Assessment of Indigenous Knowledge Practices for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria

The study Investigated Indigenous Knowledge Practices for sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Data were collected using structural questionnaire administered to 120 respondent randomly selected using the simple random sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive tools such as frequencies counts, and percentages. Findings revealed that majority of the  rural dwellers are farmers and literates and have vast knowledge of indigenous practices. There was an extensive use of indigenous knowledge in the area such as mulching, use of organic manure, sun drying, roasting and frying food, use of sacks, mixture of red pepper and placing under fire. The study further revealed that the major constraint to the use of IK as perceived by the respondents are lack of  documentation, time demanding and poor recognition. The study recommended among others that ICTs  such as computer, internet and libraries be used to make indigenous knowledge accessible  and incentives to the rural dwellers to reduce the cost they incurred in using indigenous agriculture and food security practices. Keywords; Food security, agriculture, indigenous knowledge, sustainability, developmen

THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVED EXTENSION LINKAGES IN SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The overall purpose of dissemination is to improve the availability of information to poor farmers, and for it to become knowledge which the farmer employs to help make appropriate decisions. This includes researcher-derived information as well as more general information that supports and enhances livestock production. The provision of this information on livestock production has in the past not usually been of high priority for centralized extension services in many developing countries. Extension services are usually designed around need to provide information on annual or perennial crops. Now the potential for increasing livestock production through the provision of improved information is growing in many developing countries. For sustainable livestock production, this paper argues that the flow of information from agricultural research to farming communities requires that continuous contact be maintained by individual able to make information comprehensible to farmers. These individuals are extension workers and are at the centre of information flow. This link can be strengthened in several ways including improved collaboration between research and extension. This paper describes the context of livestock extension information growth and looks at some of the ways in which livestock extension services and institution differ and how livestock extension could be improved

Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: Higher temperatures, more variable precipitation and changes in the frequency and severity of extreme climate events will have significant consequences on food production and food security. The frequency of heat stress, drought, and flooding are also expected to increase, even though they cannot be modeled satisfactorily with current climate models. All of these will undoubtedly have adverse effects on crops and agricultural productivity over and above the effects due to changes in mean variables alone. The impacts of climate change on agriculture are likely to be regionally distinct and highly heterogeneous spatially requiring sophisticated understanding of causes and effects and careful design and dissemination of appropriate responses. Adaptation measures are needed urgently to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change, facilitated by concerted action and strategic planning. As a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture also has much untapped potential to reduce emissions through reduced deforestation and changes in land use and agricultural practices. This is where indigenous knowledge comes in to play as a key to climate change mitigation and adaptation. African communities and farmers have always coped with changing environments. They have the knowledge and practices to cope with adverse environments and shocks

AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION: KEY TO IMPLEMENTING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

The Millennium Declaration was adopted to motivate the international community and provide accountability mechanisms for actions taken to enable millions of poor people to improve their livelihoods. About seventy percent of the MDG’s target groups live in rural areas, particularly in Africa and Asia, and for most of the rural poor, agriculture is a critical component in the successful attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Even though structural transformations are important in the longer term, more immediate gains in poor household welfare can be achieved through agriculture, which can help the poor overcome some of their critical constraints. Thus a necessary component in meeting the MDGs by 2015 in many parts of the developing world is effective productive agriculture-through its extension component. Agricultural extension in its broadest sense is considered an important instrument to support farmers’ efforts in agricultural development and poverty reduction in a changing world. Extension supports the MDGs in at least three areas-poverty reduction, gender equality, and sustainable environmental management. Extensions role as a facilitator, broker, coach, and even a partner in local rural development platforms and value chains represents an opportunity for rural change, innovation process and rural poverty reduction through its research and empowerment component. Extension messages now consider women farmers, groups and vulnerable individuals in its approach and models to reaching people. There is also urgent need for extension to allocate more resources and effort to educating farmers how to use sustainable natural and resource management practices and to adopt these practices continuously in order to cope with the impact of climatic and environmental change. This paper thus, using mainly literature from the web- discusses how extension functions in reducing poverty, ensuring food security, balancing gender issues and providing skills for sustainable natural resource management

Agricultural innovations strategies for sustainable food security in Africa

Global progress in ensuring food security and reducing poverty has been substantial, but not satisfactory. Significant advancements have been made in reducing hunger through intensifying staple food production, integrating people and the environment, expanding the role of markets, diversifying out of major cereals, reforming economy-wide policies, and improving food quality and human nutrition in the past few decades. Agricultural development played a central role as a driver of rural poverty reduction. However, recent trends of slowing agricultural productivitygrowth and the marginalization of poor farmers as markets evolve have challenged conventional strategies for achieving poverty reduction. Meeting the challenge of global food security will require both short-term and long-term responses to raise productivity, growth and strengthen the supply side of global agriculture. Investment in innovation is thus critical to the enhancement of agricultural productivity and long-term challenge of sustainable development. Food availability, stability, access, and utilization are essential for the wellbeing and productivity of all people. The current state of global food security raise serious concerns as the number of hungry has surpassed 1 billion people. The forces challenging food security include population growth, demographic changes, high and volatile food prices, land and water constraints, under-developed agricultural sector and climate change. A comprehensive policy and investment agenda for achieving suitable for security is needed to (i) improve small holder productivity and market access (ii) keep trade open (iii) promote productive social safety nets (iv) integrate climate change strategies and (v) harmonize food security and sustainability policy. For these to happen, tested and proven innovations in agriculture must be put into use.Keywords: Agriculture, innovation, food security, climate change, sustainabilit

The Concept, Various Uses and the Need for the Reformation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in African Societies

Indigenous knowledge is local knowledge that is unique to a given culture, acquired by local people through the accumulation of experiences, informal experiments and intimate understanding of the environment in a given culture. It is the actual knowledge of a given population that reflects its experiences based on traditions and includes more recent experiences with modern technologies. Local people, including farmers, landless laborers, women, rural artisans, and cattle herders are the custodians of indigenous knowledge systems. Indigenous knowledge is dynamic, changing through indigenous mechanisms of creativity and innovativeness as well as through contact with other local and international knowledge systems. With the rapid environmental, social, economic and political changes occurring in many areas and the deaths of elderly people since there is no formal documentation, comes the danger that the indigenous knowledge they posses will be overwhelmed and lost forever. In this paper, we discuss the concept of indigenous knowledge, the various areas of using indigenous knowledge by the African societies and the need for reformation of indigenous knowledge. We also proposed six important considerations for adapting the system to modern developmental systems

Land Tenure and Gender Relations: Implications for Sustainable Rural Development

One of the most serious obstacles to increasing the agricultural productivity and income of rural women is their lack of security of tenure. Security of tenure is not limited to private ownership but can exist in a variety of forms such as leases on public land or user rights to communal property. If tenure is secure, the holder can reasonably expect to use the land to its best advantage in accordance with the right, reap a timely and fair return and be able to enforce the right against non-holders. Tenure enables the holder to make management decisions on how land-based resources will be used for immediate household needs and long-term sustainable investment. This paper shows that access to land guarantees sustainable food security and examines percentages of cultivated land by women in four countries – Thailand, Trinidad, Nigeria and Syria. In order for women farmers, who are responsible for 60-80% of the food production in Nigeria, to use land more efficiently and thereby make a greater contribution in food security, they need access to land, management control of land-based resources, and economic incentives that security of tenure provides. Keyword: Land tenure, gender, food security, poverty, marginalization, rural developmen

The Importance of Attaining Security of Land Tenure to Poverty Reduction among Vulnerable Groups in Africa

Land is a key component of the wealth of any nation. Throughout history, virtually all civilizations have spent considerable time defining land rights and establishing institutions to administer them. Well-defined, secure, and transferable rights to land are crucial to development efforts and critical to provide incentives for investment and sustainable resource management. In developing countries, most land is used for agricultural production, a mainstay of economic sustenance. The possession of land right also typically ensures a baseline of shelter and food supply and allows people to turn latent assets into live capital through entrepreneurial activity. Once secure in their land rights, rural households invest to increase productivity. Moreover, the use of land as a primary investment vehicle allows households to accumulate and transfer wealth between generations. The ability to use land rights as collateral for credit helps create a stronger investment climate and land rights are thus, at the level of the economy, a pre-condition for the emergence and operation of financial market. This paper thus argues that secure access to land is a pre-condition for higher productivity, economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa and outlines measures for attaining security of tenure for vulnerable groups. It outlined the channels through which secure land rights could bring about economic growth and poverty eradication. Keywords:  Land tenure, poverty, food security, productivity, Afric

Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security and Poverty Reduction

Dynamic interactions between bio-geophysical and human environments lead to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of foods, resulting in food systems that underpin food security. Food systems encompass food availability, utilization and access, so that food security is diminished when food systems are stressed. A range of factors or drivers in addition to climate change and other environmental changes may induce such stresses. Climate change may affect food security in several ways ranging from direct effects on crop production to changes in markets, food prices and supply. Because of the multiple socio-economic and biophysical factors affecting food systems and hence food security, the capacity to adapt food systems to reduce their vulnerability to climate change is not uniform. This paper focuses on three of these driving forces – climate change, animal disease and plant pests. We have concentrated on their implications for food security, but have also given concentrations to their impact on human health, as this is another important factor determining human well being/poverty levels