sustainable use of biological diversity.pdf - India Environment Portal

Sustainable use of biological diversity in socio-ecological production landscapes
are composed of women, and hence the term ‘women’s
groups’. The main activities in recent times include
tree planting, soil erosion control activities and
income generating activities. Group members meet
about once in a week. A typical group has about 20-
30 members. Most women belong to such groups.
4.8.6 Threats to local species and local knowledge
Many of local natural fruit trees are threatened by
short-term needs of some households who cut them
for charcoal or timber, usually for sale to buy food
in times of food shortage. The associated indigenous
knowledge is also threatened, as much of it is lost
together with the loss of the species.
5. conclusion
Kitui’s diverse mosaic landscape provides a fertile
ground for innovation and adaptation to growing
uncertainty. The Kitui agrarian landscape has six
ecozones; they contain two types of gardens, crop
fields, forest groves, pastures, forests flood plains and
water harvesting sites. Together, they are managed as
part of a single agricultural system that maximises
biodiversity to produce food from wild and cropped
areas, as well as domestic and wild animals. This has
allowed people to cope with increasing risks to field
crops such as maize. Continuing domestication and
increased cultivation of indigenous food plants such
as gourds, pigeon peas, and trees are yielding new
products with growing market potential.
Local institutions have proved to be essential in
the coping strategies and management of Kitui’s
mosaic landscape. Collective work groups and self
help groups combine both traditional forms of collective
labour and land management as well as new
groupings to tap into new technologies and knowledge.
The experience of Kitui is evidence of the need
to support knowledge-intensive agriculture in biodiverse
landscapes as a way to cope with environmental
change and uncertainty. Local knowledge
is acquired and maintained by institutions that are
deeply embedded in local culture and are governed
by customary rules as well as formal organisational
rules that are derived from community development
a member of Kyanika adult Women’s group working in a
group farm. The crop is an early maturing pigeon pea.
models. The importance of local and traditional
knowledge is growing and well recognised within
the community. It includes indigenous knowledge
passed down from earlier generations to ethnobotanical
and agronomic knowledge obtained through
linkages with outside institutions. The entry point
for interaction with outsiders remains the indigenous
customs and knowledge held by senior Kitui
women and men. A key feature of the maintenance
and rise of local institutions for managing agroecosystems
is the lead role played by women.
further reading
Johns, T., Smith, I.F, and Eyzaguirre, P. 2006. Understanding the
Links Between Agriculture and Health. Agrobiodiversty, Nutrition,
and Health. Focus 13 Brief 12 of 16 May 2006. IFPRI
Oduol, W. (1995) “Adaptive Responses to Modern Technology:
Kitui Farmers in the Semiarid Regions of Eastern Kenya in Technology
Policy and Practice in Africa edited by O.M. Ogbu, B.O.
Oyeyinka, and H.M. Mlawa, IDRC, Ottawa. 1995
Opere A.O., V.O. Awuor, S.O. Kooke and W.O. Omoto. 2002.
Impact of Rainfall Variability on Water Resources Management:
Case Study in Kitui District, Kenya WaterNet/Warfsa Symposium
‘Water Demand Management for Sustainable Development’, Dar
es Salaam, 30-31 October 2002
Shackleton, C.M., Pasquini, M.W., and Drescher A.W. 2009. African
Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture. Earthscan.
Thrupp L.A. 2000. Linking agricultural biodiversity and food security:
the valuable role of agrobiodiversity for sustainable agriculture.
International Affairs 76 (2): 265–281.
© P. Maundu
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