fields. Traditionally, the tank was the centre and hub of all village life, providing water for drinking, bathing and washing, fishing, filling buffalo pools, etc., as well as for the vital irrigation. The 'upland interfluves' were used mainly for chena farming (long-periodicity shifting cultivation).
The research objectives were twofold: to assess the importance and potential relevance of the indigenous knowledge underlying land use patterns that prevailed around the beginning of the century; and to identify the ecological and social consequences of subsequent changes in land use as a result of legislation, market forces and increased population.
The author presents the indigenous technical knowledge of land resources in detail. This pertains mainly to soils, water, vegetation and agricultural potential. The farmers recognized 11 types of soil and 21 types of land use. These are described and discussed in terms of their suitability, among other things.
Ulluwishewa points out that many steps in conventional land-use planning are clearly identifiable in the historical, indigenous process of selecting, allocating and managing land. To build up a village in a new area, there would have been three steps: 1) to identify village subsistence needs and the relevant land units; 2) to evaluate the land and assess its capacity using indicator plants and other indigenous technical knowledge; and 3) to allocate land on the basis of 'a mental map of land capability'.
The strength of the book lies in its descriptions of patterns of land use in the indigenous context and of the changes that took place during the British colonial period and after independence. The changes in traditional land use brought about by the Waste Lands Ordinance of 1840, the designation of Crown Lands, and the Land Development Ordinance of 1935 are all well documented. Causes of ecological deterioration are also well documented. These include a shorter chena fallow period, which led to soil infertility; silted up tanks, which reduced fish populations and thus biodiversity; and misappropriation and overconsumption of irrigation water. The primary socio-economic consequences were the concentration of land ownership and alienation of formerly common lands (for villagers and also for outsiders), which led to a loss of alternative sources of livelihood, reduced capacity for supporting buffalo, and tougher times for the landless and for women, who relied partly on gathering produce from the common lands.
Perhaps because this is a brief account, it suffers the weakness of merely recording patterns and changes in patterns without examining process. The author is clear that the prime determinants of change are the expansion of the market economy and the consequent devaluation of local subsistence production and variegated livelihoods. But he does not discuss the relative importance of market penetration, changes in legislation, technological developments, and population growth. The book is not very clear about what constitutes 'land use planning' so that we do not learn how village land was actually allocated for different uses. Nor do we learn about the present potential of the village institutions which were responsible for allocating land and settling land disputes. The strength of the book definitely lies in the detailed fieldwork which has enabled the author to identify and explain the indigenous systems for assigning appropriate land use to the different types of land units in Sri Lanka's dry-zone villages. This makes the conclusions adequate even though they amount basically to common-sense recommendations for using indigenous technological knowledge for the assessment of soil and land capabilities and for designing intra-village zoning controls.
(Mike McCall, ITC Social Science Division, Enschede, the Netherlands. E-mail: Mccall@itc.nl)

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