Gender, Local Knowledge, and Lessons Learnt in Documenting and Conserving Agrobiodiversity

From the Abstract
"This paper [prepared for the United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research project on Hunger and Food Security: New Challenges and New Opportunities] explores the linkages between gender, local knowledge systems, and agrobiodiversity for food security by using the case study of [Local Indigenous Knowledge Systems] LinKS, a regional [Food and Agriculture Organization] FAO project in Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania over a period of eight years and now concluded. The project aimed to raise awareness on how rural men and women use and manage agrobiodiversity, and to promote the importance of local knowledge for food security and sustainable agrobiodiversity at local, institutional, and policy levels by working with a diverse range of stakeholders to strengthen their ability to recognize and value farmers’ knowledge and to use gender-sensitive and participatory approaches in their work. This was done through three key activities: capacity building, research, and communication.

The results of the LinKS study show clearly that men and women farmers hold very specific local knowledge about the plants and animals they manage. Local knowledge, gender, and agrobiodiversity are closely interrelated. If one of these elements is threatened, the risk of losing agrobiodiversity increases, having negative effects on food security. Increased productivity, economic growth, and agricultural productivity are important elements in poverty reduction. The diverse and complex agroecological environment of Sub-Saharan Africa requires that future efforts be based on more localized solutions while maintaining a global outlook. Food security will have to build much more on local knowledge and agrobiodiversity with a clear understanding of gender implications while keeping in mind the continuously changing global socioeconomic and political conditions."

Communication-related results, according to the researchers, show:

• "The LinKS experience clearly indicated that it was not enough to provide people with one or two training workshops and then expect them to apply what they had learned. People needed time and opportunity to apply newly acquired techniques in day-to-day working situations."
• "Once in the field, they were unable to use the approaches and tools properly and coherently. A closer look at the issue revealed that little had been achieved by the quick and often limited inputs provided by donor organizations training workshops."
• "...the combination of qualitative and quantitative data, their analysis and presentation created a challenge. Research reports frequently consisted only of tables or anecdotal stories. Thus, the need for capacity-building and for developing appropriate training material was great."
• "Studies in Swaziland, Mozambique and Tanzania highlighted interesting findings with regard to the link between local knowledge and agrobiodiversity, particularly the effects of HIV/AIDS on seeds management. The relation between the epidemic - affecting primarily women - and the consequent loss of female crop knowledge of seed varieties had previously been unknown."
• "Another interesting point was the extremely limited exchange of information between husband and wife, leading again to a loss of knowledge and of agrobiodiversity."
• "These studies emphasized the importance of underutilized crops - not cash crops that are used for marketing, but food crops for survival."
• "...most [locally-produced seed] were still available, but in a very small scale, with only a few knowledgeable farmers. ...Research extension staff’s knowledge of local seed varieties was limited..."
• "...the local knowledge [of animal husbandry] of the Maasai of Simanjiro is alive and dynamic, and widespread among all members of the Maasai society. The extent to which local knowledge is maintained and practised differs according to age and gender. Knowledge is passed along vertical lines from older members of the society to the younger groups through instruction and initiation. But information is also exchanged horizontally through interaction with peers."

This study recommends the following actions:

1. "Action is required to ensure that distinctions in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture are made, where appropriate, between the different knowledge bases and access of resources of women and men...
2. The trust fund, created in Tanzania and focusing on local knowledge and agrobiodiversity, could function as a national support instrument for the implementation of the Treaty, including supporting a platform for local experiences, a definition of who are farmers, and clarification of the issues surrounding them.
3. ... [T]here is a need for incentives for researchers and extension workers to assist men and women farmers to better manage their own seed (which comprises the vast majority of the seed planted in Tanzania)."