A major reason for the low adoption of modern varieties of seed among small-scale farmers in developing countries is the inability of formal, centralized seed production systems to meet their complex and diverse seed requirements. Drawing on experiences in Uganda with the common bean, the paper...

This article applies some ofthe insights from framing studies in policyresearch, metaphor analysis, and the history ofmedicine to a cultural understanding ofagriculture, using the 2001 outbreak of footand mouth disease in the UK as a case study.The article will show how metaphors of war wereused...

The Totonac homegarden is a traditionally designed agroecosystem mixing different elements, such as cultivated and wild plants, and livestock. Our objective was to understand the role and importance of homegardens as a strategy for subsistence and natural resources management. Anthropological...

Through the ethnographic record of the subsistence activities partially or completely performed in the domestic sphere in two Mbyá-Guaraní settlements in Misiones (Argentina), we outline factors important in describing the local natural environment. Data was collected through systematic...

Indigenous ecologies in industrial societies need immediate attention in light of the ongoing debate on indigenous resource rights and decreasing biodiversity. This paper examines the functions and meanings of hunting, fishing, and gathering activities among contemporary Nez Perce Indians in...

The intrinsic dynamics andinnovative potential of the rural poor in Chinacan be illustrated by the phenomena of farmerinnovation circles (FIC) in north Shaanxi.These are informal networks used by farmers tocollaborate on technology learning andagricultural production. Though not limited...

Much has been written about the chinampas of central Mexico. One of the commonly repeated themes is that these wetland fields were self-irrigated from below in a process known as sub-irrigation. According to this model, water infiltrates the planting platforms from adjacent canals and then rises...

During times of economic uncertainty, such as the current period, all costs of agricultural production become important and worthy of close scrutiny if the threat of farm foreclosures is to be minimized. This concern particularly applies to the cost of plant nutrients, which, under conventional...

Ethnopedology is the study of local knowledge of soil and land management in an ecological perspective. It is an emerging hybrid discipline that is a component of ethnoecology and stands to offer much for land-based studies. This paper reviews the field of ethnopedology in Latin America and...

The significance of enset (Ensete ventricosum Welw. Cheesman) for thefood and livelihood security of ruralhouseholds in Southwestern Ethiopia, where thiscrop is the main staple, raises two majorquestions. The first concerns the relatedissues of household food security andlivelihood security and...