Indigenous Practices of Soil and Water Conservation for Sustainable Hill Agriculture and Improving Livelihood Security.

In the foothills of the North-West Himalayan region of India, agriculture is the main occupation of the residents. The soil and water resources are becoming the major constraints in agricultural production in the erosion-prone fragile ecosystem of the region. However, due to intensive rains and sloping lands of the region, erosion of the topsoil becoming the major problem for practicing sustainable agriculture in the region, which further dissects the lands, reduces the fertility potentials and land productivities of the region. The root cause of this huge erosion in the region is the intensive rains within a short interval of time on the bare sloping hillsides and handling this problem in both ways could reduce their erosion damage. Socio-economically the farmers are illiterate, poor, and hesitate to adopt innovative techniques of both land and water conservation. All this makes the challenge of reducing erosion losses quite difficult. Farmers in the region do have the skills to manage the problem of soil erosion which they learned from their forefathers and have faith in them. These technologies put together are termed as "Indigenous Technical Knowledge" (ITKs) and these ITKs have helped them a lot for sustainable agriculture in the region. Among different ITKs bunding of field, plowing before monsoon, filter strips, earthing-up in maize, mulching, compression of soil in sugarcane are the important ones for restoring the fertility of soils, reducing erosion losses, improving land productivity, and ultimately livelihoods in the region.

A Critical Analysis of Indigenous Systems and Practices of Solid Waste Management in Rural Communities: The Case of Maseru in Lesotho.

The aims of this study were to understand and to do a critical analysis of the different indigenous systems and practices of waste management to inform waste management policy development in Lesotho. To achieve these aims, the objective was to assess community perceptions of the impact of the indigenous systems and practices of solid waste management on the environment and human wellbeing. A simple random sampling method was employed. The primary data were collected through observations and survey questionnaires that were distributed among the communities in the study areas. The sample size was 693 participants from a total estimated population of 6917 in May 2021 in the Matsieng, Koro-Koro and Rothe constituencies. The data were analysed quantitatively by using the International Business Management Statistical Package for Social Science version 25.0. The descriptive method was used to interpret the results. For validity, the interview questions were set towards answering the study research questions. For reliability, open- and close-ended questions were designed. The research clearly indicated that indigenous systems and practices are culturally accepted in areas lacking formal waste collection services by the local authorities. The tradition, culture, values, and belief of the communities play a major role in the systems and practices implemented. Although some people convert waste items into useful products, the practices of general disposal were often unsafe from the human wellbeing and environmental perspectives. In Lesotho, a lack of awareness about conservation and sustainable use of natural resources could be attributed to flawed education at the grassroots level in schools.

Socioeconomic factors affecting households' use of indigenous forest management practices in managing non-wood forest products: evidence from forest communities in Nigeria derived savannah.

Although indigenous forest management practices have been used effectively by local people in the management and conservation of forest resources, these practices are eroding, causing negative consequences on the welfare of the people and their forests. To stem the erosion of the indigenous practices and instead stimulate, preserve, or improve their use, this study determines the socioeconomic factors that drive the household's use of the practices in the management and conservation of plant species of non-wood forest products (NWFPs). The study was carried out in Nigeria derived savannah. Data was collected from 200 randomly selected households in 10 randomly selected forest communities. Multivariate probit model was used to estimate the socioeconomic factors that influence the simultaneous use of indigenous forest management practices by households. Given multiple use of the practices, the result shows that the indigenous forest management practices used by the households are selective weeding (82.98%), controlled harvesting (82.45%), enrichment planting (75.53%), fire breaks (76.06%) and indigenous protective mechanism (45.74%). The majority (71.28%) of the respondents said they managed bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis and wombulu) using the practices, while the lowest proportion (21.28%) managed bush buck (Gongronema latifolium). The result of the multivariate probit model shows that virtually all the indigenous forest management practices are positively and significantly associated and are thus, complements. However, local protective mechanisms and controlled harvesting, local protective mechanisms and selective weeding, and local protective mechanisms and enrichment planting are not significantly associated. Farming occupation significantly increases the likelihood of simultaneous use of controlled harvesting, enrichment planting, and fire breaks as indigenous forest management practices in the management and conservation of NWFP. On the other hand, age significantly reduces the likelihood of the use of controlled harvesting and selective weeding. The study recommends the provision of support for young people who are more likely to be involved in the indigenous forest management practices; support to farmers who simultaneously use the practices, for example, through the provision of credit facilities; and a proper definition of user rights in community forests.

Farmer perception of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiderda J.E. Smith) and farm-level management practices in Zambia.

BACKGROUND: This paper documents farmer perceptions and management practices for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiderda J.E. Smith), providing a baseline for the development of sustainable pest management strategies. RESULTS: 91% of farmers correctly identified fall armyworm, and reported it as the most important maize pest during 2016/2017 cropping season, affecting nearly half of cultivated area. Estimated maize yield loss during the season, attributed to fall armyworm was 28%. A majority of farmers (60%) used pesticides for fall armyworm control, along with other cultural/physical practices - hand picking and crushing egg masses/caterpillars (36%), and application of ash/sand in the funnel (19%). Farmers used various pesticide active ingredients, and protective measures were inadequate; >50% of farmers did not use any protective measures while spraying. Significantly more male than female farmers used pesticides (P = 0.05), and the reverse was true for cultural practices. Significant maize yield differences (P = 0.001) were observed by gender, attributed to differences in utilization of production inputs/practices. At least 77% of farmers received and shared agricultural advice, which can be optimized to spread information on fall armyworm management options. CONCLUSION: Increased use of pesticides to manage fall armyworm poses health and environmental risks, besides the high cost for farmers and governments. Research into cultural and indigenous practices used by farmers will offer opportunities for alternative and sustainable management practices. Research efforts should pay attention to gender differences in access to resources and inputs. Tackling fall armyworm at the farm level, and averting yield losses will require integrated messaging addressing other production risks. © 2019 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Learning and Human Dignity Are Built Through Observation and Participation in Work.

This chapter focuses on how children learn through work in ongoing family and community endeavors in an Indigenous Mexican (Mixe) community, where cultural values emphasize that human dignity is derived from work and from collaboration with the work of other people, animals, and the natural world. The chapter highlights the central role that work plays in children's learning, and how attentive and more casual observation and accomplishment of endeavors are important tools that children employ in learning.

Children's Everyday Learning by Assuming Responsibility for Others: Indigenous Practices as a Cultural Heritage Across Generations.

This chapter uses a comparative approach to examine the maintenance of Indigenous practices related with Learning by Observing and Pitching In in two generations--parent generation and current child generation--in a Central Mexican Nahua community. In spite of cultural changes and the increase of Western schooling experience, these practices persist, to different degrees, as a Nahua cultural heritage with close historical relations to the key value of cuidado (stewardship). The chapter explores how children learn the value of cuidado in a variety of everyday activities, which include assuming responsibility in many social situations, primarily in cultivating corn, raising and protecting domestic animals, health practices, and participating in family ceremonial life. The chapter focuses on three main points: (1) Cuidado (assuming responsibility for), in the Nahua socio-cultural context, refers to the concepts of protection and "raising" as well as fostering other beings, whether humans, plants, or animals, to reach their potential and fulfill their development. (2) Children learn cuidado by contributing to family endeavors: They develop attention and self-motivation; they are capable of responsible actions; and they are able to transform participation to achieve the status of a competent member of local society. (3) This collaborative participation allows children to continue the cultural tradition and to preserve a Nahua heritage at a deeper level in a community in which Nahuatl language and dress have disappeared, and people do not identify themselves as Indigenous.

Adults' Orientation of Children--And Children's Initiative to Pitch In--To Everyday Adult Activities in a Tsotsil Maya Community.

This chapter examines how 2-year-old children attempt to actively participate in adult work in a Mayan community in Chiapas, Mexico, and how adults contribute and accommodate to the contributions. As children enter into activities and adults orient and reorient the activity to direct the children, teaching from expert to novice is generated by children's agency in co-participatory interactions. The chapter enriches the LOPI model by focusing on the structure of participation and communication, social and community organization, and the evaluation that occurs in the activity itself.