IK Monitor Websites (8-3)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, November 2000

Contents IK Monitor (8-3) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | © copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 2000.

Related websites

In this feature we recommend websites that deal with the subjects treated in this issue of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor. CIRAN's information specialists have searched the Internet for relevant, useful pages. Sometimes the sites offer background information; other times the information is supplementary.

Babassu palm

What is babassu oil and why is it important? Intermediate Technologies offers the STEP website designed for teachers who want to integrate sustainable development into their teaching. STEP in delivers a global educational experience which delivers the 'know how' you need to encourage students to explore technology for sustainable development. Attractively arranged website full of basic information on babassu oil. 'What is babassu oil and how is it made?' 'Who makes babassu oil?' 'Country information', etc.
http://www.stepin.org/ and go to 'find'.

Local poultry management

Best Practice: Chicken shed model. In Costa Rica, villagers enthusiastically developed this project themselves. Using local plants to house and feed chickens. The building is very important, with its abundant and easy to manage local materials: the cane, the live posts, the bark of the pejiballe. Besides this, local building techniques include the use of very few nails, making the building very easy to maintain and viable even for the poorest of the poor. No special tools are needed: everything can be achieved with just a machete (the local working knife) and a hammer. http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik25.htm

Traditional meteorological principles

'Everything is written in the sky!' The research reported on in this Monitor has also been published as an article in Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 9 (1999), 170-6. 'Everything is written in the sky!: Participatory meteorological assessment and prediction based on traditional beliefs and indicators in Saurashtra', by P.R. Kanani with Astad Pastakia.
http://zobell.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/~macer/EJ96/ej96g.html

Ethnotaxonomy of soils

Bibliography and selected abstracts 'Indigenous knowledge for the classification, management and conservation of soil', is an online bibliography made by Robert K. Niles in 1997, updated 1999. The bibliographic index has three parts - Indigenous knowledge, Ethnopedology, and Region - each of which is divided into subsections. The index is cross-referenced with the citations and selected bibliography, and, where possible, direct links are given to online versions of the documents. Mr Niles can be reached at Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523, USA, e-mail: bobn@nrel.colostate.edu
http://www.nrel.colostate.edu:8080/~bobn/rkn.3b.SOIL.TEK.05.RKN.html

'The Mossi indigenous soil classification in Burkina Faso' is an article by Basga E. Dialla published in the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor 1993 describing the Mossi system of soil classification, and to which the Tanzania researchers refer. Different soil types identified by local farmers are based on soil characteristics such as texture, colour, consistency, geographical location, drainage and fertility. Four major classes of soil related to the suitability of specific crop production are also distinguished.
http://www.nuffic.nl/ciran/ikdm/1-3/articles/dialla.html

Pigeonpea pod borer

'New pest of pigeon pea' Frontpage article from 'The Hindu' Online edition of India's National Newspaper, Thursday, January 20, 2000, reporting that crop yields of pigeonpea are low because of insect attack.
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/01/20/stories/08200008.htm

ICRISAT homepage offers 'Research for development' with up-to-date information on the various programmes and regions. It also offers 'Partnerships', including farmers' feedback.
http://www.cgiar.org/icrisat/Index.htm

ICRISAT's ecofriendly gift to check chickpea pod borer is a short notice on experiments with four methods to protect chickpea from pod borers. The one making use of nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) proved the most economical and ecofriendly.
http://www.cgiar.org/icrisat/text/pubs/satnews/gpub7g.html

Medicinal plants

Medicinal Plants and Local Communities is a project by the Environment Liaison Centre International designed to enhance the use of medicinal plants for improving human health of communities in Africa, building on traditional medicine. The website describes the project which focuses on four countries in West, Central and Southern Africa (not Nigeria) and outlines methodology, products and activities. An online database of medicinal plants is under construction.
http://www.elci.org/medicina.htm

Ethnoveterinary Medicine

VETAID homepage VETAID 'healthy animals - healthy people' is a non-profit, overseas development organisation working for poverty reduction and food security of people dependant on livestock. The website offers news, project information, publications, videos etc. dealing with animal healthcare. It also offers free subscription to online newsletter.
http://www.vetaid.org/contents/index.htm