Af Krystyna Swiderska
Innovation i landbruger sker ikke kun i laboratorier. Bønder overalt i verden har til enhver tid eksperimenteret med f.eks. nye afgrøder. Men moderne landbrugsproduktion truer den lokale innovation, siger forsker.
When policymakers think of innovation they tend to think of laboratories or the spaces where designers and engineers create solutions to pressing problems. But this ignores a more longstanding and widespread form of innovation.
Communities that live close to nature continually create innovative approaches in farming and other sectors by building on knowledge and practices refined over generations. For instance, farmers around the world experiment with local crops to develop varieties that cope better with drought or pests.
This kind of innovation does not fit easily into policy frameworks. But its value will grow as the climate changes and population increases bring more mouths to feed.
Yet the biological and cultural diversity this innovation depends on is in steep decline. And modern systems of farming threaten to swamp traditional innovation. Now more than ever, it needs to be recognised and protected.
Agreement but insufficient action
The good news is that the nearly 200 governments that are party to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have already pledged to respect, preserve and maintain traditional knowledge, innovations and practices, under Article 8(j) of the convention.
The bad news is that although this pledge came over 20 years ago, traditional knowledge, innovations and practices are still in decline.
Governments have made some progress in protecting rights over traditional knowledge —such as people’s knowledge of how certain plant extracts can treat specific diseases — and the CBD has developed guidance on this. But governments have not done much to prevent the actual innovation systems from being weakened and lost.
One reason is the difficulty in defining dynamic innovation systems that link current and past experience, land, livelihoods and cultural values. Another is that agricultural policy makers and scientists tend to see traditional production and innovation systems as ‘backward’, offering little value to national economies.
To address this, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and partners in China, India, Kenya and Peru, are working on a Smallholder Innovation for Resilience programme (SIFOR), researching local innovation systems together with practical tools and approaches that can strengthen them. These systems include community seed registers, biocultural protocols and participatory plant breeding.
We will present our latest findings at this month’s CBD meeting (in Montreal, 7–11 October), with our working definition of ‘biocultural heritage innovation’. This should help to guide policymakers who want to develop systems and approaches to protect and maintain traditional knowledge, innovations and practices.
Læs hele artiklen på SciDev.Net (begynd ved ”Revitalising local innovation”: http://www.scidev.net/global/indigenous/opinion/traditional-innovation-in-farming-is-under-threat.html?utm_content=bufferc2d7f&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer
Krystyna Swiderska er senior researcher ved the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) i London, United Kingdom.
