Reconciling local knowledge with western scientific notions of soil fertility decline in southwestern Burkina Faso
Soil fertility decline has become a major concern of policymakers worldwide. While many researchers assume that the problem is widespread and universal, others question the assumptions, evidence and methodologies upon which beliefs of soil decline are based. Reconciling competing visions of African soils requires a close examination of both farmer perceptions and western scientific estimations of change at the local level. This paper will discuss local soil knowledge in one small village in southwestern Burkina Faso, relating scientific measures of soil quality to farmers' perceptions of soils types and changing soi] quality. 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 emanate. Particularly important is a discussion of how contradictions emerge out of the social contexts in which perceptions, both at the local scale and broader scales, are embedded.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | monograph biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
s.n.
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| Subjects: | P35 - Fertilité du sol, E14 - Économie et politique du développement, fertilité du sol, dégradation du sol, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7170, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7168, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_8081, |
| Online Access: | http://agritrop.cirad.fr/478021/ |
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