THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

More so, the people who live nearest these resources still have ample opportunity to use them,
but when they lose secure property rights in the resources to others, they also lose any
incentive they might have felt in the past to manage these resources for maximum long-term
benefit. The other issue we came to learn is that local ecological knowledge is not monetised
among the Abaluhya, but a token of appreciation is given depending on the scope of the
subject matter. This token is customary and is paid after the elders and respective council of
wise men have passed on the required known. When the researcher probed to further to find
out whether this is the price equivalent of the knowledge given, our confidant, who was the
local Chief, refused to regard it as the price of knowledge. The argument was that knowledge
is not marketed among the Luhya customs, but rather appreciated. This therefore makes it
hard for one to evaluate the true cost of local ecological knowledge among the Luhya.
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