Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
dissemination, and use can identify economic opportunities for adaptation and inte-
gration of resilience into the local level.
5.6 UNION OF SK AND TK
The approach used to support development in SSA consisting of transfer of technol-
ogies, knowledge, and values from the modern world to the underdeveloped world
needs to be revised. Gadamer (2001) argues that there is a need to prepare pathways
for science to accept the truth from other worldviews, which could result in a fusion
of the horizons of human wisdom. In many communities, indigenous people are
often critical of universities, yet at the same time, they prefer their children to gain
Western educations and high-level qualifications but not at the expense of their iden-
tities, culture, languages, values, and practices (Smith Tuhiwai 1999; Haverkort and
Reijntjes 2007). As such, communities see intracultural learning and endogenous
development as an important first step toward intercultural dialogue and sustain-
able development (Haverkort and Rist 2007). Endogenous development refers to the
process that takes the indigenous perspective as a starting point in understanding
the traditional ways of knowing and learning aimed at revitalizing and enhanc-
ing the TK and value systems (Smith Tuhiwai 1999; Rist 2002; Coetzee and Roux
1998; Emagalit 2004; Wiredu 2005). A study on sites in Uganda (Wera and Toroma)
and Tanzania (Mahiga and Iteja) noted the importance of combining elements of a
broad-scale scientific survey with a localized assessment of indigenous knowledge.
Contrary to the first impression that farmers' knowledge is inconsistent, farmers' soil
classifications are more often comparative than hierarchical, with qualitative distinc-
tions made in terms of darker/lighter color or greater/lesser fertility. According to
Gowing et al. (2004), evidence of hierarchical subgroups was collected from both
sites where farmers divided their shallow soils into different categories on the basis
of soil surface texture. Ingaroi, Aputon naingaroikitos, and Apokor naingaroikit are
all shallow soils that have ironstone gravel and indurated ironstone near the surface.
The term ingaroi is common to all and means gravel in the Ateso language. Soils
with sandy surface texture are mapped as Aputon naingaroikitos , while those clayey
surface textures are mapped as Apokor naingaroikit . Comparative analysis of LK
and SK using GIS generally showed poor correspondence, but in some cases, there
was a direct relationship ( Table 5.2 ).
The strength of SK lies in observation and experimentation, but this is under-
mined by its acquisition from nontypical environments that are either strictly con-
trolled (e.g., laboratory) or highly simplified from the real-life complexity (van
Regenmortel 2004). This approach is criticized for being reductionist but no longer
sufficient to analyze and understand higher levels of complexity (Kellenberger 2004;
van Regenmortel 2004). Thus, the integration of methods and results from different
approaches and levels of analysis becomes essential. Western science and TK con-
stitute different paths to knowledge, but they are rooted in the same reality. We can
only gain from integrating them.
TK and Western science are divergent systems that coexist (Gayton and Michel
2002). Understanding the processes of learning in TK can help increase efficiency of
knowledge utilization (Pant and Odame 2008).
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