Looking Within for Solutions



This week, I will be uncovering the uses of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in the West African context and potential beneficial ramifications. I will examine how TEK has been used to create solutions that can be implemented by small scale farmers to provide increased productivity and greater food security. 
Toledo (2002) and Berkes (2004) refer to Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as “the body of knowledge, beliefs, traditions, practices, institutions, and worldviews developed and sustained by indigenous, peasant, and local communities in interaction with their biophysical environment” (Gómez-Baggethun,Corbera & Reyes-García, 2013). With industrial farming and much greater intensification of ecological resources being consumed, TEK is being considered as an alternative for greater sustainability (Fraser, Frausin & Jarvis,2014). This stems from TEK’s usage of locally derived and renewable resources that priorities nutrient recycling (Fraser, Frausin & Jarvis, 2014). TEK is also important as it helps maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services, especially considering recent climate change (Gómez-Baggethun, Corbera & Reyes-García,2013). In Africa, such TEK can be harnessed to help improve agricultural yields when more modern techniques fail and one such example is in West Africa. 
In semi-arid West Africa, agriculture is predominantly rainfed and with low input of external fertilisers to soils (Vanlauwe et al.,2011). This has resulted in extensive soil degradation that has led to poor soil fertility that hampers agricultural productivity (Lahmar, Batiano, Lamso, Guero& Tittonell, 2011). While tropical soils tend to be nutrient poor, fertilisers are often too costly to be procured by farmers, which exacerbates the problem (Lahmar et al., 2011). Thus, this provides an impetus to find inexpensive alternatives that can be easily replicated such as the zai and the usage of native shrubs.
Figure 1. An illustration of how the zai is used in farms for planting crops.

Digging the zai
The zai is a Burkina Faso term which is also known as tassa in Niger and towalen in Mali (Lahmar et al., 2011). It originates from cultivating cereal in arid settings, where a basin is dug to reduce water runoff (Lahmar et al., 2011). Lahmar et al. notes the following benefits for digging a zai:
1.     It lessens erosion by preventing organic matter from being eroded in the dry season
2.     Reduces soil erosion through preventing the runoff of water and minerals
3.     Increasing termite activity in the soil which improved infiltration, drainage and soil water storage
4.     Protecting other seeds trapped in the zai from the wind and animals for germination, leading to regeneration of other plants
5.     After (3) and (4) occur, soil fertility increases and thus soil degradation can be reversed
Figure 2. A diagram showing the timeline of growing the Native Evergreen Woody Shrubs (NEWS) in conjunction with the crops. Notice how the NEWS and crops' growing periods do not overlap (Lahmar et al., 2011).

Use of native shrubs
P. reticulatum is a common West African shrub, especially in areas such as the Sahel, that is deliberately kept by farmers due to its many uses such as timber, medicine and handicrafts (Lahmar et al., 2011). 2 characteristics make it useful in agriculture: it grows during the dry season and is not readily consumed by animals which allows its leaves to be used as mulch (Lahmar et al., 2011). During the rainy season, P. reticulatum stems are cut and leaves can be left in the zai pit to aid in growing the crop and for the dry season, when P. reticulatum has grown, it traps dust and prevents soil erosion (Lahmar et al., 2011). This trapping of dust and prevention of erosion is essential to soil fertility and additionally, might help in restoration of degraded soils (Valentin, Rajot & Mitja, 2004). With different growing periods, the shrubs also do not contend with crops and prevents greater land use just for biomass production (Lahmar etal., 2011). All in all, this creates greater soil fertility in the long run while helping to increase productivity in the short term on the same plot of land. Therefore, while West African farmers might have certain financial limitations that prevent them from using conventional methods such as inputs of fertilisers but despite it, their TEK helps create agricultural practices best tailored for their environment.
How can this TEK be improved?
Barro et al. (2005) notes that digging a zai is inherently labour intensive, requiring more than 300 manhours per hectare while working under high temperatures and this process has not been mechanised yet (cited in Lahmar et al., 2011). Such requirements for heavy labour intensity and slow returns during the soil restoration phase may not appeal to farmers who seek quick yields (Lahmar et al., 2011). Thus, while TEK is a local approach that does not mobilise much external resources, it still has limitations.
TEK, however, should not be mutually exclusive with other technologies such as modern irrigation techniques, but should be hybridised and integrated together, depending on the locational context.  

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