Abstract
This paper examines local soil knowledge and management in the Manupali watershed in the Philippines.The study focuses on soil erosion and its control. Research methods used in the study include ethnosemantic elicitations on soils and focus group discussions. In addition, in-depth work was conducted with 48 farmers holding 154 parcels at different elevations/locations in the watershed. The on-parcel research consisted of farmer classifications of the soil, topography, and erosion status of their parcels. Soil samples were also taken and examined. Farming households were also examined with regard to erosion control activities conducted by age and sex. Erosion management was examined in relation to tenure of the parcel, which emerged as a salient aspect among focus group members and was evidenced by the actual control measures taken on farmed parcels.The results show that the major constraint in soil erosion management is not local knowledge as much as it is the tenure arrangements which allow "temporary owners" (those working rented or mortgaged parcels) to manage the parcels as they see fit. Most of these temporary owners are not willing to invest in erosion control measures other than water diversion ditches. Parcel owners, in contrast, do invest in longer term erosion control measures on the parcels they actually work.The findings of this paper illustrate that linking local knowledge and practices is often not sufficient in and of itself for addressing questions of sound environmental management. While local knowledge serves farmers generally well, there are some limitations. Importantly, the pressures in the contemporary world of markets and cash can undermine what they know as the right thing to do for the environment.
Highlights
Ethnopedology includes the study of soil folk knowledge, local soil management, and beliefs [1,2,3,4,5]
This paper examines the problem of soil erosion as linked to knowledge and management practices in the Manupali watershed on the island of Mindanao, the Philippines
There were a number of primary research activities implemented: 1) locating farmers engaged in agricultural activities at multiple elevations throughout the watershed and interviewing a representative sample through topic guideline interviews; 2) constructing farmer discussion groups with the aid of the farmers themselves via sorting through numerous variables to ensure that group members had similar vested interests in the areas of farming and conservation, including gender and ethnicity; 3) conducting focus discussion group sessions with the various vested interest groups on issues of soil and water management, including constraints and incentives to the viable manage
Summary
Ethnopedology includes the study of soil folk knowledge (cognitive systems or corpus), local soil management (praxis), and beliefs (cosmos) [1,2,3,4,5]. Actual management practices may be linked to other factors beyond corpus and cosmos, most notably material parameters, and other cultural and social parameters [1,6,7]. Some of the questions that guided the research were: 1) how do farmers classify soils, with regard to fertility and erosion; 2) what do they view as the cause of erosion; 3) how do they control erosion; and 4) what are the opportunities and constraints to erosion control, including other socio-cultural and socioeconomic factors. Tentative explanations of observations and preliminary analysis of selected data during the course of the research generated several hypotheses for further investigation and testing
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