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Indigenous Knowledge and the Desertification Debate: Problematising Expert Knowledge in North Africa
Abstract
In Morocco the crisis narrative of desertification has been invoked for decades to facilitate and justify policy and legal changes that have systematically disadvantaged pastoralists and damaged the environment. The existing data from southern Morocco, however, do not support the claims of widespread desertification due to overgrazing or other pastoral activities. Furthermore, many anti-desertification and range improvement projects in southern Morocco have not succeeded. In an effort to rethink desertification and range ecology in Morocco, this paper presents an overview of the indigenous knowledge of range ecology among the Aarib, a group of camel pastoralists in southern Morocco, and compares it to the “expert” knowledge of Moroccan range managers. It suggests that this expert knowledge is based on questionable evidence and that it has been privileged over local knowledge primarily for political, economic and administrative reasons. The discrepancies between expert and indigenous knowledges of range ecology presented here underscore the need to reconsider range ecology in Morocco, taking indigenous ecological knowledge into account. Doing so may point the way to more successful development and conservation projects which are more environmentally appropriate and socially just. Not doing so will likely exacerbate environmental degradation in the region.
... Although the majority of environmental scientists dispute the Sahel desertification hypothesis, it is a major topic in international arenas, not as a hypothesis, but largely as an established fact. Thus, to understand this gap between scientific productions and disseminated discourses, we propose to mobilize the concept of narrative in the sense of political ecology (Behnke and Mortimore 2016;Adger et al 2001;Olwig and Rasmussen 2015;Davis 2005;Turner 1999). Behnke and Mortimore (2016) pointed out that the desertification paradigm has conceptual flaws that make it analytically ineffective. ...
... However, the paradigm of desertification must be taken seriously for what it is: a powerful political tool. A number of researchers have suggested to describe it as a narrative (Swift 1996;Davis 2005;Slegers and Stroosnijder 2008;Toulmin and Brock 2016;Benjaminsen and Hiernaux 2019). A narrative is not a simple statement of facts but a social and political construction. ...
... For Adger et al. (2001), narratives could even be managerial discourses or instruments for controlling populations, areas and resources. As stated by Scoones, "the desertification narrative promotes a controloriented response" (Scoones 2018: p 3) and is used to justify political and legal changes (Davis 2005). The narrative has a scene (the Sahel in this case) and tells a story with a before (the myth of a wooded or even forested region), a duration (the advance of the desert) and an after (good practices to be used to recover the more favourable initial state). ...
The paradigm of Sahelian desertification, whose roots lie in the colonial period, increased in popularity following the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s. This “desertification narrative” was shaped in the international arena by organizations working in the fields of international cooperation, human rights, regional development, economic regulation and environmental questions. This narrative has been deployed to have real-world implications of how risks and responses in the Sahel are understood and prioritised, with particularly tangible implications for civil society and international donor agencies. It is indeed widely used in technical writings, general public media and environmental protection projects, regardless of the fact that the majority of literature in environmental science does not support its underlying rationales. It depicts rural populations as victims and culprits (or villains) partially responsible for the desertification, which in turn justifies external intervention in the Sahelian countries. The desertification narrative has an impact on research and development funding by overemphasizing the role of international development aid to combat desertification, thus favoring research on the subject of Sahelian desertification. Furthermore, we argue that the Sahelian desertification narrative contributes to the political control of rural populations, the latter being stigmatized because of their often-considered excessive use of environmental resources.
... There has been research interest in Indigenous Knowledge from angles such as soil erosion, rangeland degradation and desertification (Blaikie, 1985;Cousins, 1999;Davis, 2005;Tiffen, Mortimore, & Gichuki, 1998), flood and drought (Howell, 2003;Mavhura & Mushore, 2015;Narain, Khan, & Singh, 2005;Robertson & McGee, 2003;Tran, Shaw, Chantry, & Norton, 2008;Turpie, 2000), climate change (Egeru, 2012), and community-based natural resources management more generally (Berkes, 2006(Berkes, , 2010Brokensha, Warren, Riley, & W., 1980;Gadgil, Berkes, & Folke, 1993;Le Roux, 2003;Olsson, Folke, & Berkes, 2004;Powell, 2003;Rutgerd, 2006). Other research approaches according to Davis (2005) have sought to problematize Indigenous Knowledge (Agrawal, 1995;Bebbington, 1996;Escobar, 1995). ...
... There has been research interest in Indigenous Knowledge from angles such as soil erosion, rangeland degradation and desertification (Blaikie, 1985;Cousins, 1999;Davis, 2005;Tiffen, Mortimore, & Gichuki, 1998), flood and drought (Howell, 2003;Mavhura & Mushore, 2015;Narain, Khan, & Singh, 2005;Robertson & McGee, 2003;Tran, Shaw, Chantry, & Norton, 2008;Turpie, 2000), climate change (Egeru, 2012), and community-based natural resources management more generally (Berkes, 2006(Berkes, , 2010Brokensha, Warren, Riley, & W., 1980;Gadgil, Berkes, & Folke, 1993;Le Roux, 2003;Olsson, Folke, & Berkes, 2004;Powell, 2003;Rutgerd, 2006). Other research approaches according to Davis (2005) have sought to problematize Indigenous Knowledge (Agrawal, 1995;Bebbington, 1996;Escobar, 1995). Some researchers (Chambers, 1983(Chambers, , 1997Chambers, Pacey, & Thrupp, 1989;Sillitoe, 1998) argue that Indigenous Knowledge offers a new methodological approach building upon Chambers' research on engaging rural communities as citizens in their own development trajectory. ...
... Some researchers (Chambers, 1983(Chambers, , 1997Chambers, Pacey, & Thrupp, 1989;Sillitoe, 1998) argue that Indigenous Knowledge offers a new methodological approach building upon Chambers' research on engaging rural communities as citizens in their own development trajectory. Sillitoe (1998) and Davis (2005) argue that by engaging Indigenous Knowledge we will be better positioned to have environmentally appropriate and socially just development outcomes (Kates, Parris, & Leiserowitz, 2005;Olsson, Hourcade, & Kohler, 2014). ...
Most development planners and practitioners have often wrongly assumed that solutions for community challenges lie within the “western scientific knowledge” only. However, the recent studies have highlighted the relevance of Indigenous Knowledge to inform western scientific solutions. This study is on the Barotse Flood Plain of the Western Province of Zambia. Flood inundation understanding by the local communities has direct implications for their livelihood options and for the well-being of their households. The research found that there are a number of important local knowledge systems that are early warning systems based on observations of weather, water level and landscape, and animal behavior, which are widely disseminated through a specific communication network. The chapter concludes with a discussion on how the integration of Western scientific and Indigenous Knowledge Systems will better inform interventions to improve livelihood options for the communities within the Barotse Flood Plain and policy and practice within the developing world at large.
... 21). Likewise, Davis (2005) highlights that "The existing data from southern Morocco […] do not support the claims of widespread desertification due to […] pastoral activities" (p. 509). ...
... trails, footholds, trackways, stables, rock-shelters) (Zerboni & Nicoll, 2019), and rock engravings/painting sites (Roubet & Amara, 2016). The literature also highlights the huge local knowledge of pastoralists Davis, 2005;Gobindram et al., 2018;Linstädter et al., 2013). For instance, Gobindram et al. (2018) stress that the local ecological knowledge (LEK) of shepherds includes "recognising and naming forage plants and rangeland types, identifying preferred or less preferred plants or plant parts, describing circumstantial palatability of plants" (p. ...
... 207). Other authors (Davis, 2005(Davis, , 2016 warn of the ongoing erosion of pastoral indigenous knowledge. In this respect, Davis (2005) argues that "expert knowledge is based on questionable evidence and that it has been privileged over local knowledge primarily for political, economic and administrative reasons" (p. ...
Pastoralism is a livelihood system based on extensive production of livestock (e.g. cattle, sheep, goats, camels) mainly on marginal lands. It is a traditional activity in the Mediterranean in general and the Maghreb (viz. Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) in particular. This review casts light on research regarding pastoralism in the Maghreb. In particular, the paper analyses the benefits of pastoralism as well as the challenges faced by pastoralists in the region from the environmental, socio-cultural, economic and political points of views. A search performed in July 2020 on the Web of Science yielded 113 documents and 68 of them were included in the systematic review. The analysed literature emphasizes the negative impacts of pastoralism and the challenges faced by pastoral communities in the Maghreb. These include climate change, land degradation and desertification, poverty and livelihood vulnerability as well as the ongoing erosion of pastoral culture and traditions. Doing so, scholars question the future of pastoralism in the region and highlight the need for its adaptation and transformation through, among others, moving towards agro-pastoral systems. There is a dearth of articles that highlight the positive impacts and benefits of pastoralism in the Maghreb. However, the literature shows that pastoralism has a long tradition and is an integral part of the Maghrebi culture and history, and values the traditional knowledge of pastoralists as well as their adaptive capacity. The review shows that there is a gap in research on pastoralism in the Maghreb especially regarding economics. In this context, regional projects such as PACTORES (Pastoral ACTORs, Ecosystem services and Society as key elements of agro-pastoral systems in the Mediterranean) result crucial to bridge the current knowledge gap and foster the sustainable development of pastoralism in the Maghreb and the Mediterranean at large.
... » (p.67). Par ailleurs, la connaissance approfondie que les éleveurs camelins ont de leur environnement et de la façon dont les différentes plantes réagissent au régime pluvial contribue à entretenir les terres pastorales et lutter contre leur dégradation (Davis, 2005). Le dromadaire est également un animal de prestige et possède une importance symbolique et sociale forte au sein des communautés pastorales en zone aride. ...
... Le mode de vie pastoral a connu un certain nombre de transformations en Afrique sahélienne et saharienne, induites par le déclin du commerce caravanier et les politiques de sédentarisation qui ont commencé durant la période coloniale et se sont poursuivies après les indépendances durant la seconde moitié du 20ème siècle (Abaab et Genin, 2004;Alary et El Mourid, 2005;Sandron, 1998). La mise en oeuvre de ces politiques s'appuyait sur la volonté avancée par les Etats de moderniser les zones rurales et promouvoir l'éducation des enfants, les pratiques pastorales nomades étant considérées comme arriérées (Davis, 2005). En effet, au cours des premières décennies qui ont suivi la Seconde Guerre mondiale, les sociétés du monde entier ont été marquées par la modernisation technique de l'agriculture et par la préoccupation dominante en matière de sécurité alimentaire, de sorte que les systèmes d'élevage mobiles, en particulier le nomadisme, ont été considérés comme "archaïques" et " ancestraux " et comme un mode de vie non productif (Amsidder et al., 2021). ...
Les dynamiques en cours au sein des espaces pastoraux en milieu aride telles que la diminution drastique en termes de qualité et de quantité des ressources pastorales, l’avancée des fronts agricoles et urbains, la mise en place de lois pastorales visant à sécuriser le pastoralisme ont pour conséquence de remettre en question les systèmes de relations et d’accords sur lesquels se fonde le capital social mobilisé par les éleveurs pour accéder aux ressources pastorales et de complémentation nécessaires au maintien de leur troupeau. L’enjeu principal de notre thèse est de comprendre comment les éleveurs adaptent leur capital social à ces transformations pour sécuriser leur capacité à accéder aux ressources et maintenir leur troupeau dans un contexte qui tend à accroître leur vulnérabilité. Si l’approche du capital social comme facteur déterminant de l’accès aux ressources au sein des sociétés pastorales ne constitue pas un objet d’étude nouveau, elle continue à soulever de nombreuses questions théoriques et méthodologiques en sciences humaines et sociales. À partir d’une étude portant sur les éleveurs camelins au sein de la province de Tan-Tan au sud-ouest du Maroc, notre thèse propose de construire un cadre d’analyse pluridisciplinaire mobilisant la géographie (sociale, politique, historique), la socio-anthropologie et la socio-économie, visant à développer une nouvelle approche du capital social visant non pas à mesurer un stock global de capital social, mais plutôt à mettre l’accent sur les processus par lesquels les éleveurs le construisent, l’entretiennent et le développent à travers la notion de stratégies d’investissement social développée par le sociologue Pierre Bourdieu. Le premier chapitre de résultats porte sur l’évolution des jeux d’acteurs tribaux et étatiques depuis la période coloniale et leurs conséquences sur les réseaux sociaux à partir desquels les éleveurs construisent et entretiennent leurs stratégies d’investissement social. Le second chapitre de résultats présente la méthode que nous avons mise en place pour établir une typologie des profils d’éleveurs en fonction de ces différentes stratégies en interaction avec les autres formes de capitaux qu’ils détiennent. L’étude des capacités d’adaptation des différents profils d’éleveurs durant la sécheresse et la crise sanitaire liée à la pandémie du COVID-19 ayant touché la province de Tan-Tan durant notre période d’étude nous permet alors de démontrer que les éleveurs ayant été les mieux à même d’accéder aux ressources pastorales et de complémentation sont ceux qui se sont adaptés aux changements politiques et sociaux en développant des stratégies d’investissement social à cheval entre réseau coutumier et étatique ou en s’appuyant sur un capital financier et un prestige social important. Entre recherche et développement, cette thèse est une invitation à mettre au cœur de l’analyse de la résilience des populations pastorales l’étude des stratégies d’ investissement social mises en place par les éleveurs dans la mesure où elles constituent un facteur déterminant de leur capacité à accéder aux ressources nécessaires au maintien leur troupeau et par conséquent de leur capacité d’adaptation aux changements qui caractérisent les espaces pastoraux en milieu aride. Par ailleurs, elle met également l’accent sur la nécessité de prendre davantage en compte, dans le cadre des projets et politiques de développement pastoral, les multiples territoires et jeux d’acteurs au sein desquels s’insèrent les espaces pastoraux à partir desquels les éleveurs élaborent leurs stratégies sociales pour accéder aux ressources. Ce n’est en effet que par cette prise en compte et la mise en lumière des disparités existantes en termes de capacité d’accès aux ressources au sein de la communauté pastorale concernée que le développement pastoral pourra bénéficier à une majorité d’éleveurs et non pas seulement à ceux qui disposent des « bons » réseaux.
... This misunderstanding is often rooted in the philosophy behind government programs that advance an economic and political agenda to achieve end results such as sedentarization to encourage more readily taxable ways of life, to intensify Communicated by J. M. Marston. agricultural production in these regions, or to preserve what they perceive as "natural" ecological zones on the peripheries of state-controlled territory for ecological tourism (Davis 2005;Honeychurch 2010). ...
... To counter this philosophy, other schools of anthropological and geographical literature have come out strongly in defense of pastoral societies as the caretakers of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), which accumulates over generational to millennial time periods and has preserved methods for sustainable living in marginal environments (Fernandez-Gimenez 2000;Honeychurch 2010). Anthropologists and geographers working with pastoralists report that the use of this traditional knowledge functions to maintain sustainable lifeways in vulnerable ecological regions, especially when nomadic pastoralists have access to their traditional home ranges (Davis 2005;Rosen 2011). In this paper we explore the question of how and when traditional economies of sustainable pastoralism in marginal environments might have gained their start. ...
Since the end of the Pleistocene some 11,700 years ago, the landscape and vegetation of the Mongolian Gobi Desert has been profoundly changing, punctuated by the appearance of lakes, wetlands, and finally aridification. Vegetation communities have responded to these changes according to temperature shifts and northward to southward movements of the edges of East Asian monsoonal systems. Human groups have lived, foraged, and traveled through the landscape of the Gobi for millennia, adapting their technologies and systems of plant and animal use with the dramatic changes of flora and fauna, and likely contributed to the character of the vegetation communities in the region today. Pastoral nomads living in semi-arid regions are sometimes implicated as contributors to desertification. However, our research at the Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Dornogovi Province, Mongolia has yielded geoarchaeological and phytolith data which show the opposite effect. Changing landscape and vegetation patterns from the Middle to Late Holocene suggest that early pastoralists might have contributed to a shift away from halophytic desert vegetation, and an increase in semi-arid desert-steppe grasses. We suggest that the halophytic succulents growing around saline ponds during the Mid-Holocene wet phase, were replaced by Stipa and other steppic grasses after pastoralists entered the region, increasing hillslope erosion which covered the saline sediments of the valley floor, and encouraged the growth of grass seeds carried in the dung of herd animals.
... TEK of pastoralists in Africa has been extensively studied. Some studies showed pastoralists' TEK related to grassland degradation (Admasu et al., 2010;Behmanesh et al., 2015;Kassahun et al., 2008;Roba and Oba, 2009), others reported knowledge of grassland quality (Dabasso et al., 2012;Oba and Kaitira, 2006), or of botanic species diversity and their palatability for livestock (Ayantunde et al., 2008a;Davis, 2005;Oba and Kaitira, 2006). ...
... TEK of pastoralists in Africa has been extensively studied. Some studies focused on knowledge related to grassland degradation (Behmanesh et al., 2015;Kassahun et al., 2008;Roba and Oba, 2009), others on knowledge of grassland quality (Dabasso et al., 2012;Oba and Kaitira, 2006), or of botanic species diversity and their palatability for livestock (Ayantunde et al., 2008a;Davis, 2005;Oba and Kaitira, 2006 ...
... Sous climat aride, la mobilité du cheptel ressort comme une nécessité car elle permet une adaptation aux variations climatiques comme décrit au Turkana (Ellis & Swift, 1988) ou dans le Haut Atlas marocain (Davis, 2005). Dans les parcours pastoraux steppiques qui ont longtemps obéi à cette pratique, l'augmentation de la démographie humaine, de la pression de pâturage et des pratiques spéculatives, ont conduit à une saturation de l'espace pastoral qui a tendance de fait à réduire cette mobilité et à engendrer un surpâturage comme décrit ailleurs en Afrique (Randall, 2005 ;Sørbø, 2003 ;Khaldi, 2014). ...
Assessment of the effects of the control of grazing system in grazed arid steppic rangelands in Algeria.
Facing the degradation that the steppe in Algeria suffered, the grazing system using deferred grazing, introduced recently, is an effective means to control and manage the grazed ecosystems of steppic rangelands. Three sites have been studied to assess in each of them, the effects of the managed grazing on ecosystem in comparison to the free grazed ones. The composition and plant species diversity, surface soil conditions and forage quality in controlled areas, showed improvement compared with the freely grazed land. In the present work and usually regarding similar assessment tasks, conditions and sampling design are dictated by a request made much later after the grazing management set-up. The need of such a management in the arid rangelands and the sampling method are discussed.
... Davis [108] presents an overview study of IK among the Aarib, a group of camel pastoralists in southern Morocco, comparing it to the expert knowledge of Moroccan range managers. The paper submits that the Aarib IK has been overlooked and underprivileged compared to the expert knowledge of Moroccan range managers due to political, economic, and administrative reasons. ...
Globally, indigenous knowledge (IK) has been shown to be a critical factor in economic growth and sustainable development and is as important as scientific knowledge. However, when it comes to the African narrative, IK research still seems to fall short, even with the great recognition and interest it is attracting. IK has always been underprivileged and marginalized, treated as an unsubstantiated type of knowledge that cannot provide any scientific solutions. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the importance of IK research from a comparative African perspective from 1990 to 2020. The paper used a combination of bibliometric analysis and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol to provide a comprehensive view of IK research. The VOSviewer software was used to provide a visuali-zation of the bibliometric analysis through network maps. The findings suggest that while IK is a globally recognized concept, the African narrative is missing and not told by Africans. Most researched studies on IK in Africa are on ethnobotany, customs, traditions, agroforestry, and agriculture. Moreover, most of the IK research is from Southern Africa. There is a need for the integration of IK and scientific knowledge to develop well-informed approaches, methodologies, and frameworks that cater to indigenous communities and resilient ecological development. The research outcomes provide valuable insights for future research trends; they further highlight opportunities for building research partnerships for strengthening policy generation and implementation.
... The conventional environmental orientalist assumption of most developers, including the Moroccan state agencies, remains that this 'empty' desert land sits idle, not used by human or non-human life (Hoffmann 2018). Even if 'usage' is generally accepted, it is characterised as unproductive or even destructive, in line with a legacy French colonial understanding of 'development' (Davis 2005). Although there is no current concrete evidence of violent conflict, a project of this scale is likely to be disruptive, especially in the oases, such as that of the Ait Oukrour Toundout ethnic collectivity (Rignall 2016). ...
Resource conflicts and human–environment conflicts are active around the globe. As planetary, carbon-induced climate change necessitates new responses, the policies and practices of decarbonisation add new dimensions to existing conflicts. Using examples from two nations with ambitious aims for the decarbonisation of their economies, Ethiopia and Morocco, we illustrate how unintended conflicts and adverse ecosystem impacts arise when nature cannot participate in decision-making processes. Transition to low-carbon economies, we argue, generates and exacerbates multi-dimensional conflicts of interest between state and society, as well as between society and ecosystems. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, we suggest establishing procedural rights of nature via (1) stronger consideration of scientific expertise, (2) an enhancement of environmental safeguards and (3) making funding linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) conditional upon participation of nature in decision-making processes through legal guardians. We use counterfactuals as a method to demonstrate how procedural rights of nature, in the cases of Ethiopia and Morocco, could change green economy and climate mitigation projects, making them less conflict-prone and more sustainable.
... Ainsi, nous plaidons pour une utilisation moins systématique du préfixe "sur-" concernant les socio-écosystèmes sahéliens (« surpâturage », « surcharge » ou « surexploitation », et cetera) évaluant négativement les actions humaines locales au prisme d'un équilibre usages/capacités qu'il est impossible d'obtenir. Cette stigmatisation concerne fortement les activités pastorales, fragilisant certes les écosystèmes, mais très souvent seule ressource monétaire des éleveurs (Rowntree et al. 2004;Davis, 2005). Cet outil a cet avantage d'ouvrir le débat. ...
The Ferlo territory is increasingly "occupied", humanly, environmentally and institutionally. A mapping based on the perceptions of local stakeholders (ZADA in French, PBRM or Perception-Based Regional Mapping) was carried out to identify the factors that, from the point of view of these stakeholders, structure the spatial organization of this territory and its surroundings: uses, practices, localisms or any other factor identified. By GIS-merging together all the maps obtained, each corresponding to an interview, we obtain a spatialized database on the determinants structuring this territory. Although the structural, ecological and socio-historical elements remain and even tend towards the specialization of territories into production 'countries', the short 2-months period herds graze in the Ferlo and the generalized use of supplementation during the pastoral lean season suggests a reorientation of these herds towards the south. It induces areas of possible tension where the north-south axis of transhumance and the West-East axis of agricultural colonization intersect. This experimental method allows us to reflect on the role of environmental observatories and the Ferlo in particular.
... The production, contestation and legitimation of environmental knowledge has been a longstanding concern in geography and cognate fields (Davis, 2005;Birkenholtz, 2008;Goldman et al., 2011;Forsyth, 2015;Simon and Peterson, 2019). Scholarly engagements with environmental knowledge range widely from exploring how we understand and frame the global environmental crisis (Shrivastava et al., 2020) to challenging scientific paradigms and techno-economic reason. ...
There is growing scholarly engagement with the role of uncertainty in questions of environmental decision-making. Yet ignorance, while prevalent in the STS literature, has received less attention in geography and cognate disciplines. In our introduction to this special collection, we review the literature on ignorance and uncertainty to make two contributions. First, we engage each concept to demonstrate that, in general, ignorance is a ‘lack of knowledge’ (or the appearance of lack of knowledge) while uncertainty is a ‘lack of knowledge clarity’ (or the appearance of lack of knowledge clarity). Second, we argue that while it is useful for theory building to distinguish between the two concepts, it is helpful also to view them as interrelated and processual. We demonstrate this relationality and the different forms it takes by introducing a process-based typology: ignorance and uncertainty as outcome; ignorance and uncertainty as resource; and ignorance and uncertainty as obstacle. The six papers in the collection offer a diverse set of engagements with ignorance and uncertainty including grounded case-studies and theoretical interventions focused on environmental decision-making.
... Beck (1992) would perhaps call this counterknowledge "reflexive modernization." Although the state marginalizes counterknowledge as "inexpert" or "lay" knowledge (Baruah, 2012;Davis, 2005;Dhillon, 2017;McCormick, 2006), it however continues to contest the authority of expert knowledge. ...
The building of Kalabagh Dam-Pakistan's largest hydropower development project-has been stalled for decades. This article interrogates why and how this project has been grounded for so long. It shows that the state and its administrative agencies that support dam building rest their case on "expert" knowledge, while dismissing the counterknowledge produced by the anti-dam coalition of environmentalists, nationalists, and spiritualists as "inexpert." Consequently, the dam has become a proxy for contending knowledge claims between the dam's supporters and anti-dam activists. Deploying Habermas's communicative action theory that critiques expert knowledge as "instrumental rationality," this article demonstrates that the Pakistani anti-dam movement's communicative action played the pivotal role in stalling the dam's building. It typologizes actors, defending and opposing the dam, and documents their knowledge claims. The article contributes to the environmental movement literature by illuminating the ways in which anti-dam activists structure communicative claims, and deploy them for the public contestation of instrumental knowledge and interests.
... In North Africa, nomadism has undergone a major transition induced by the decline of caravan activities and sedentarization policies that began during the colonization era (up to the 1950s) and continued after independence in the latter half of the 20th century (Abaab et al., 2002;Alary and El Mourid, 2005;Nordblom et al., 1997;Sandron, 1998). The primary reasons (formal reasons) of implementing these policies stemmed from the ideas of rural modernization and educating of children, as pastoral practices were considered backward (Davies, 2005). However, the undeclared reasons for these policies included the need to control remote regions that could hamper socio-political stability and that practiced uncontrolled trade and smuggling (trading/smuggling weapons, various illicit goods, such as drugs, and even live animals). ...
... In North Africa, nomadism has undergone a major transition induced by the decline of caravan activities and sedentarization policies that began during the colonization era (up to the 1950s) and continued after independence in the latter half of the 20th century (Abaab et al., 2002;Alary and El Mourid, 2005;Nordblom et al., 1997;Sandron, 1998). The primary reasons (formal reasons) of implementing these policies stemmed from the ideas of rural modernization and educating of children, as pastoral practices were considered backward (Davies, 2005). However, the undeclared reasons for these policies included the need to control remote regions that could hamper socio-political stability and that practiced uncontrolled trade and smuggling (trading/smuggling weapons, various illicit goods, such as drugs, and even live animals). ...
Nomad, semi-nomad and transhumant used to be the most frequent mobility types of pastoral society. Nowadays, these categories become questionable in regard to the evolution of the pattern life of families in southern Morocco. How do we link past and present mobility? What have been the changes? In this article, we question the relevance of the aforementioned categories of mobility, as defined by the actors of scientific research and development, to analyze and classify pastoral mobility management that condition the way of life and the adaptive capacities of Saharan societies, by mobilizing different corpus such as ‘récit de vie’ and typology. This study was conducted downstream in the Drâa Valley (Morocco). If the majority of breeders claim to be nomads as soon as they practice a pattern of living in a tent over the course of a year, the typology of mobility pattern reveals intra- and inter-annual fluctuations of its management embedded in their adaptive strategies to climate variability or economic constraints which makes difficult to classify breeders according to the mobility only. In this context, developing climate change mitigation interventions for pastoral societies need to understand and integrate the permanent changing pattern of mobility management in these pastoral societies.
... 18 These narratives portray pastoralists as irrational and inherently destructive. 19 These views have been challenged by authors 20 who contend that the rangelands in Africa follow the non-equilibrium theory. The nonequilibrium theorists argue that pastoralism reduces exposure, sensitivity and enhances adaptive capacity of pastoralists to livelihood stress. ...
... It is widely understood that top-down development projects are procedurally unjust and frequently produce negative outcomes in their target areas. This is particularly the case where voices external to a community are given priority when designing and implementing projects-a form of development viewed as a "colonial model" (Peet and Watts, 2002: 24) that arises when authorities make decisions without adequate local representation (Birkenholtz, 2008;Cooke and Kothari, 2001;Davis, 2005;Forsyth 2003;Ribot, 1998;Simon, 2014). In the context of our study, the prevailing development discourse assumes fuelwood collection is an entirely utilitarian and burdensome livelihood activity with few, if any, upsides relative to cookstoves. ...
Counter-narratives to dominant development discourses are made possible using research methods designed to elicit marginalized voices. In this article, we propose a new analytical framework called the interpretive schema for drawings for analyzing visual narratives. The interpretive schema for drawings consists of five themes or interpretive lenses ( scale, centrality, inclusion, connections, and relationality) that were generated from maps of fuelwood collection in rural India. We suggest that the interpretive schema reflects and animates a range of spatialities that are central to geographic studies of human–environment dynamics. Using the interpretive schema for drawings in this way enables us to emphasize emic socio-spatial perspectives, and offers a critical research avenue through which everyday realities can be represented, understood, and validated. While other image-based research approaches, critical cartographies and participatory mapping exercises may encourage the expression of alternative knowledges, our proposed interpretive schema for drawing presents a specific set of guidelines for interpreting and making sense of visual narratives through explicit socio-spatial analysis.
... Local marine knowledge is comprehensive compared to the government's, ocean scientists', and environmental NGOs' data, which is parallel to some desertification research showing that external expert knowledge is based on questionable evidence and that it has been privileged over local knowledge primarily for political, economic, and administrative reasons that do not take indigenous ecological knowledge into account [22]. For example, after a reef-check project carried out by the NGO the Taiwan Environmental Information Association from 2010 to 2013, they announced that many fish species were disappearing from the Taitung area (where A'tolan is located) or, at least, that there were no data on them [23]. ...
This paper explores how the Amis people on the east coast of Taiwan who practice freediving spearfishing manage the local marine area. Among the coastal Amis people, freediving spearfishing is not only a way of life but is also closely related to ritual ceremonies. Amis spearfishing men are knowledgeable of the near-shore sea and coast, and the practice of spearfishing collectively cultivates their ability to deal with both public affairs and human relations in the community. However, the Taiwanese government regards spearfishing guns as weapons and restricts them. Furthermore, the assumption that spearfishing destroys the coral ecosystem and fishery resources means that the practice is often demonized or increasingly restrained. In this paper, I argue that local marine Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) among Amis spearfishing men can be the foundation for local marine conservation under the concept of community-based natural-resource management (CBNRM), involving both the local Amis community and the government, in spite of both parties still having their own issues to overcome.
... Loss of TEK is an emerging global issue, with only a few regions continuing to preserve and manage the natural resources by using traditional knowledge (Gómez-Baggethun and Reyes-García 2013). TEK includes factual knowledge embedded in the local cultural values as well as ethics for sustainable natural resource use and management by the local institutions of indigenous peasant and pastoral communities (Davis 2005;Berkes 2008Berkes , 2004. TEK possessed by the communities may help in understanding the influence of climatic and social changes on the environmental management practices at a local scale (Nakashima 1991;Ferguson, Williamson, and Messier 1998;Mallory et al. 2003;Paltsyn, Gibbs, and Mountrakis 2019;McMillen, Ticktin, and Hannah 2017;Wyllie de Echeverria and Thornton 2019;Fernandez-Gimenez 2000;Soma and Schlecht 2018). ...
Pastoral systems are known to be prone to social, political and ecological uncertainties. Traditional ecological knowledge that the pastoral communities hold around their bio-physical environment has been a key to cope with stressors and adapt to the rapid socioeconomic changes. We examined traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) on livestock and resource management, factors influencing livestock production and concurrent changes in an agro-pastoral system. We used mixed methods by conducting 44 semi-structured interviews, 10 key informants' interviews and resource mapping in five villages of Upper Spiti Landscape, western Himalaya. Our specific objectives were to (i) document TEK on livestock diet and management and (ii) understand the drivers and consequences of the change in the agro-pastoral society and associated traditional knowledge system. The herders of the study area possessed extensive knowledge of livestock diet and fodder species preference. They used this knowledge to optimize livestock grazing in pastures during summers and to fulfil the nutrient requirements of livestock species during stall feeding in winters. Seasonally, the aspect, altitude and accessibility of the pasture influenced the rotational use of pastures. In contrast, the quality of forage and water availability, distance of the pasture from village and threats from predators influenced the selection of grazing areas daily. There are evident changes in the livestock production system and signs that TEK is eroding in the region. Primary contributing factors to loss of TEK include changing aspirations of local people. These aspirations were related to employment in lucrative alternative options like cash crops and tourism, out-migration of the young generation for higher education and the arrival of immigrant labourers as new actors in livestock management. Livestock numbers in the study site remained dynamic between the year 2003-2016 owing to the substantive social and ecological changes. Our results suggest that while the traditional knowledge persists, the signs of erosion in traditional knowledge and associated changes in current herding practices are evident. We argue that recent changes in the pastoral social-ecological system, especially loss of TEK and non-traditional rearing practices, due to increasing dependence on immigrant labourers, may have negative implications for livestock production, rangeland health and wildlife conservation goals in the long run. Long term site-specific studies on livestock production and associated knowledge would be critical for adaptive rangeland management and policies.
... Many debates have also focused on alternative uses of science, such as the post-normal science debate (Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1993;Wesselink and Hoppe, 2011). Of particular interest is the interplay between scientific and local experiential knowledge in scientific or environmental controversies depicting the environment as a contested site full of frictions between kinds knowledge (Callon et al., 2009;Davis, 2005;Latour, 2004;Li, 2015;Negev and Teschner, 2013;Tsing, 2005). ...
In a water-scarce, coal-producing region of Colombia, frictions are intensifying over the environmental impact of the diversion of a creek. Through ethnographic observation, this article examines the different positions on what this article refers to as the Bruno Creek Controversy and the enactments of scientific expertise deployed to influence decision making. On the one hand, there are officials from the mining company, who believe the risks associated with the creek diversion are negligible and manageable, potentially offset by interventions implemented under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. On the other hand, a group of activists, equipped with local knowledge and partnered with experts, claims the project would cause unacceptable damage, furthermore arguing that the creek is a part of a sensible broader ecosystem. At the same time, environmental authorities reveal how their enactment of expertise is bounded to political relations. This article argues that expertise is a performative, ideological, and interactional phenomenon that is authorized by existing power relationships. Controversies such as Bruno Creek, therefore, are highly productive sites for shaping environmental governance, whether through the increasing influence of local communities in decision-making, activist scientists' ability to inform policy, or through a shifting of temporal and geographical scales to better understand the implications of resource extraction.
... For example, Tlhalerwa (2006) revealed the gendered nature of local knowledge in Botswana and cautioned that the use of local knowledge may perpetuate or even exacerbate gender gaps. Equally, scientific knowledge should not be uncritically accepted without evaluating the uncertainty and associated value judgments in the claims being made (Davis, 2005;Failing et al., 2007). For example, in Australia, Aboriginal knowledge has been repeatedly used to expose the limitations of short-term ecological research (Baker and the Mutitjulu community, 1992). ...
White Paper of the DSD [Dryland Science for Development Consortium] Working Group 3. Partenaires : Association of DesertNet International ; United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health ; Dryland Science for Development Consortium.
... L'expertise des puisatiers et sourciers repose sur un corpus de savoirs locaux, profondément ancrés dans le tissu socio-environnemental de la région. Ces acteurs ont conscience de leurs capacités et des limites de leurs compétences (notamment vis-à-vis des nappes profondes (Davis, 2005), c'est-à-dire des acteurs dont le savoir ne repose pas sur des bases scientifiques et techniques reconnues, mais plutôt sur des observations considérées comme subjectives et une expérience empirique construite dans l'action sans vision globale de l'aquifère. Il s'agit en outre pour les acteurs publics de pratiques « traditionnelles » ou archaïques qui avaient cours à une époque où l'agriculture accusait quelques retards techniques, mais qui aujourd'hui sont en total décalage avec le processus de « modernisation » en marche dans l'ensemble du secteur agricole. ...
... Similarly, in Morocco, Davis (2005) reported how the change of narrative on range management practices, from the traditional concept of open grazing by the pastoralists, who moved with their stock following a knowledge of the local grass ecology and availability, to the one where such mobility was considered as causing over-grazing and land degradation, led to a prescription of de-stocking, privatization and enclosure. This led to accentuation of land degradation. ...
This is a global review of Desertification, explaining the major biophysical and socio-economic processes, major changes in definition over time, methodologies adopted for mapping and assessment, including the application of remote sensing and GIS for a D-P-S-I-R approach, current estimates of degradation, the role of UNCCD, emerging concept of zero-net-land-degradation, etc. Most examples are from India, China and Sub-Saharan Africa.
... Recognising the community as non-specialist experts in their own local sociality, then, is an important part of disaster recovery processes responding to the criticisms levelled at it in our paper. (Davis, 2005;Sium and Ritskes, 2013). 3 We draw on the work of Deborah Rose in framing this concept. ...
In many disaster settings, top‐down responses emphasise ‘expert‐led’ solutions that often involve relocating disaster‐affected communities. While the intention might be to move people from harm's way and facilitate recovery, failure to attend to local pre‐disaster circumstances as well as the interplay between power, resilience and vulnerability within and around affected communities often sees resettlement reconfigure as displacement or disconnection. This oversight may even usher in a new phase of dispossession and disadvantage for marginalised groups (particularly in colonial settings). This paper explores experiences in Australia, Japan and Taiwan to reflect on what issues of local sociality, local culture and local resilience need to be attended to in framing ‘better’ disaster responses.
... In recent years, the debates around scientific knowledge and expertise were enriched by contributions from Science and Technology Studies that challenge the boundaries between scientific, technological and political issues and focus on the practical making and corroboration of claims (Goldman et al., 2011;Lave, 2012;Whatmore, 2002Whatmore, , 2009. A number of studies on environmental issues have shown how expert knowledge contributes to powerful narratives that bind together specific political and ideological constructions (Bixler, 2013;Davis, 2005), and how such expertise is co-produced with social identities, discourses, and political, economic and social institutions (Jasanoff, 2004;Sneddon et al., 2017: 677). ...
This paper analyses the emergence and fixing of scales in struggles over environmental issues. Using the example of watershed and coastal management in Java, we show how political framings of environmental matters and struggles over resources are linked to scalar regimes. We conceptualise these regimes as scalar fixes in which scales of intervention and scales of knowledge production are bound by environmental narratives and social–ecological processes to produce lock-in effects for prolonged periods of time. In our empirical case, particular scales were central in providing ‘problem closure’ and legitimising interventions while precluding other problematisations. Sedimentation of the Segara Anakan lagoon, first desired to support conversion into a rice bowl, was later framed as threat caused by upland peasants. The lock-in of interpretive framings and scales of observation and intervention, which was linked to politics of forest control, impeded debate on the various causes of sedimentation. With our newly defined concept of scalar fixes we contribute to understanding environmental narratives and related knowledge, providing a complement to the micro-perspectives on the stabilisation of knowledge claims currently discussed in cultural and political ecology. In doing so, we offer an approach to scalar analysis of environmental conflicts linking environmental narratives with the material social–ecological processes enrolled.
... The issue of drought is more often experienced by local agro-pastoralists living close to the north of Burkina Faso as compared to northern Ghana, where rains are more reliable. The problems of rainfall variability and grazing pressure are also reported elsewhere in Africa 45,46 . Deforestation is the second most important driver to vegetation dynamics in the study areas. ...
Despite the importance of local ecological knowledge of forage plants, there has been little discussion on how local agro-pastoralists perceive forage species diversity, abundance trends, habitat distributions and ecological drivers influencing changing abundance trends over time in rural West Africa’s savannas. In estimating, assessing and investigating the ecological variables, we performed elaborate ethnobotanical surveys in seven villages in northern Ghana and nine villages in southern-central Burkina Faso. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation analysis and cognitive
salience index calculations to disentangle the dynamics of local responses to ecological variables considered in this study. Our results revealed that agro-pastoralists exhibited extensive knowledge
on forage species diversity, habitat types, abundance trends and ecological drivers. According to agro-pastoralists interviewed, about 82 percent of all forage species known to them were commonly
available in local landscapes, while a majority of our interviewees indicated that available forage resources have shown a gradually increasing trend over the past few years. Rainfall variability, tree
cutting and drought were the topmost perceived threats causing changes in the trends of forage species abundance. Given our findings, local perceptions of agro-pastoralists could have substantial practical implications in favor of forage-related biodiversity conservation and sustainable livestock production.
... Tacit knowledge (a term coined by Polanyi 1967), however, is "acquired in part by practice" and can be "only partially communicated;" and "different individuals have different innate abilities for acquiring tacit knowledge" (Ibid). Also, many researchers (e.g., Davis 2005;Lindskog and Teng- berg 1994;Reed et al. 2007;Stringer and Reed 2007;Thomas 1997;Thomas and Twyman 2004) indicated that both scientific knowledge and local "non-scientific" knowledge need to be integrated in combating desertification. As stated before, this study also found that scientific knowledge, knowledge about local conditions, and knowledge about local social relationships and webs are three kinds of the most important knowledge in combating desertification. ...
This chapter focuses on an evaluation of institutional performance, an analysis of institutional change, and an examination of a new model of a humanitarian society.
... While distance moved and duration of movements vary depending on region, decision-making about the spaces and timing of herding activities in rangelands has been key to understanding pastoral resource access. Geographers and anthropologists have demonstrated, for example, that daily and seasonal decisions are made through herders' acute attention to spatial and temporal factors related to seasonality, resource availability, and uncertainty (Davis, 2005;Moritz et al., 2011;Turner, 2011;Turner and Hiernaux, 2008), especially in terms of rainfall variability and uncertain drought (Butt, 2010a;Ericksen et al., 2012;Moritz et al., 2011). Some scholars have emphasized pastoralists' local knowledge and skillsets in influencing these decisions, demonstrating how herding decisions are based on familiarity of forage areas and experience. ...
Studies about resource access in pastoral communities in sub-Saharan Africa have tended to focus on rangelands where livestock graze. While rangeland spaces are indeed critical to livestock production and pastoral livelihoods, the emphasis on resources in rangelands has obscured the importance of livestock-related resources and the management of such resources in other spaces; namely, the pastoral home. Moreover, given that herders who lead livestock to graze in rangelands are generally male, the focus of studies in rangelands has underemphasized women's roles in managing livestock-related resources within the home. This article therefore demonstrates how the question of resource access for pastoralists pertains not only to forage in rangelands where livestock graze but also to resources within households and women's spaces. Contested resources in households include livestock themselves and the milk that they produce as a principal source of food, both of which are primarily managed by women. Relying on mixed methods data (including interviews, surveys, an in-depth focal household study, and participant observation) collected over 14 months from 2014 to 2015 in a pastoral community in southern Kenya, this article uses a gendered approach to re-conceptualize resource access in pastoral households by considering the multiple, gendered spaces and levels at which livestock-related resources are managed. This article provides evidence for how alternative views of livestock management strategies based on intra-household resource access can complement existing scholarship on pastoral livelihoods.
... L'expertise des puisatiers et sourciers repose sur un corpus de savoirs locaux, profondément ancrés dans le tissu socio-environnemental de la région. Ces acteurs ont conscience de leurs capacités et des limites de leurs compétences (notamment vis-à-vis des nappes profondes (Davis, 2005), c'est-à-dire des acteurs dont le savoir ne repose pas sur des bases scientifiques et techniques reconnues, mais plutôt sur des observations considérées comme subjectives et une expérience empirique construite dans l'action sans vision globale de l'aquifère. Il s'agit en outre pour les acteurs publics de pratiques « traditionnelles » ou archaïques qui avaient cours à une époque où l'agriculture accusait quelques retards techniques, mais qui aujourd'hui sont en total décalage avec le processus de « modernisation » en marche dans l'ensemble du secteur agricole. ...
This paper analyses how changes in pumping modes of groundwater reveal social and territorial transformations within an agricultural landscape. Our case study is the Saïss plain in the North of Morocco, where irrigated agriculture is mostly based on groundwater. The paper shows how farmers switched from the use of groundwater from the shallow phreatic aquifer to the deep captive Liassic aquifer, as farmers turned from wells to tube-wells. We analyse the drivers of this change, both in terms of groundwater pumping practices and in the representations that actors associate with these practices. We analyze the cognitive bases and value registers that are linked to this change. As a consequence, two “social worlds” emerged, a “world of scarcity” and a “world of abundance”, which are not compartmentalized and operate in a form of hybridity and which reveal territorialities necessarily subservient to the temporalities that punctuate the construction of the social worlds of the hidden waters of the Saïss.
... Overstocking or overgrazing is considered to be the main cause of vegetation changes in the equilibrium theory (Benbrahim et al. 2004;Davis 2005). This paradigm is much debated. ...
In Mediterranean regions, traditional pastoral systems involve shepherds leading flocks along daily grazing circuits on arid rangelands. Over the past decades, these systems have become increasingly agro-pastoral and the importance given to feeding flocks on rangelands is variable. Our study aimed at investigating the local ecological knowledge (LEK) about forage plants and animal foraging behaviour of shepherds in a pastoral area of Morocco, and eventually analysing the possible interactions between such LEK, its utilisation for grazing management and the pastoral status of the farm. Eleven semi-directive interviews with shepherds, either salaried or owning their own farm, were carried out at three sites differing in terms of agricultural context and available forage resources. Shepherds' LEK included recognising and naming forage plants and rangeland types, identifying preferred or less preferred plants or plant parts, describing circumstantial palatability of plants depending mainly on season, other locally available plants and watering times. LEK about animal feeding preferences and its integration into grazing management was more extensive at sites where pastoral systems were still most valued, and for shepherds who were either experienced or who were considering the activity in the future. Conversely, young salaried shepherds or farmer-shepherds who devoted more attention to the agricultural component of their system seemed to be less knowledgeable about the subject. In a context where pastoralism is challenged both by the higher profitability of agriculture and by the depletion of pastoral resources as a result of frequent droughts and decreased surface area devoted to grazing lands, the future of such LEK is uncertain. The perpetuation of LEK might depend on the ability of local extension services to value farmers' LEK and to help them enrich it with scientific knowledge.
... Again, one finds Amami's search for sustainable auto-centered productivity increases. In the same piece, in an analysis auguring the state-of-the-art in ecology only decades later (Davis 2005), Amami eviscerated notions of pastoral ecology which called for the creation of geographically bounded arks for pasturing peoples and their animals (Wright, Perfecto, and Vandermeer 2012). He blasted analyses resting on static conceptions of humanecological relationships, innocent of reckoning with mutations and shifts of the political economy of pasturing, and which lent themselves to the creation of 'natural parks or zones of alleviation of animal pressure, [which] rarely take account of the human factor or of local practices' (El-Amami 1976, 6). ...
Until his early death in 1985, at age 51, the Tunisian agronomist Slaheddine el-Amami carried out a path-breaking research program at what was then the Centre de Recherche et de Génie Rural. He wrote technical studies ranging from the agricultural capacities of the unjustly-marked-as-barren Kerkennah Islands, to possibilities for drip irrigation, to attempts to quantify the energy use of Tunisian agriculture, to a wide-ranging investigation of indigenous hydraulic systems. There is little explicit mention in this work of a then-dominant strand of heterodox Arab and Third Worldist social science – the emphasis on delinking, or removal from Western commodity, technical and financial flows. Yet through an examination of his work in the context of the delinking paradigm, as put forth by scholars like Samir Amin, Fawzy Mansour and Mohamed Dowidar, I show the use and need for independent agronomic expertise to be deployed within analytical paradigms such as delinking, forged by heterodox political economists. Through delinking, countries could proceed on a path of auto-centered development. The possibility and time frame of delinking is necessarily a socio-technical question linked to indigenous capacities, technical and natural, and the social relations with which they are woven. It is also a question of creating and mobilizing a surplus in the agricultural sector. Through examining Amami’s life’s work, I show the use and need for interdisciplinary methods and research programs, which must braid the social and natural sciences – if not simply take threads from each to create a holistic knowledge – in order to arrive at appropriate developmental programs. Such knowledge and programs were appropriate in that they offered ways of working agriculture without capital-intense inputs – thus resolving rather than aggravating current account imbalances and labor surpluses. They also relied on a decentralization of planning, based on the skills and knowledges of the direct producers. In analyzing such knowledge, systematized in the work of Amami, I will also show how moving from underdevelopment to development requires a mélange of knowledges. Crucial and neglected are those knowledges which have been developed to inform sustainable ways of living on land-bases, in order to produce the rural surplus which is the sine qua non of a successful move beyond developmental malaise in the Global South. I will then link this to the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) Synthesis Report, showing this paradigm’s continuing relevance.
... Some of them were even superior to European technologies of the same epoch. All these achievements were declared rudimentary and termed as 'Indigenous Knowledge systems' as opposed to 'Scientific Knowledge' (Jahn 1981, Nygren 1999, Walker et al. 1999, Quigley 2001, Snively and Corsiglia 2001, Payton et al. 2003, Davis 2005, Kargbo 2005, Aikenhead and Ogawa 2007, Chirikure 2007, Breidlid 2009, Turon et al. 2009). African children were then educated to hate everything from their own societies, including moral and spiritual aspects (Mandela 1995, Malidoma 2000, Mabe 2010. ...
Water contamination is the first and most severe civilisation problem. Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has accommodated this problem since the colonial time. Since the 1960s and the attainment of political independence, the supply of safe drinking water has been a priority aspect of development and technology transfer. Ironically, activities for technology transfer were mainly operated without direct involvement of African universities and research institutions. This fact alone explains why drinking water supply is still a SSA-wide problem. This contribution challenges the efficiency of the current concept of technology transfer and advocates, after the German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, that science is universal and can be developed simultaneously in all parts of the world. The scientific history of Africa is shortly recalled. The technology of treating water with metallic iron (Fe0) is presented as a proof that Africans can develop appropriate water treatment technologies on a frugal basis. The reader is then invited for the co-development of the Fe0 technology for safe drinking water and clean environment. It hoped, that the proposed approach will inspire colleagues and could be be adapted to solving other scientific challenges in Africa.
Cired as:
Noubactep C. (2020): A framework for technology development in Africa: The case of metallic iron (Fe0) water filters for safe drinking water provision. Science and Biotechnology in Africa: Proceedings of a Conference on Scientific Advancement. J. Kapalanga, D. Raphael, L. Mutesa (eds) Cambridge Scholars Publishing, New Castle, UK, 111–139.
... and marketing forests" (Agrawal, 2005). Similar processes of exclusion by post-colonial governments have been observed in Madagascar where the agency of international conservation organizations and the eco-tourism industry have successfully kept local people outside the boundaries of national parks (Walsh, 2005) and in Morocco where government narratives have been used to blame pastoralists for desertification with little evidence to support this claim (Davis, 2005). Hence, a political ecology approach seeks to critically examine scientific narratives which link human activities to ecological change, as they may serve to justify state control over resources (Peluso, 1992;Rangan, 1997;Sivaramakrishnan, 1999). ...
A series of policies on land tenure have been implemented in Vietnam following the doi moi restructuring. This study assesses the impacts of these policies, the extent to which they have had intended effects and coping strategies adopted by farmers. Data were collected in five upland villages in Nghe An Province, North Central Vietnam. The intended effects of the land allocation policies were poverty alleviation, intensification of agriculture, agricultural modernization and forest protection. The policies implemented to achieve these goals include changes in land allocation, purportedly to increase land tenure security. However, the policies have been implemented in a very uneven manner and the effects differ widely due to differences in the local contexts in which they have been implemented. In general, farmers perceive the impacts of policies as adverse and have attempted to cope with their impact in a variety of ways. The paper argues that land allocation policies have: (1) decreased the amount of land available, (2) not improved land tenure security and (3) had a limited impact on farming practices. The differences between the five villages are great, demonstrating the very different results produced by national policies depending on the specific implementation modality and the local context.
... In Southern Morocco, at the Saharan fringe, traditional agroecosystems based on nomadism and opportunistic cultivation have persisted, despite the development of modern, marketoriented and irrigated systems (Royaume du Maroc, 2010), and despite the pervasive impact of the decolonization process (Pons, 1997). Nevertheless these systems are largely overlooked by governmental agro-pastoral development agencies, especially because they are considered as archaic agricultural systems responsible for land degradation and desertification (Davis, 2005). The aim of this paper is to describe the functioning of a traditional agroecosystem (located in an area named Ighuweln) that appears to constitute a sustainable agroforestry parkland combining crop cultivation, pastoralism and acacia tree stands (Blanco et al., 2015). ...
... They classically include forest belts (10 to 20 km width) intended to: 1) stop sand movements, 2) improve ecological conditions, and 3) promote livelihoods. Despite the claim of participation and consultation with local populations, these projects are mainly designed from a technocratic perspective with little consideration for the perceptions, knowledge, and know-how local populations have developed in these constraining environments (Davis 2005;Wang et al. 2010). ...
In the southwestern pre-Saharan arid zone of Morocco, the endemic argan forest (Argania spinosa) had been almost completely destroyed in the 1960s due to intensive coal mining and mixed cereal-livestock farming. These activities turned out to be unviable and a massive rural exodus occurred in the 1970s. Local populations started to develop maintenance-free prickly pear (Opuntia ficusindica) cultivation at large scale in order to keep their land ownership rights, while reducing their traditional agropastoral activity. We conducted a survey in order to characterize the relationships between the age of prickly pear orchards and argan tree regeneration. We also explored facilitating factors, such as soil organic matter and mycorrhiza. Results showed a high positive correlation (r² = 0.75, p < 0.001) between the age of prickly pear orchards and argan tree resprouts, but with differences depending on a continentality gradient. The soil organic matter content also showed highly significant differences (p < 0.001) depending on the age of the prickly pear plantation, while spora density did not show such differences. The recent high economic value attributed to prickly pear fruits, and to both argan and prickly pear seed oil, has given farmers the opportunity to develop a lucrative agricultural activity, while promoting the recovery of native vegetation. This situation constitutes a remarkable example of speculative agricultural development in a very harsh environment, in phase with ecological priorities for combating desertification. It could represent an alternative to the externally-generated projects sustained by high levels of public funding, with ecological, economic and social impacts which are sometimes questionable. © 2017, Finnish Society of Forest Science. All Rights Reserved.
Humankind’s march towards modernity has coincided with ever-increasing demands for freshwater. Modernisation, manifested through industrialisation, urbanisation and economic growth, coupled with population growth and changes in living patterns have resulted in a substantial increase in water use and demand in the last few decades. Population growth, besides increasing the demand for domestic water for household consumption, also resulted in additional demand for food production, thereby leading to changes in agricultural practices, which affected total as well as per capita availability of freshwater. Water scarcity has constituted the primary focus of reforms introduced for water management in recent years. This chapter presents a conceptual discussion on water governance, policy and institutional reforms introduced in India in the water sector in general and domestic drinking water in particular.
Traditional ecological knowledge enables pastoralists to cope with social-ecological changes, thereby increasing the sustainability of their practices and fostering social-ecological resilience. Yet, there is a significant knowledge gap concerning the extent to which pastoral traditional ecological knowledge has changed over time at the global level. We aim to fill this gap through a systematic literature review of 288 scientific studies on pastoral traditional ecological knowledge. We reviewed 152 papers in detail (selected randomly from the 288) for their content, and focused specifically on 61 papers that explicitly mentioned one of the four types of knowledge transition (i.e., retention, erosion, adaptation, or hybridization). Studies on pastoral traditional knowledge represent less than 3% of all the scholarly literature on traditional ecological knowledge. Geographical distribution of the 288 case studies was largely biased. Knowledge domains of pastoral knowledge such as herd and livestock management, forage and medicinal plants, and landscape and wildlife were relatively equally covered; however, climate-related knowledge was less often studied. Of the 63 papers that explicitly mentioned transition of pastoral traditional ecological knowledge, 52 reported erosion, and only 11 studies documented explicitly knowledge retention, adaptation, or hybridization of traditional knowledge. Thus, adaptation and hybridization was understudied, although some case studies showed that adaptation and hybridization of knowledge can efficiently help pastoralists navigate among social-ecological changes. Based on the review, we found 13 drivers which were mentioned as the main reasons for knowledge transition among which social-cultural changes, formal schooling, abandonment of pastoral activities, and transition to a market economy were most often reported. We conclude that future research should focus more on the diverse dynamics of pastoral traditional knowledge, be more careful in distinguishing the four knowledge transition types, and analyze how changes in knowledge impact change in pastoral practices and lifestyles. Understanding these phenomena could help pastoralists' adaptations and support their stewardship of their rangeland ecosystems and biocultural diversity.
Biodiversity loss is a pressing challenge. This is particularly so in regions where the pressure on ecosystems is high such as in the Sahel region. This pressure is due, inter alia, to different land uses such as pastoralism. In this context, the present systematic review analyses the state of research on the nexus between pastoralism and biodiversity in West Africa. In particular, it explores the relationships between pastoralism (cf. agro-pastoralism, sylvo-pastoralism, agro-sylvo-pastoralism), on the one hand, and plant diversity, animal diversity, and ecosystem diversity, on the other hand. The paper also analyses the bibliometrics of the research field. A search performed in March 2021 on the Web of Science yielded 205 documents and 73 of them were included in the systematic review. The bibliometric analysis suggests an increasing interest in the research field, especially in Burkina Faso and Benin, but also the weakness of the domestic research system as a large share of the selected documents is authored by researchers based outside West Africa. In general, the scholarly literature shows a negative impact of pastoralism on plant diversity (cf. richness, abundance, composition) and animal diversity (cf. wild herbivorous mammals, predators, birds, insects) in West Africa. However, the literature analysis suggests that the effects of pastoralism are rather mixed. They are context-specific and depend on many factors such as grazing intensity and livestock species. The effects on plant diversity differ between woody (trees and shrubs) and herbaceous species. There is a general trend towards the erosion of indigenous livestock genetic diversity due to uncontrolled mating and cross-breeding. The impacts of pastoralism on ecosystem diversity are mainly due to changes in land use and habitat fragmentation. Further multi-country, comparative studies are needed to better qualify the interactions, complementarities and possible conflicts between the different pastoralism-related land uses and biodiversity conservation in West Africa.
Citation: Alary, V.; Amsidder, L.; Araba, A.; Capote, C.B.; Bedhiaf-Romdhani, S.; Bensalem, W.; Boujenane, I.; Elena, C.; Letaief, N.; Faye, B.; et al. Social Network Analysis of the Stakeholders Involved in the Dromedary Sector in the Mediterranean Region. Sustainability 2021, 13, 12127. https://doi. Abstract: Marginal arid zones in the south Mediterranean are faced with the dramatic departure of their labor forces through migration. Interest in the capacity of the dromedary species to enhance desert ecosystems and to be a potential lever of economic development of these marginal zones only started to grow in the last two decades. Based on an empirical survey of 179 stakeholders in four Mediterranean countries, we explored the links of the stakeholders in the dromedary sector in two dimensions: horizontal links with peers and vertical links along the value chain and in resource management. Both descriptive statistics and social network analysis highlight the original organization of the dromedary sector around herders and their social and cultural organization at the territorial level. Therefore, even if milk production and processing start to constitute an opportunity for the young generation who do not necessarily have the financial capacity to invest in a large dromedary herd, this change towards milk valorization can only happen if it is linked with the traditional system based on mobility. Using a systemic approach and working toward multiple valorizations of dromedary products instead of only targeting milk productivity should be explored.
The Society for the Advancement of Science in Africa (SASA) continues with its mission to advance science, improve health, and promote economic and social development on the African continent. SASA seeks to promote continent-wide African innovation and new frontiers of scientific research. It serves to push for Africa-wide innovation and new frontiers of scientific research. Its fifth conference was held jointly with the University of Rwanda under the theme “Translational Science and Biotechnology Advances in Africa.”
This volume provides a selection of papers presented at the conference at the conference encompassing diverse fields including biomedical sciences, health research, agricultural and soil sciences, and advances in minimal invasive surgery, disease surveillance, pharmaceutical sciences, and genetics and genomics. The diversity of participants and spirited presentations covering over a dozen fields and sub-fields is indeed a true reflection of the tangible advancement of science in Africa.
In this paper we develop the concept of “inscrutable spaces” to describe spaces that are made difficult to know by an interplay of biophysical, epistemic, and political economic factors, and whose unintelligibility has serious repercussions for environmental politics and everyday life. We also offer an analytic that can be used to examine how inscrutable spaces are produced and maintained. Together, the concept and analytic provide scholars with tools for examining how and why knowledge is not produced in some environmental spaces despite their importance, as well as how knowledge absences persist over time. After developing the analytic, we apply it to two case studies – one about airborne dust and one about aquifer management – to show how atmospheric and subsurface spaces were actively made inscrutable. A key component of the inscrutable spaces analytic is its inclusion of biophysical attributes in examinations of environmental unintelligibility. Rather than relegating biophysical dynamics to the background, the framework encourages analysts to investigate how biophysical factors interact with epistemic and political economic influences to produce gaps in environmental knowledge production that are persistent and consequential. The utility of this approach is three-fold: (1) working to tease these factors apart makes the impacts of each more discernible; (2) putting them back together again highlights how they interact to produce and maintain inscrutable spaces and circulations; and (3) leveraging a systematic approach to analyzing inscrutability allows for fruitful comparisons among case studies that can illuminate broader trends in the (non)production of environmental knowledge.
Although numerous studies have emphasized the importance of local knowledge and science, as well as collaboration between local people and scientists in social and environmental governance, it is often assumed that local people produce and possess only local knowledge while scientists have only scientific knowledge. The aim of this study was to explore whether and how the local knowledge of scientists influences their impact on governance performance, using desertification control in northern China as a typical case. This research produces three major findings. (1) Scientists’ local knowledge did improve their impact on desertification control. (2) Among the three important types of local knowledge, an understanding of local social relationships, wisdom, and methods was more important than an understanding of local conditions. (3) Successful applications of local knowledge by scientists shared seven collaborative factors that stressed the scientists’ local knowledge, the scientists’ behaviours, and laws and regulations.
Perceptions of climatic challenges have changed significantly during the twentieth century. In recent decades, the question of global climate change received more attention than regional climatic challenges and the problems of arid regions. Historians have shown that persistent misconceptions and a lack of understanding of arid zones rooted in misguided colonial ideologies were propagated by United Nations (UN) initiatives such as the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Arid Zone Programme. Alarmist narratives of progressive desertification proliferated and put the blame on destructive local practices such as deforestation and overgrazing. This article investigates UNESCO’s interests in natural resources (section 1) and takes a closer look at the development and scientific elements of the Arid Zone Programme (sections 2 and 3). It argues that the Arid Zone Programme offered an effective framework that helped develop and spread new interdisciplinary research approaches to improve knowledge about arid zones. The myth of progressing desertification and misguided colonial expertise characterized much of its political rhetoric, but not its scientific work, which reflected balanced and more critical appraisals of out-dated colonial expertise. In its conclusion, the article suggests that broader contexts need to be taken into account to understand a resurgence of alarmist narratives of desertification such as shifting interests in climatology from local climatic issues to the global atmospheric circulation and a neglect of the climatology of arid zones.
Living Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa - Karen Rignall
The dimorphic Ash tree (Fraxinus dimorpha) is a keystone species in the functioning of agro-sylvo pastoral systems and livelihoods found on the northern slopes of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It grows in spontaneous woodlands and forests which are fully integrated within agro-ecosystems. Local populations have for centuries shaped ash stands by sequentially trimming and pollarding individual trees for providing fodder, house roof building material and ecosystem services for the overall social-ecological system. Exploitation follows very strictly observed 4-year cycles of exploitation of pollarded trees, which allows the harvesting of each individual tree for foliar forage after 4 years of regrowths, and at the same time shaping and letting some well-grown branches develop for further cycles in order to provide diameter-standardized poles (after 8 years) and beams (after 28-32 years) for house roof construction. The management of tree regeneration is also illustrative of deep-seated Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Overgrazed trees or new seedlings are protected by means of stone walls. Resprouts with the most vigorous and straightest stems are selected and linked to each other, in order to favor, when growing, trunk anastomosis. This highly original practice allows an increase in foliage production of 36% after a 4-year cycle, compared to non-anastomosed trees, and promotes the resilience and longevity of the trees. The main discrepancies in the vision of what might constitute 'good' forest management between local stakeholders and professional foresters concern (1) the scale of the management unit (individual trees and overall forested landscape vs tree stand), (2) the partial (diffuse) exploitation of living trees vs intensive cycles of exploitation of the whole tree stand, and (3) flexibility and pro-active management of heterogeneity vs homo-genization. This perspective offers an alternative basis for rethinking forest management strategies in a context of global change, and original insights for conserving anthropized forest ecosystems without excluding people.
Historically, science and its associated expert voices often serve multiple roles in the context of complex environmental conflicts: investigators of undesirable environmental conditions; guarantors of "value-free" and de-politicised expertise and information regarding those conditions; authors of rationales that support one management decision over another; and sources of authority used to persuade sceptics or the public that a certain environmental action is logical and desirable. However, recent thinking in science and technology studies (STS) and political ecology emphasises how scientific knowledge and expertise are co-produced with the political, economic, and cultural arrangements characteristic of a given society and a given locale. In many environmental conflicts, expert knowledge is challenged on the grounds that it is out of touch and politically compromised. This paper examines the diverse scientific discourses and environmental narratives surrounding dam-removal processes in the region of New England, United States. Dam removals are increasingly seen by environmental advocacy organisations and state agencies as a means to rehabilitate degraded riverine systems, and these actors muster an array of science-based arguments in support of removal. Conversely, opponents highlight their place-based knowledge to counter the claims of removal advocates and question the motivations of expert knowledge. These competing claims feed into conflicts over dam removals in intriguing ways, and understanding how scientific knowledge and expertise are used (and misused) is crucial to understanding conflicts over river restoration and developing more participatory strategies of water governance. The question is not so much whose claims are truthful, but how such claims are inserted into, and negotiated within, controversial ecological interventions.
This book explores the shifting relations of food provisioning in Turkey from a comparative global political economy perspective. It offers in-depth ethnographic analysis, interviews and historical insights into the ambiguities and diversities that simultaneously affect the changing conditions of food and agriculture in Turkey. Specific issues examined include the commodification of land, food and labour; the expansion and deepening of industrial standardization; the expansion of a supermarket model; and concomitant changes in, as well as the simultaneous co-existence of, traditional methods of production and marketing. Contrasting observations are drawn from diverse locales to provide examples of convergence, divergence and cohabitation in relation to transnationally advocated industrial models. Commodification of Global Agrifood Systems and Agro-Ecology employs a form of comparative perspective that allows the particular processes of restructuring of agrifood relations in Turkey to be simultaneously distinguished from, yet related to, changes taking place in global power dynamics. Yildiz Atasoy explores agrifood transformation in Turkey with a unique approach that considers a plurality of intertwined normative influences, ontological beliefs, cultural-religious narratives, political struggles and critical-interpretive positions. Based on original research, the book treats changes in food provisioning as an analytical thread capable of uncovering how the normative acceptability of capitalized agriculture and techno-scientific innovation is entangled with processes of class formation, growing inter-capitalist competition and Islamic politics. Such processes, in turn, frame income/wealth generation, landscape management, agro-ecological dynamics and labour practices, as well as the taste and smell of place.
To meet society’s need to better understand and respond to ever-more complex, interwoven problems of environment, development, and society—including environmental health risks, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development—we applied an integrative frame to re-imagine, re-design, and deploy a professionally oriented, academically rigorous 2-year/12-unit Master of Science program. Our scholar–practitioner faculty uses the framework to tackle complex, real-world problems, emerging from a strong interdisciplinary ethos. It thus acts as a pragmatic system to guide pedagogy, curriculum, research and practice, and student experience. The frame weaves together six domains (6-D): (1) project framing, concept, and design; (2) development topics and sectors; (3) stakeholder interests, assets, and relationships; (4) knowledge types, disciplines, models, and methods; (5) variable temporal and spatial scales and networks; and (6) socio-technical capacities. At our institution, the need to replace 2.0 of 3.5 tenure/tenure-track program faculty posed both a challenge and an opportunity to re-think one of the oldest environmental science and policy programs in the USA which began in 1971. We pose and answer: What kinds of integrative educational experience, curriculum, and research practicum can best prepare environmental MS students in the twenty-first century? Two examples—one domestic, one international—illustrate the practicum.
The dynamics of arid and semiarid grazing systems are prone to the effects of highly variable rainfall, with droughts causing frequent episodic mortality in herbivore populations. This has led to the suggestion that they are nonequilibrium systems, in which animal impacts on plants are strongly attenuated or absent. We examine the utility and appropriateness of nonequilibrium concepts for understanding ecosystem processes in African rangeland, attempt to distinguish disequilibrium from nonequilibrium, and argue that such concepts do not justify the view that herbivory has little impact in climatically variable systems. We present evidence for an alternative view of African rangeland function. We argue that, despite the apparent lack of equilibrium, animal numbers are regulated in a density-dependent manner by the limited forage available in key resource areas, which are utilized in the dry season. This model asserts that strong equilibrial forces exist over a limited part of the system, with the animal po...
Assessing vegetation status via remote sensing techniques using various vegetation indices has been successfully applied to semi-arid and arid environments. We tested the feasibility of applying such techniques for assessing grazing impact in hyper-arid environments with a high variance in soil type over space. An anticlinal erosional cirque called Makhtesh Ramon in the Negev desert, Israel, was selected for the study. The cirque is typified by low rainfall (40-90 mm per year), a variety of soil substrates and is subject to grazing by a herd of Asiatic wild asses (Equus hemionus) reintroduced into the cirque between 1984 and 1987. As a control, we used an ungrazed dry riverbed south of the cirque that runs parallel to the riverbed draining the cirque. We used 5 common vegetation indices derived from Landsat 5 satellite Thematic Mapper (TM). Four images were used, representing dry and wet seasons in above- and below-average rainfall years (1995 and 1987, respectively). To test whether we can detect changes in plant community structure via satellite data we correlated vegetation indices from the TM to ground measurements made along the altitudinal gradient of the cirque. To test whether differences in plant cover could be detected, we correlated the vegetation indices with ground measurements of cover in and out of the cirque (grazed and ungrazed areas). Although ground measurements showed that community structure changed following grazing with altitudinal gradient and ground cover was 30% lower inside the cirque than outside the cirque, none of the 5 vegetation indices correlated with the ground measurements. Transformed Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (TSAVI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) produced the best results. We hypothesize that the low vegetation cover that typifies hyper-arid environments increases the noise to signal ratio. Thus, a 30% decline in vegetation cover in this case is only an absolute decline of 4% from 15.8 to 11.2%. Because TM is sensitive to absolute cover rather than the relative differences, it is difficult to demonstrate differences among TM images. Using ANOVA to test the effect of season and grazing status on TSAVI and NDVI, we found a significant interaction between season and grazing status in 1995 with indices declining more from wet to dry season inside the cirque than outside the cirque. No such pattern was found in 1987. These data suggest that satellite imagery may detect changes in plant cover over time but can not serve as a direct index of plant cover in hyper-arid conditions.
Many assumptions have been made about the nature and character of desertification in West Africa. This paper examines the history of this issue, reviews the current state of our knowledge concerning the meteorological aspects of desertification, and presents the results of a select group of analyses related to this question. The common notion of desertification is of an advancing "desert," a generally irreversible anthropogenic process. This process has been linked to increased surface albedo, increased dust generation, and reduced productivity of the land. This study demonstrates that there has been no progressive change of either the Saharan boundary or vegetation cover in the Sahel during the last 16 years, nor has there been a systematic reduction of "productivity" as assessed by the water-use efficiency of the vegetation cover. While it also showed little change in surface albedo during the years analyzed, this study suggests that a change in albedo of up to 0.10% since the 1950s is conceivable.
Recent trends in agricultural science have emphasized the need to make local people active participants in the research and development process. Working under the populist banner “Farmer First”, the focus has been on bridging gaps between development professionals and local people, pointing to the inadequate understanding of insiders' knowledge, practices, and processes by outsiders.
The purpose of this paper is to expose the paradox of the prevailing populist conception of power and knowledge, and to challenge the simple notion that social processes follow straightforward and systemic patterns and can thus be manipulated with a transfer of power from outside to inside. The authors view “knowledge” as a social process and knowledge systems in terms of a multiplicity of actors and networks through which certain kinds of information are communicated and negotiated, and not as single, cohesive structures, stocks or stores. The guiding phrase is “the analysis of difference”, which suggests that knowledge is multilayered, fragmentary, and diffuse, not unitary and systematized. It emerges as a product of the interaction and dialogue between different actors and networks of actors with conflicting loyalties who negotiate over “truth” claims and battle over contrasting images and contesting interests. The paper challenges those promoting Farmer First approaches to reassess how people in different agroecological and sociocultural contexts make sense of and deal with constraining and enabling processes related to research and extension; how they attempt, through recourse to various discursive means, to enroll one another in their various endeavors; and how they use relations of power in their struggles to gain access to and control of social and political space.
The focus on indigenous knowledge clearly heralds a long overdue move. It represents a shift away from the preoccupation with the centralized, technically oriented solutions of past decades, which failed to improve the prospects of most of the world's peasants and small farmers. By highlighting the possible contribution to be made by the knowledge which is in the hands of the marginalized poor, current literature focuses both attention and resources on those who most need them. Recognizing the validity of many of the arguments employed by the theorists of indigenous knowledge, this article attempts to generate a debate on the concept of indigenous knowledge by suggesting that there are certain contradictions and conceptual weaknesses in most of the writings on indigenous knowledge. The presumed basis for indigenous knowledge
The dynamics of arid and semiarid grazing systems are prone to the effects of highly variable rainfall, with droughts causing frequent episodic mortality in herbivore populations. This has led to the suggestion that they are nonequilibrium systems, in which animal impacts on plants are strongly attenuated or absent. We examine the utility and appropriateness of nonequilibrium concepts for understanding ecosystem processes in African rangeland, attempt to distinguish disequilibrium from nonequilibrium, and argue that such concepts do not justify the view that herbivory has little impact in climatically variable systems. We present evidence for an alternative view of African rangeland function. We argue that, despite the apparent lack of equilibrium, animal numbers are regulated in a density-dependent manner by the limited forage available in key resource areas, which are utilized in the dry season. This model asserts that strong equilibrial forces exist over a limited part of the system, with the animal population being virtually uncoupled from resources elsewhere in the system. Spatially and temporally, the whole system is heterogeneous in the strength of the forces tending to equilibrium, these diminishing with distance from watering and key resource areas and during the wet season. We argue that wet-season range is more heavily utilized by animal populations sustained by key resource areas than
would apply in the absence of key resources, and that uncoupling of the animal population from vegetation carries an increased risk of degradation. Droughts may impose intense and localized defoliation on vegetation, and this may result in altered species composition,
reduced rain-use efficiency, soil erosion, and loss of productive potential. Rather than ignoring degradation, policy-makers and ecologists should seek to identify the characteristics of grazing systems that predispose some systems toward degradation, while others appear to be resistant. Development policies should focus on the spatial heterogeneity in susceptibility to grazing impacts and on preserving the productive capacity of key resource areas.
1. Rangeland ecologists have been debating the validity of two current paradigms for the evaluation of vegetation dynamics on rangelands. This debate frequently contrasts the conventional model of continuous and reversible vegetation dynamics (range model) with a more contemporary model that can accommodate discontinuous and non-reversible vegetation change (state-and-transition model). 2. The range and the state-and-transition models are conceptually related to the equi-librium and non-equilibrium paradigms within ecology, respectively. The methodolo-gical dichotomy that has developed between the range and the state-and-transition models has fostered the perception that these two ecological paradigms are mutually exclusive. We challenge this perception and contend that both methodologies and their corresponding paradigms are non-exclusive. 3. Equilibrium and non-equilibrium ecosystems are not distinguished on the basis of unique processes or functions, but rather by the evaluation of system dynamics at various temporal and spatial scales. Consequently, ecosystems may express both equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics. This confirms early interpretations that ecosystems are dis-tributed along a continuum from equilibrium to non-equilibrium states. 4. Although both equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics occur in numerous eco-systems, the empirical evidence is frequently confounded by (i) uncertainty regarding the appropriate evidence necessary to distinguish between paradigms; (ii) dispropor-tionate responses among vegetation attributes to climate and grazing; (iii) comparisons among systems with varying degrees of managerial involvement; and (iv) the evaluation of vegetation dynamics at various spatial and temporal scales. 5. Synthesis and applications . This critique supports the conclusion that a paradigm shift has not taken place in rangeland ecology, but rather, the debate has forced a more comprehensive interpretation of vegetation dynamics along the entirety of the equilib-rium–non-equilibrium continuum. Therefore, the rangeland debate should be redirected from the dichotomy between paradigms to one of paradigm integration.
When understory species that suppress tree growth are preferred by livestock to tree species, selective herbivory has practical application for forest or woodland management as part of a silvopastoral agroforestry system. Results of two studies of the prescriptive application of selective grazing designed to suppress growth of a common understory shrub, deerbrush (Ceanothus integerrimus Hook. & Am.), to favor growth of conifer species are presented. Grazing for vegetation manipulation requires the same information needed to apply any chemical or mechanical method: knowledge of the effective timing, frequency, and intensity of application, and the selectivity of impact. The first study, a two-year series of grazing trials, examined the degree of cattle preference for deerbrush as compared to conifers, and response of deerbrush to grazing on a forest site. The second, a three-year study based on grazing trial results, used clipping to examine the specifics of deerbrush response to patterns of herbivory. Deerbrush was highly preferred by cattle in the grazing trials. Even at 90% utilization of the shrubs, no conifers were browsed. High degrees of utilization did not suppress shrub growth in the grazing trials. The clipping study found deerbrush significantly responsive to frequency and intensity of defoliation (P < 0.01), but not to season of use (P >0.1). High intensity, frequent grazing is required to suppress the shrub. Intermediate prescriptions can be used to manage for various combinations of wildlife, timber, or forage-related objectives. These results and methods are applicable to any silvopastoral system where prescriptive grazing is used in conjunction with tree crops.
Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons model predicts the eventual overexploitation or degradation of all resources used in common. Given this unambiguous prediction, a surprising number of cases exist in which users have been able to restrict access to the resource and establish rules among themselves for its sustainable use. To assess the evidence, we first define common-property resources and present a taxonomy of property-rights regimes in which such resources may be held. Evidence accumulated over the last twenty-two years indicates that private, state, andcommunal property are all potentially viable resource management options. A more complete theory than Hardin's should incorporate institutional arrangements and cultural factors to provide for better analysis and prediction.
Introduction.- Deserts of the Middle East.- Climatic Aridity in the Deserts of the Middle East.- Topography and Plant Life.- Plants in the Arabic Heritage.- Adaptations of Desert Plants.- Adaptations that Increase Water Absorption.- Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss.- Adaptational Traits that Resist and/or Tolerate Drought.- Adaptations that Engender Escape from Drought.- Adaptation to Desiccation.- Adaptations of Plants to Saline Conditions in Arid Regions.
This book explores the broad range of human activities causing the deterioration of North Africa's fragile environment, including population pressure and poverty, urbanisation, competition for land and water, and mismanagement of natural resources. Looking in particular at the conflict between economic development and environmental sustainability, contributors analyze the historical roots of environmental problems, the underlying socioeconomic causes, potential solutions, and differences in policies among various countries. -from Publisher
Scientific knowledge systems have received increasing criticism within the social science literature while indigenous knowledge systems are often over-optimistically presented as viable alternative ways of knowing. This paper argues that we need to search for more effective and creative interactions between indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge systems. I discuss the strengths and the weaknesses of both scientific and indigenous knowledge systems, then use three examples to illustrate the strengths and limitations of indigenous knowledge systems. I then draw on these examples to indicate in what situations we should look, for guidance and ideas from indigenous knowledge systems. The paper closes with a discussion of how scientists, social scientists and people with local knowledge can better work together to improve agricultural and natural resource management systems. -Author
The recent debate about the sustainability of African pastoralism is taken to illustrate four general issues in environmental management: (i) the extent to which the institutionalization of environmental paradigms has made them conform to the Kuhnian model; (ii) the intimate link between environmental policies and paradigms; (iii) the need to understand the dialogue between scientists, policy-makers and educators and the environment; and (iv) the theoretical and practical weakness of an environmental science that does not rest on a dialogue with cultural geography. The 'old paradigm' in range ecology depended on three main sets of actors: (i) range ecologists who believed in Clement's (1916) model of succession and ecological stability; (ii) economists who believed in Hardin's (1968) concepts of the 'tragedy of the commons'; and (iii) authoritarian administrations which saw pastoralists as backward and destructive, and which had the power and the structures to use and perpetuate scientific paradigms. The so-called 'new paradigm' sees semi-arid ecosystems as being in permanent disequilibrium but persistent on broad temporal and spatial scales whilst many indigenous pastoral strategies are carefully adapted to these characteristics.
This article examines the historical organization of the agdal institution and identifies its constraints and opportunities among Berbers of southeast Morocco. There are many types of agdals at different levels of Berber social organization and conflict is ever present. Analysis of the agdal arrangements for the communal use of pasture demonstrates how pastoral groups manipulate kinship and historical opportunities to negotiate order, grass, and subsistence in the highly variable environment of the High Atlas mountains. Technological innovation has exacerbated conflict among the users of pasture, but agdal management attests to its resilience. The persistence of conflict in the Aït Yaflman confederation over the use of agdals is rooted in the historical and environmental conjunctures of sixteenth-century Morocco, and the amplification of these historical forces by French colonial and postcolonial policies of resource management.
African pastoral ecosystems have been studied with the assumptions that these ecosystems are potentially stable (equilibrial) systems which become destabilized by overstocking and overgrazing. Development policy in these regions has focused on internal alterations of system structure, with the goals of restoring equilibrium and increasing productivity. Nine years of ecosystem-level research in northern Kenya presents a view of pastoral ecosystems that are non-equilibrial but persistent, with system dynamics affected more by abiotic than biotic controls. Development practices that fail to recognize these dynamics may result in increased deprivation and failure. Pastoral ecosystems may be better supported by development policies that build on and facilitate the traditional pastoral strategies rather than constrain them.
Drought hazard has been increasing in Morocco during the present century, because of the extension of cultivation into marginal low-rainfall areas and because of reduction of fallow. These processes have been caused by the effects of European colonization, population pressure, scarcity of viable new cropland, and other factors. Loss of food security has further increased Moroccan vulnerability to drought. Twice during the 1980s, drought-related rioting demonstrated the strong links among drought, food security, and political stability.
We discuss what concepts or models should be used to organize research and management on rangelands. The traditional range succession model is associated with the management objective of achieving an equilibrium condition under an equilibrium grazing policy. In contrast, the state-and-transition model would describe rangelands by means of catalogues of alternative states and catalogues of possible transitions between states. Transitions often require a combination of climatic circumstances and management action (e.g., fire, grazing, or removal of grazing) to bring them about. The catalogue of transitions would describe these combinations as fully as possible. Circumstances which allow favorable transitions represent opportunities. Circumstances which threaten unfavorable transitions represent hazards. Under the state-and-transition model, range management would not see itself as establishing a permanent equilibrium. Rather, it would see itself as engaged in a continuing game, the object of which is to seize opportunities and to evade hazards, so far as possible. The emphasis would be on timing and flexibility rather than on establishing a fixed policy. Research under the state-and-transition model would aim to improve the catalogues. Frequencies of relevant climatic circumstances would be estimated. Hypotheses about transitions would be tested experimentally. Often such experiments would need to be planned so that they could be implemented at short notice, at an unknown future time when the relevant circumstances arise.
Exceptionally heavy flowering and fruiting (masting) was observed in the semi-arid perennial tussock grassStipa tenacissimaL. in south-eastern Spain during the 1993 growing season. High winter rainfall, high spring temperatures, and exceptionally high June rainfall in combination with below average temperatures provided favourable environmental conditions for floral initiation in the preceding growing season. Quantitative data on spike production per plant, mean number of flowers and fruits per spike, dry mass and potential viability of seeds, and seed density on the ground are presented, as well as preliminary estimates for pre- and post-dispersal predation. The data show high allocation to sexual reproduction, althoughS. tenacissimais a clonal plant which normally reproduces vegetatively by tillering. Heavy predation of the soil seed bank by seed-harvesting ants was observed.
The origins of the word ‘desertification’, most commonly attributed to Aubréville’s 1949 work on tropical African forests, may be traced back much earlier, to nineteenth-century French colonial North Africa. The concept of desertification was central to French colonial thinking about the North African environment. This paper argues that an environmental history of the Maghreb was constructed during the French colonial period which blamed local North Africans, especially pastoralists, for the deforestation and desertification of what was erroneously believed to have been a fertile, forested landscape in antiquity. This environmental narrative of destruction and decline was first fabricated during the early years of the French occupation of Algeria, and was invoked in Tunisia and Morocco as they were occupied. Founded on historical inaccuracies and environmental misunderstandings, this narrative helped to justify land expropriation, changes in land tenure, forest appropriation and the criminalization of traditional land use, all of which facilitated the colonial venture in the three Maghreb countries.
Mediterranean-type vegetation and ecosystems have undergone intense processes of degradation for decades, centuries, or millennia under heavy and prolonged pressure from human and livestock populations. An extensive literature on exclosures, afforestation, reafforestation, rehabilitation, and other regeneration operations over several million hectares in Mediterranean bioclimatic areas from the Atlantic Ocean to the Aral Sea, combined with 50 years of personal field experience, allowed us to draw a number of conclusions on the consequences of these efforts, constraints, and limitations: (1) Exclosure usually permits the restoration and biological recovery of vegetation structure, composition, biomass, and productivity in a time span of 3-5 years in steppic ecosystems and 25-30 years in coniferous or sclerophyllic vegeta tion areas. There are exceptions, however, when vegetation is so degraded to the level that it has reached a new metastable equilibrium, characterized, e.g., unpalatable range weeds, perennial dwarf ephemeroids, cryptogams, or soil surface sealing by raindrop splash or other physical or biological factors. (2) Controlled access and rationally managed utilization of the land may achieve similar and sometimes better results than full exclosure. (3) Afforestation and reafforestation are usually successful above the isohyet of 200 mm a-1 precipitation and, occasionally, at a lower annual precipitation, where the species introduced or reintroduced is appropriate and the causes for degradation have been discontinued or seriously mitigated. (4) Rehabilitation operations, including water and/or soil conservation, may quickly achieve spectacular results but at a higher cost and subjected to a number of constraints pertaining to the techniques utilized and adequate subsequent management. (5) The main constraint for success is the discontinuation of situations that have caused degradation. The most difficult to overcome usually are of a socioeconomic and/or sociocultural nature. The speed of biological recovery is commensurate (inter alia) with the rate to which this constraint is overcome. (6) The present land surface concerned with regeneration (restoration + rehabilitation) in this part of the world represents ca. 4 X 10 6 ha, representing some 6% of the actual ''forest and woodland'' in these areas. The National Regeneration Effort (NRE), a novel concept, is evaluated by using the ratio between the Annual Regeneration Expenditure (ARE) and both the Annual National Budget Expenditure (ANBE) and Gross National Product (GNP).
The hegemony of Western science, inherent in international development projects, often increases the poverty and oppression of Third World women by pre-empting alternative realities. In African and Asian agrarian societies women grow from 60 to 90% of the food (World Bank, 1989); they hold incredible potential to increase food production. Their ability to operate under more marginal conditions than their male counterparts would seem to indicate that they have developed valuable knowledge— knowledge often generated in response to limited access to the more tangible resources offered by development assistance to male farmers.
Recognizing the marginalization of women in the Third World, the Women in Development (WID) network was established during the 1970's to produce knowledge about women, fill in the gaps, and set the record straight. But knowledge creation for these purposes leaves underlying paradigms of Western science-based development unquestioned. Research from a feminist standpoint is used to challenge the objectivity and reliability of EuroAmerican development science. To date, WID has documented and analyzed the causes and consequences of Third World women's oppression with no substantial results to end them. Alternatively, feminist research validates women's perceptions of their reality, helping ordinary people to understand the connections between their experiences and broader social, economic, and political struggles. The paper emphasizes research pursued in order to act, closely linking knowing to doing to promote the emancipation of oppressed groups. A feminist standpoint is used to privilege the perspective of rural women in developing countries and ask: “What are the implications of the standard EuroAmerican approach to science for maximizing the potential contributions of rural women to agricultural development?” Some of these implications are illustrated with examples from on-farm research in Nigeria. To some extent, implications can be addressed by constructing meanings to structure a symbolic framework that includes female farmers and other disadvantaged groups.
Two common fodder shrubs,Atriplex halimusL. andMedicago arboreaL., were established by seeds for hay cropping as an alternative to their costly transplanting in a semi-arid and cold Mediterranean environment of Macedonia, northern Greece. It was found that seeding rate and nitrogen fertilizer did not affect the establishment and growth ofA. halimusseedlings while clipping significantly reduced the quantity but improved the quality of biomass. In contrast, the biomass ofM. arboreawas significantly increased by the higher seeding rate at the end of the growing season. It was, however, far less than the biomass produced byA. halimus, indicating perhaps the superiority of the latter species as a hay crop in the particular environment studied.
Changes over 14 yr were investigated in the composition of a species-rich grassland in SW Spain. The vegetation was dominated by winter annuals, which germinated after the autumn rains and fruited in late spring or early summer; they comprised 86 of the 99 species recorded. Most of these species displayed considerable variations in abundance over the period of study. The abundance of many species was highly correlated with rainfall, which accounted for up to 83% of year-to-year variance (in Juncus capitatus). Rainfall over the whole growing season was a good predictor of abundance for more species than any of its component periods (25 species with significant associations out of 99). Cluster analysis resolved five groups of species with similar year-to-year variations in abundance: two groups contained most of the species showing significant positive correlations with rainfall, and another group contained a small number of generally infrequent species that showed significant negative correlations. The species in the remaining two groups had few significant correlations with rainfall. Only three moderately abundant species were significantly correlated with time. -from Authors
Frustration with the lack of action on conservation issues by governments has sparked debate around the policy role of conservation biologists. We analyzed the political economy of conservation biology, that is, of the dynamics of the political and economic structures within which conservation biology operates, and we suggest more productive means for conservation biologists to achieve conservation goals. Within the modern state, conservation goals are marginalized because the growth needs of industrial capital have the highest priority. Environmental advocacy within this system largely addresses only proximate concerns and has limited success. Science is a product of modern society, but scientists now need to foster novel institutional arrangements in which humans can function within the limits of natural systems. This entails a larger recognition of the inherent contradictions residing within current institutions that themselves depend on unsustainably high resource flows. As one critical counterbalance to these institutions, we discuss community-based management and research as primary institutions through which sustainable use of natural resources might be achieved.
Improved understandings of the agricultural and range ecologies ofsemi-arid Africa require better information on the spatiotemporal distributionof domestic livestock across agropastoral landscapes. An empirical GIS-basedapproach was developed for estimating distributions of herded livestock acrossthree agropastoral territories (around 100 km2 each)over a two-year period. Algorithms developed from regression analyses of herdtracking data (with R2s 0.67) are used to transform a morecomprehensive but incomplete set of data generated from herders accounts oftheir herds grazing itineraries (400 herds following 6500 itineraries). Theresulting characterization registers 40 000 days of livestock activitiesacross694 land units (averaging 70 ha) over the study period. This studydemonstrates that rural producers knowledge of their daily extractionpracticescan be translated to fine-grained characterizations of extraction densitiesacross mixed landscapes. The spatiotemporal distribution of livestock that isrevealed by this approach diverges strongly from that predicted bycommonly-usedpoint-diffusion estimation procedures. Instead, the distribution reflects localpatterns of land use, topography, vegetation, settlements, and water points.Grazing and nongrazing times spent in land units are not spatially correlatedand the seasonality of grazing pressure is spatially variable. Therefore, theecological impacts of livestock grazing are spatially variable at fine scalesand there is a significant potential for livestock-mediated nutrient transfersacross agropastoral landscapes. The georeferenced data produced by thisapproachnot only will help evaluate the impact and sustainability of differentmanagement practices but also provides a strong empirical base for improvedspatial modeling of herded livestock.
Environmental analysts increasingly utilize remote sensing (RS) and geographic information science (GIS) techniques to study the relationship between human societies and their biophysical environment. This paper considers the influence these techniques have had on environmental research. Using the case of the Sahel, the paper first relates contemporary applications of RS/GIS to the history of the environmental scientific practice in the region. While facilitating an expansion of spatiotemporal scales, applications of these new techniques continue the methodological failings of the past by relying on visual measures of environmental change and problematic indicators of human land-use pressures. The human ecology fields (human, cultural, and political ecologies), by emphasizing the causal connections between local management and environmental change, can address the problems inherent with the spatial analytical turn in environmental science. Using the author's experience with the use of GIS in a political ecology study of grazing management in western Niger, ways of more closely integrating RS/GIS techniques into human ecological research are discussed.
This paper examines land-use practice among the Turkana pastoralists of Kenya. Drawing on work of both ecologists and anthropologists, it examines the argument that posits that pastoralism is inherently destructive to the environment, commonly referred to as the Tragedy of the Commons. Results of this research suggest that the livestock management practices of East African pastoralists do not degrade the environment, that livestock numbers do not exceed the carrying capacity of the land, and that social institutions successfully function to cope with environmental problems.
Soil fertility decline has become a major concern of policy makers worldwide. While many researchers assume that the problem is universal, others question the assumptions, evidence, methodologies and scale upon which beliefs of soil decline are based. Reconciling competing visions of African soils requires a close examination of both farmer perceptions and scientific estimations of change at the local level. This paper discusses local soil knowledge in one small village in southwestern Burkina Faso and relates scientific measures of soil fertility to farmers' perceptions of soil types and changing soil fertility. Farmers' perceptions of soil types and characteristics match up very well with scientific investigations. It is with perceptions of soil degradation that differences occur. While farmers perceive that their soil is degraded, soil analyses show very little change. The goal here is not to argue that one type of knowledge is inherently wrong but to reconcile the two and see how and why differences emerge. Particularly important is a discussion of how contradictions emerge out of the social contexts in which perceptions at the local scale and beyond are embedded.
The effect of clipping intensity on the growth rate of kermes oak (Quercus coccifera L.) twigs was studied for two growing seasons in Greece. Five clipping intensities, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of twig length, were applied every 15 days. The heavier clipping intensities (40%, 60%, 80%, 100%) resulted in higher growth rates than the lighter intensity (20%) and the control (0%) in the second, relatively wet, year. Moreover, clipping at any intensity stimulated growth during summer while the control was dormant. It is concluded that clipping of kermes oak twigs at any intensity, every 15 days, results in a considerable twig growth during summer.
Although modernization theory has dominated development discourses since 1945, there are now calls to reframe the debates. In particular, an interest has developed in indigenous knowledges. This paper explores knowledges related to the use and management of vegetation by bedouin in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, using distance matrix ranking as a research method. The study demonstrates the importance and value of recognizing indigenous knowledges, but cautions against overvalorizing them.
A survey was conducted to record ethnoveterinary practices of traditional healers in Qassim region, the largest camel-rearing area in Saudi Arabia. Ethnoveterinarians had extensive knowledge on camel husbandry and physiology and camel diseases, which was reflected in the wealth of terminology on the camel, both in health and disease. Numerous ethnoveterinary procedures were practiced side by side with modern treatment methods. Ethnoveterinarians have acquired vast knowledge on camel diseases and used a variety of plants for treatment. Surgical procedures were practiced to correct fractures or treat wounds and abscesses or to help in cases of dystocia and uterine or vaginal prolapse. The role of ethnoveterinarians as leaders for local development in the delivery of veterinary services to pastoral areas is discussed within light of this and similar studies conducted elsewhere in the world.