Locating farmer-based knowledge and vested interests in natural resource management

The interface of ethnopedology, land tenure and gender in soil erosion management in the Manupali watershed, Philippines

Bibliographic Data

ID4610490
AuthorsLisa Leimar Price (0000-0002-1746-3066)
Year2007
Volume3
Issue1
Pages30-0
Publication date2007-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1746-4269 • E-ISSN: 1746-4269
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1186/1746-4269-3-30
PMID17803809
PMCIDPMC2034377
OpenAlexW2162708846
LanguageEN
References cited11

This paper examines local soil knowledge and management in the Manupali watershed in the Philippines. The study focuses on soil erosion and its control. Research methods used in the study include ethnosemantic elicitations on soils and focus group discussions. In addition, in-depth work was conducted with 48 farmers holding 154 parcels at different elevations/locations in the watershed. The on-parcel research consisted of farmer classifications of the soil, topography, and erosion status of their parcels. Soil samples were also taken and examined. Farming households were also examined with regard to erosion control activities conducted by age and sex. Erosion management was examined in relation to tenure of the parcel, which emerged as a salient aspect among focus group members and was evidenced by the actual control measures taken on farmed parcels. The results show that the major constraint in soil erosion management is not local knowledge as much as it is the tenure arrangements which allow "temporary owners" (those working rented or mortgaged parcels) to manage the parcels as they see fit. Most of these temporary owners are not willing to invest in erosion control measures other than water diversion ditches. Parcel owners, in contrast, do invest in longer term erosion control measures on the parcels they actually work. The findings of this paper illustrate that linking local knowledge and practices is often not sufficient in and of itself for addressing questions of sound environmental management. While local knowledge serves farmers generally well, there are some limitations. Importantly, the pressures in the contemporary world of markets and cash can undermine what they know as the right thing to do for the environment

Agriculture · Business · Civil engineering · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Erosion · Erosion control · Focus group · Geography · Land tenure · Land use · Natural resource · Natural resource management · Soil conservation · Watershed · Work (physics · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Engineering · Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agriculture · Land Rights and Reforms · Ecology · Marketing

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