Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
intimate relationship between farmer- and farm-caused modern science and edu-
cation, rural-urban migration, slavery, civil conflicts, natural hazards, land grab-
bing, and so forth (Rutatora 1997). Capacity building is vital for the local people
to develop their own knowledge base and methodologies to promote activities that
leverage both TK and SK in such a way that the positive sum produces beneficial
outputs (Warren et al. 1995; Teklu and Gezahegn 2003). Attributes of TK of soil can
be summarized below:
1.
Spatial-temporal attributes
: Soils exhibit wide spatial-temporal variabil-
ity that is also reflected in the TK for their management. For example, dur-
ing a given cropping season, the land use and management practices for a
hillslope may differ across the landscape positions.
2.
Gender connectedness
: The embodiment of TK for soil management can
be gender disaggregated depending on the situations. For example, in the
cattle corridor district of Teso, Uganda, the women and girls, who are more
of crop cultivators, had different knowledge of soils from that of the men
and boys, who are more of cattle keepers. The women and girls were richer
in knowledge of upland soils, which they cultivate, while the men and boys
were more resourceful in describing valley soils, which support the pastures
where they graze the livestock. Using semistructured interviews regarding
constraints for different soil types in the district of Teso, Uganda, the dif-
ferences and similarities were captured for men and women, illustrated in
Table 5.1.
In Table 5.1, pairwise ranking of problems associated with soil types
by men and women of Teso District, Uganda, is shown. Women perceived
water retention as a major problem in lacustrine/light-textured soils that
dry up a few days after the rains have stopped. The men looked at the con-
straints more in terms of loss incurred as a result of a particular constraint.
For the same reason as women, poor water and erosion were highly ranked.
TABLE 5.1
Pairwise Ranking of Problems Associated with Soil
Types by Men and Women of Teso District, Uganda
Ranking
Women
Row
Soil Constraint
Men
1
Poor water retention
1
3
2
Erosion
2
2
3
Pests and diseases
4
1
4
Infertility
3
6
5
Weeds
5
5
6
Sickness
7
4
7
Floods
6
7
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