Traditional Agroecological Knowledge Research Articles

Traditional agroecological knowledge and practices: The drivers and opportunities for adaptation actions in the northern region of Ghana

Agroecological practices are promoted as a more proactive approach than conventional agriculture to achieving a collective global response to climate change and variability while building robust and resilient agricultural systems to meet food needs and protect the integrity of ecosystems. There is relatively limited evidence on the key traditional agroecological knowledge and practices adopted by smallholder farmers, the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ decision to adopt these practices, and the opportunities it presents for building resilient agricultural systems. Using a multi-scale mixed method approach, we conducted key informant interviews (n ​= ​12), focus group discussions (n ​= ​5), and questionnaire surveys (N ​= ​220) to explore the traditional agroecological knowledge and practices, the influencing factors, and the opportunities smallholder farmers presented for achieving resilient agricultural systems. Our findings suggest that smallholder farmers employ a suite of traditional agroecological knowledge and practices to enhance food security, combat climate change, and build resilient agricultural systems. The most important traditional agroecological knowledge and practices in the study area comprise cultivating leguminous crops, mixed crop-livestock systems, and crop rotation, with Relative Importance Index (RII) values of 0.710, 0.708, and 0.695, respectively. It is reported that the choice of these practices by smallholder farmers is influenced by their own farming experience, access to market, access to local resources, information, and expertise, and the perceived risk of climate change. Moreover, the results further show that improving household food security and nutrition, improving soil quality, control of pest and disease infestation, and support from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and local authorities are opportunities for smallholder farmers in adopting traditional agroecological knowledge and practices for achieving resilient agricultural systems. The findings call into question the need for stakeholders and policy-makers at all levels to develop capacity and increase the awareness of traditional agroecological knowledge and practices as mechanisms to ensure resilient agricultural systems for sustainable food security.

A garden's place in critical food systems education

For several years, hundreds of students have been tour guests and interns at a community garden, the Beach Flats Garden, run by Mexican and Salvado­rian farmers in Santa Cruz, California. This paper reflects upon engagement between the gardeners and local educational institutions and opportunities through three major themes: connection between practices of solidarity, urgency of action, and peda­gogy; possibilities in engaging with the frameworks of critical food system pedagogy alongside the les­sons of autonomia and activist ethnography; and the importance of teaching the history of agroecol­ogy and more broadly of social research in connec­tion with resistance to capitalist-colonial domina­tion. The article discusses what place the garden holds in expanding and deepening the scope of food system education through providing examples of noncapitalist exchanges and practices, a space of resistance to gentrification in a highly competi­tive land market, and decolonial foodways that emphasize gardeners’ traditional agroecological knowledge.

Food security strategies of an indigenous community in Veracruz, Mexico

Amidst most indigenous groups in Mexico, traditional knowledge still prevails which constitutes local strategies that address the issue of food insecurity. This study aims to analyze the body of Traditional Agroecological Knowledge (TAK) of Nahuatl indigenous community of Ocotal Texizapan, Tatahuicapan, Veracruz, to understand the strategies practiced to achieve food security. Participatory observation and semi-structured and in-depth interviews at the household level (n = 20 families) revealed that Traditional Agroecological Knowledge and local life strategies are linked to the “milpa” (traditional agroecosystem), home gardening, gathering, hunting and fishing activities which are key components to achieve food security at the family level. Rain-fed and "tapachole" (residual humidity) milpa, based on sowing maize intercropped with several crops, are closely-related to direct empirical knowledge, the rational use of available natural resources, family labour, and local knowledge. Currently, changes in land use and the use of agrochemicals are increasing in the study community and depleting biodiversity affecting food security at the family level: a situation that endorses the importance of traditional agriculture (milpa), backyard livestock (hens, ducks, pigs) together with gathering, hunting and fishing among the Nahuatl families.

Using traditional agroecological knowledge to adapt to climate change and variability in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Ghana's susceptibility to climate change is well documented and the agricultural sector which is the backbone of the country's economy is one of the most vulnerable sectors to the adverse effects of climate change. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods including household surveys and focus group discussions to examine the extent to which traditional agroecological knowledge is used to manage climate change in three selected communities (Gia, Gaani and Nyangua) of the Kassena Nankana Municipality in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The study specifically answers the following research questions: (i) What is the extent of rainfall and temperature changes in the municipality from 1983–2017? (ii) What is the perception of farmers on rainfall and temperature changes in the selected communities for the past three decades? (iii) What are the key adaptation practices used by farmers to reduce the threats of climate change? (iv) What are the traditional agroecological indicators used by farmers to predict rainfall in the study communities? Mann-Kendall trend test was used to assess rainfall and temperature trends over the study period. Results from the trend analysis indicated an inconsistent pattern in rainfall and an increasing trend in temperature in the municipality. Results also showed that farmers perceived decreasing trend in rainfall as well as increasing temperature. Farmers’ perception of decreased trend in rainfall was inconsistent with the analysed rainfall data as the trend of rainfall was statistically insignificant (p>0.05) and Sen's slope confirmed a positive slope indicating that amounts of rainfall had increased in the municipality. The farmers employed a variety of on-farm and off-farm practices including the use of traditional agroecological knowledge, use of improved varieties of crops and temporary migration to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the study communities. The farmers predicted rainfall onset using a variety of traditional agroecological indicators including direction of wind, croaking of frogs, appearance of cattle egret and flowering and fruiting of local trees. The study recommends the putting in place of a framework that blends traditional agroecological knowledge and scientific knowledge to develop effective climate change adaptation strategies.

Agricultural adaptation to climate change in the trans-Himalaya: a study of Loba Community of Lo-manthang, Upper Mustang, Nepal

This paper presents community interference on agricultural ecology against climate change impacts in Lo-manthang, Upper-Mustang, Nepal. The peoples’ response strategies are based on traditional agroecological knowledge. This study applied the human ecological approach (Cause ➔ Effect ➔ Response) to analyze continuity and change in the agricultural practice of the indigenous Loba community of the Trans-Himalaya. Data were generated through anthropological fieldwork using quasi-ethnomethodology. Qualitative data on changing climate was further supported by the analysis of meteorological records of last 40 years from the nearest station. The overall impression of the study is that the Lobas are hardly adapting to the dynamics of socio-environmental factors as climatic, geo-environmental, and politico-institutional changes. The strategy adopted to respond to the impacts of change on the local livelihoods is particularly associated with altering traditional agricultural practices. Indigenous knowledge-based systems of farm, labor, and resource management, accompanied by changes in food preference (food value) and linking agriculture with spiritual practice, are specific adaptation options, further supported by emerging options such as occupational modernization and migration. However, not all of these strategies produced positive outcomes in the local socio-ecological system of Lo-manthang. Therefore, policymakers should recognize Trans-Himalayan environmental uniqueness and its sensitivity to different drivers while designing policy to address them.

Resistance to traditional agroecological knowledge erosion in industrialized contexts: A study in La Plana de Vic (Catalonia)

ABSTRACT This work explores the actors and reasons behind Traditional Agroecological Knowledge (TAeK) conservation initiatives in industrialized contexts. Results come from interviews to key informants and social network analyses of TAeK conservation projects conducted in central Catalonia. Actors used contrasting discourses to refer to TAeK conservation, but with a strong potential to generate alliances between different types of projects. The existing parallelisms between resistances to TAeK erosion and resistances to industrialized agri-food systems could become the seed for common collective action to counterweight the loss of TAeK.

Seeds of change: reversing the erosion of traditional agroecological knowledge through a citizen science school program in Catalonia, Spain

Research leading to this study received funding from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project grant CSO2014-59704-P and contract grant BES-2015-072155 awarded to the first author. This research was also supported by projects 2017SGR1116 from Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan government) and PRO2017-S02-VALLES from the Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Finally, we acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, through the Maria de Maeztu program for Units of Excellence (MDM-2015-0552)

Flipping the Tortilla: Social-Ecological Innovations and Traditional Ecological Knowledge for More Sustainable Agri-Food Systems in Spain

The conventional dominant global agri-food system is a main driver in the Anthropocene: food production entails profound global environmental changes from greenhouse gas emissions to biodiversity loss, and shifting diets further impact planetary and human health. Innovative approaches are needed to shift towards more sustainable, equitable and healthy agri-food systems. Building on the increasing recognition of the relevance of traditional agroecological knowledge (TAeK) in sustainable food systems, this paper aims to describe innovative agri-food initiatives and explore how the use and valorization of TAeK may transform conventional agri-food systems. It employs a case-study approach in Spain, where we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 representatives of alternative agri-food initiatives. We found that, to promote sustainable agri-food systems, TAeK has to span from farm-to-fork. Innovative agroecological practices and knowledge help to safeguard biocultural diversity, while gastronomic knowledge among consumers on how to process and prepare local varieties and species is crucial for the implementation of shorter value chains. We discuss how TAeK enhances the success of conventional systems of innovation, challenging dominant epistemological frameworks. By scaling deep (changing values), scaling out (dissemination, reproduction) and scaling up (changing institutions), the agri-food initiatives may act on leverage points to enable broader transformation of the Spanish agri-food system.

The Contribution of Traditional Agroecological Knowledge as a Digital Commons to Agroecological Transitions: The Case of the CONECT-e Platform

Traditional agroecological knowledge (TAeK) refers to the cumulative and evolving body of knowledge, practices, beliefs, institutions, and worldviews about the relationships between a society or cultural group and their agroecosystems. These knowledge systems contribute to maintaining environmental and culturally sensitive food systems and have been considered very relevant for agroecological transitions, or the processes of scaling-up and -out agroecology. However, TAeK’s erosion and enclosure threatens its use and reproduction, which in turn might affect TAeK’s potential contribution to agroecological transitions. Here, we explore how transforming TAeK, and particularly TAeK on landraces, into a digital commons can contribute to its maintenance and protection, and thus to agroecological transitions. We do so by analyzing the CONECT-e platform, an initiative for digitally storing and sharing TAeK in a participatory way. One year after being launched, CONECT-e has documented 452 geographically distinct landraces from 81 different species. The information shared in this platform is well-structured, clear, and reliable; it thus allows for the replication of the knowledge reported. Moreover, because CONECT-e makes the documented information freely available and protects it with a copyleft license, placing information in this platform could help one face landrace misappropriation issues. CONECT-e, or similar initiatives, could contribute to agroecological transitions via maintaining TAeK under the digital commons framework, making it accessible to all society and avoiding enclosure processes.

Farmer knowledge identifies a competitive bean ideotype for maize–bean intercrop systems in Rwanda

Plant genotypes are rarely developed for mixed cropping systems despite the potential of these systems to provide multiple ecosystem services. One of the most ubiquitously grown mixed cropping systems is a common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) intercrop, but there is little consensus among researchers, and few known studies document farmer knowledge, about superior bean genotypes specifically for this intercrop system. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is a well-accepted method of selecting varieties with farmers and could be a useful tool for identifying genotypes for intercrops. We used sole crop and intercrop PPB on-farm trials (n = 13) and interviews (n = 59) to document farmer knowledge about climbing bean genotypes and adaptation for intercrops in Rwanda, where smallholder farmers have traditionally grown beans and maize for generations. Qualitative analysis demonstrated that farmers considered distinct attributes for different cropping systems. In intercrops, farmer evaluation prioritized five factors: universal traits and trait-based competitive ability, intrinsic competitive ability, environmental adaptation, and management. Farmers consider intrinsic competitive ability crucial, whereas most other studies have neglected this attribute in intercrop breeding strategies. Furthermore, farmers identified specific attributes that constitute an intercrop bean ideotype: adaptation, restricted height, columnar plant structure, even distribution of pods, fewer leaves, and earlier maturity. Farmers also had specific techniques for testing cropping system and environment interactions. PPB on-farm trial evaluations and interviews with farmers allowed us to combine traditional agroecological knowledge with plant breeding research to generate new knowledge that contributes to our understanding of intercrop breeding and bean traits for intercrops. Farmers demonstrated sophisticated understanding of methods to identify genotype adaptation, competitive ability, and specific traits that together create a bean ideotype for maize–bean cropping systems. Empowering farmers through on-farm testing of diverse genotypes, and even populations, could be a practical solution to expensive genotype by environment trials and improve the identification of highly adaptive and productive genotypes for diverse and resilient cropping systems.

Promoting nursery enterprise in high altitude villages: A participatory approach for conservation and commercialization of Himalayan threatened medicinal plants

Conservation of threatened species through cultivation is anticipated to be helpful in sustainable supply of raw material of high value Himalayan medicinal plants. However, adequate production of planting material of medicinal plants is essential for promoting mass scale cultivation of potential species and also, it can be a profitable enterprise for rural communities. Utilization of traditional agro-ecological knowledge possessed by rural communities living in mountain areas, strengthening existing practices, involving community based non-government organizations (NGOs) for development of planting material of medicinal plants and facilitation in terms of technical and financial support from an institutions, may be valuable for domestication of threatened medicinal plants. A pre-proposal based program for developing planting material of two The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) species (Saussurea lappa and Picrorhiza kurrooa), three locally threatened species; Aconitum heterophyllum, Allium stracheyi and Pleurospermum angelicoides, and one species in high demand (Carum carvi) was used with decentralized or participatory approach. The planting material was developed by farmers and community based non government organizations in some high altitude villages of district Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India. On the basis of estimated achievement, it was observed that, the planting material of P. kurrooa, S. lappa, C. carvi and A. stracheyi was developed up to satisfactory level (up to 40.00 to 94.42% by 21 farmers in 12 villages through strengthening of existing nurseries and 45.00 to 93.33% by 5 NGOs in 4 identical villages through establishment of new nurseries) in two years. Key words: CITES species, cultivation, decentralized, optional crops, planting material.

Restoration design for Three Gorges Reservoir shorelands, combining Chinese traditional agro-ecological knowledge with landscape ecological analysis

One of the greatest challenges associated with the Three Gorges Dam and Reservoir is the massive extent of the drawdown zone, causing soil erosion, loss of habitats, and landscape aesthetic degradation. Through two rounds of field and interview surveys, we have re-engaged with traditional agro-ecological knowledge as a source of solutions to these challenges. A modified pond-land terrace (MPLT) land/water use system is proposed to maximise shoreland conservation and associated ecosystem services based on local practices of paddy terrace and dike-fish pond farming. The MPLT system has a functional structure comprising water retention ponds at the top, vegetation fields in the middle, and the reservoir lake at the bottom. The design of the system is described in detail in this article by reference to the Wuyang Bay in an urban wetland park. Face-to-face questionnaire survey revealed that the community holds a positive willingness to participate in the MPLT project. Given significant environmental uncertainties in this region, post-construction monitoring is recommended for an extended period in order to determine how its benefits meet the predictions and further inform adaptive management and refinement of the system. The results illustrate the value of combining modern ecological design with traditional land-based knowledge and community engagement when seeking innovative, site-specific, and multifunctional landscape solutions to changing environments.

Urban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL

AbstractIn the United States, interest in urban farms and community gardens is flourishing, yet the urban home food garden (UHFG) and its contributions to urban systems have been overlooked and understudied. To begin to address this gap, we are conducting a mixed methods study of African American, Chinese-origin and Mexican-origin households with home gardens in Chicago, IL. Study methods include in-depth interviews, participant observation, ethnobotanical surveys and analysis of the chemical and physical properties of garden soils. As of this writing, findings indicate that home gardening has an array of beneficial effects, contributing to household food budgets and community food systems, the reproduction of cultural identity and urban biodiversity. The majority of informants in the study were internal or international migrants. For these individuals, gardening, culture-specific food plant assemblages and the foodways they support represent a continuation of cultural practices and traditional agroecological knowledge associated with their place of origin. The gardens of some migrant households also harbor urban agrobiodiversity with roots in the Global South. At the same time, gardens may have less salubrious effects on urban systems and populations. A lack of knowledge of safe gardening practices may expose vulnerable populations to environmental hazards such as soil contaminants. Gardeners in this study reported using synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, sometimes indiscriminately, and the repeated application of synthetic fertilizers and compost may contribute to the nutrient loading of urban stormwater runoff. These effects may be moderated by the relatively low bulk density and high porosity of garden soils due to tillage and the application of organic matter, which can be expected to enhance stormwater infiltration. While the UHFG's potential contributions to urban systems are significant, outreach and research are needed to help gardeners grow food safely and sustainably in ways that contribute to overall ecosystem health.

Measuring Traditional Agro-Ecological Knowledge: An Example from Peasants in the Peruvian Andes

A way of operationalizing the concept of traditional agro-environmental knowledge is presented using a combination of data gathering and analysis techniques. The cultural consensus model, along with more traditional Guttman and Likert-type scaling techniques were employed to collect data on the ideas that a group of randomly sampled Andean peasant householders had regarding the best way to use their natural resources. The traditional versus nontraditional dimensionality of these shared environmental understandings was then tested against data explicitly collected to measure householders’ traditionalness.

Traditional agroecological knowledge, adaptive management and the socio-politics of conservation in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

This paper illustrates the opportunity for conservation offered by linking traditional agroecological knowledge and advances in adaptive management theory and practice. Drawing on examples from the Banawa-Marawola region of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, a suite of traditional resource management practices premised on principles of adaptive management are identified and assessed, including: (1) resource management practices and regulations that are associated with the dynamics of complex systems; (2) procedural, planning and decision-making processes that foster learning; (3) sanctions and taboos that act as social mechanisms for the management and conservation of natural resources; and (4) ceremonies and social interactions that promote cultural internalization of the various practices, procedures and mechanisms. In addition, an emerging socio-political movement in the Banawa-Marawola region is explored. Premised on the strengthening of traditional rights and practices, the nascent Kamalise movement potentially provides the socio-political, institutional and organizational context needed to link traditional agroecological knowledge and adaptive management with broader conservation goals. Based on this analysis, two opportunities to enhance conservation in the region are identified: first, maintaining traditional agroecological systems and the associated adaptive resource management strategies used by local groups, and second, building upon the Kamalise movement to forge conservation alliances among communities, non-government and government organizations in which locally-evolved adaptive resource management strategies can be effectively applied. Both opportunities to combine traditional knowledge, adaptive management and conservation, however, are linked to the development aspirations of traditional groups: self-determination, acquisition of land rights and controlling the impacts of changes in livelihood.