Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Conservation of indigenous rice
varieties by women of Gore in
the northern savanna zone, Ghana
Paul B. Tanzubil, Joseph S. Dittoh, and Gordana Kranjac-
Berisavljevic
Introduction
Plant genetic diversity is a key ingredient for sustainable development. Genetic
diversity buffers peasant farmers' cultivation practices against environmental
hazards (e.g. drought, floods) and changing market conditions as well as pest and
disease outbreaks.
Tropical and subtropical Africa is the centre of diversity for a range of crops
including the African rice,
Oryza glaberrima
. The grain of
O
.
glaberrima-
type
rice has a high gluten content (Longley and Sellu-Jusu, 1999). It is pleasantly fill-
ing when eaten and makes the consumer feel satisfied for a longer period after the
meal than
O. sativa
. This type of rice can therefore still be found with many farm-
ers in northern Ghana (Map B), with a great deal of varietal diversity.
African subsistence farmers have traditionally relied on such diversity to ensure
the stability of their food production systems. Wild resources have thus continued
to be important for food and the livelihood security of the rural poor, including
women and children, especially in times of stress such as drought and changing
land and water availability, or even ecological change. Unfortunately, when modern
varieties replace traditional plant materials, genetic resources are rapidly destroyed.
Since the inception of the green revolution, traditional systems of agriculture
in most parts of the world have become threatened. These systems, which are
characterized by a high diversity of crops, are largely being replaced by systems
that depend on a few commercial crops and sometimes uniform varieties with
a very narrow genetic base.
97
