Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary and conclusions
Proka
,
afupa
, and “good” and “bad” trees, the three indigenous farmer concepts
identified in Tano-Odumasi, have important implications for scientists in under-
standing some of the forces of agro-ecological change in the landscape of small-
holder farmers.
The concept of “good” and “bad” trees has implications for biodiversity since
on-farm
in-situ
conservation and/or deliberate planting of trees in the field will be
influenced by these perceptions. This becomes even more important when it is
realized that these perceptions may not have arisen out of personal experience but
from hearsay or tradition. A first challenge is to find out the extent to which par-
ticular tree populations are affected by farmers' perceptions of “good” and “bad”
trees. Similarly, it may be interesting for agronomists in particular to learn from
farmers and to verify whether there are scientific bases for these perceptions. The
relevance of this new learning process (for both scientists and agricultural exten-
sion workers) stems from the realization that despite increasing evidence of the
range of farmers' strategies for dealing with degradation (Shepherd, 1992; Tiffen,
Mortimore, and Gichuki, 1994; Harris, 1996), indigenous knowledge and prac-
tices have often not been recognized as worthy sources of sustainable resource
management practices (Bakang, 2000).
A second challenge is how policy makers should promote the concepts of
proka
and
afupa
as sustainable management practices in order to address the core
problems of deterioration of soil quality, declining agricultural productivity,
deforestation, and depletion of species associated with other management
practices of smallholder farmers. The challenge is rendered daunting by the
increasing population pressure on land which is slowly ebbing away indigenous
sustainable practices of farmers, who accept that these practices are dying out.
REFERENCES
Bakang, J. A., “Resource relations and degradation: A case study of the Dagaaba of Upper
West region, Ghana”, PhD thesis, University of Reading. 2000, unpublished.
Berry, S.,
No Condition is Permanent. The Social Dynamics of Agrarian Change in Sub-
Saharan Africa
, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.
Convery, F. J., “Property rights and tenure systems”, in
Applying Environmental
Economics in Africa
, Washington, DC: World Bank, 1995, pp. 77-82.
Endre Nyerges, A., “Introduction - The ecology of practice”, in S. H. Katz and A. Endre
Nyerges, eds,
Food and Nutrition in History and Anthropology. Vol. 4: The Ecology of
Practice. Studies in Food Crop Production in Sub-Saharan Africa
, Amsterdam: OPA,
1997, pp. 1-38.
Harris, F., “Intensification of agriculture in the semi-arid areas: Lessons from the Kano
closed-settled zone, Nigeria”, IIED Sustainable Agriculture Programme Gatekeeper
Series, 1966, No. SA59.
