Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
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reaching out to farmers and sensitizing them to issues of conservation and
development
•
mobilizing the latent knowledge, energy, and other resources of farmers for the
purpose of conservation and development
•
tapping or accessing external support for farmers
•
carrying out demonstrations
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in general, empowering farmers politically, socially, and economically.
The capacity of the associations is strengthened by bank accounts opened by
them on the advice of PLEC, and by links developed with government as well as
non-governmental organizations.
Expert farmers play a central role in the associations. They are identified or
spotted by:
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seeking views of farmers as to whom they consider to be exceptionally know-
ledgeable in various areas of resource management, notably conservation of
particular species of crops, soils management, and identification, utilization,
and conservation of medicinal plants.
•
observing and monitoring how a farmer actually manages biophysical
resources in the field
•
listening to a farmer's stories and impressions about natural conditions, and
how they relate to agriculture.
Expert farmers are exemplified by the following:
•
Emannuel Nartey, an expert in apiculture (Plate 4)
•
Odorkor Agbo, who excels in management of assorted yams within an agro-
forestry system (Plate 5)
•
Cecilia Osei, who excels in the
oprowka /proka
no-burn system of farmland
preparation (Plate 6)
•
George Amponsah Kissiedu, whose biodiverse home garden, developed on the
basis of both traditional and modern farming principles, inspires similar
gardens including one established by schoolchildren (Plate 7).
Conclusion
It appears feasible to use the demonstration and expert farmer concepts as a strat-
egy for developing optimal methods for conservation, especially of biodiversity
within agriculture, and through it improvements in farmer livelihoods. A measure of
feasibility is the increasing success of PLEC initiatives and of growing self-reliance
of the pivotal PLEC farmers' associations that draw inspiration from the knowledge
of expert farmers in PLEC demonstration sites in Ghana. Commitment of school-
children is another measure of feasibility and of the promise of sustainability of the
PLEC initiatives. It is echoed by the following poem titled “The Trees Prayer” by a
young pupil at Tinkong, a village near the Gyamfiase-Adenya site:
