Fragile Lands of Latin America Strategies for ... - PART - USAID

Transferring Traditional Technology 47
neutral in this respect, neither are the technologies associated with their
cultivation, and it may be possible to derive decent incomes with
traditional, labor-intensive methods. Some land management proce-
dures, such as materials transport, deep plowing, and compacting, favor
powered equipment. But others, such as fine grading, selective culti-
vation, and some types of excavating, are done efficiently by hand (e.g.,
Coukis 1983; van Loon et al. 1979).
Increasing production does not necessarily increase income. The
harvests of fields and forests must be channeled through exchange
systems and since producers often have no control over markets or
prices, increasing output may not result in significant increases in
income (Ortiz 1973). Even if markets are not manipulated increasing
supplies of commodities can weaken prices. Thus the income question
actually has two parts: can traditional managers drive their resources
to higher levels of productivity? And if they do, will they realize rewards
commensurate with their efforts? Although questions of production
rightly belong in a discussion of technology, questions of rewards lie
beyond the farmers' fields, and solutions are found outside the realm
of technology.
Conservation
An enduring myth is that traditional land managers live in mystic
harmony with nature, attuned to natural laws and flows, and are
culturally conditioned to husband their scarce resources. The myth does
not square with the record: traditional managers past and present have
proven quite as capable of destroying their resource bases as modem
commercial farmers (although lacking powerfbl equipment, they are
perhaps less efficient at it).
Farmers everywhere often respond to factors outside local systems.
For example, in many parts of the tropics population pressure has
driven traditional cultivators to destroy upland forests with subsequent
degradation of soil and water resources. Similarly modern mid-latitude
farmers, under pressure from government programs or to preserve
income levels, plow and plant until erosion accelerates to unacceptable
levels (e.g., Brink et al. 1977; Brown 1981; 1987; Carter 1977). Both
groups are aware of the consequences of their actions, but ignore long-
term costs in response to external pressures.
Some traditional methods are ecologically sound not because of
inherent conservation techniques but because of the small scale of
ecosystem disruption. The traditional agroforestry system known as
shifting (swidden; slash-and-burn) cultivation is a good example: as
long as only a fraction of a forest is under cultivation and fallow