This publication, Farmersí Initiatives in Land Husbandry documents and describes a seriesof technologies which have been developed ñ or at least adapted to their ownrequirementsñ by farmers themselves in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The selected18 technical initiatives1 have been identified under the project Promoting Farmer Innovation (PFI). Together with around one hundred others, these technologies are the nucleus of a joint programme between farmers, researchers and extensionists. The initiatives have been chosen on the basis of their potential for improving conservation through production, and their potential (already being fulfilled in many cases) for rapid spread to other farmers. It must be recognized that, at this early stage,none of these initiatives has yet been technically validated according to a full range of strict criteria. A number may have flaws, and no doubt improvements could be made to each. In some cases, specialists may say that the technology is not ëthe bestí for a given situation. It is also true that several are merely variations on quite well known techniques. But what is important is that they have been developed by farmers using entirely their own resources. And, in their specific local context, they work. We have taken six technologies from each country. These span a broad range of interventions ñ from gully harnessing to organic matter management to local forest management practices. Some have been developed by men, some by women. It should be noted here that these technologies are usually only part of an individualís overall system of innovation. The presentation of isolated technologies here does not, therefore, do full justice to the integrated package of initiatives that many farmers are developing.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10919/66753Altmetric score:
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Publication year
2001
Authors
Mutunga K; Critchley W; Lameck P; Lwakuba A; Mburu C
Language
English
Keywords
crop husbandry, drylands, arid soils, land management, rural development, technology, innovation
