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Valuing and Promoting SmallholderAgricultural Practices
The Approach of the PLEC Project
Papua New GuineaChinaThailandJamaicaMexico
Amazonia•Brazil•Peru
East Africa •Kenya •Tanzania•Uganda
Location of PLEC ActivitiesWest Africa•Ghana•Guinea
Three Major Issues:
1) The PLEC project focuses on the diversity of systems in production landscapes rather than the component products
2) Smallholder production systems tend to perform multiple functions
3) The complexity of smallholder systems favors the PLEC “expert farmer’ demonstration approach
Muyuy’s residents are ribereños, the descendants of indigenous and immigrant Amazonians
Muyuy, Loreto, Peru
Population: 3740
The PLEC site in Peru provides an example of
the diversity of smallholder systems in a production
landscape
PLEC works with ribereño communities located in the Amazon floodplain where the height and
duration of floods are difficult to predict
Highlevee Low
leveeSand bar
Siltbar
72 species188 varieties
28 species96 varieties
17 species62 varieties
112 species274 varieties
high river level
low river level
river
Ribereños Use a Multiplicity of Systems to Produce in a Diverse and Dynamic Landscape
Locally-developed management systems allow farmers to cope with abrupt and transformative changes
The Muyuy Floodplain Changes Rapidly
From Channel to Lake in 13 Years
1987
1995
From Channel to Lake in 13 Years
2000
From Channel to Lake in 13 Years
Island Formation
Over 13 Years
Island Formation Over 13 Years
1987
Island Formation Over 13 Years
1995
Island Formation Over 13 Years
2000
Island Formation Over 13 Years
Formation of a Permanent Channel Over a 13 Year Period
1987
Formation of a Permanent Channel Over a 13 Year Period
1995
Formation of a Permanent Channel Over a 13 Year Period
2000
Formation of a Permanent Channel Over a 13 Year Period
Ribereño agrodiversity has multiple functions. It allows farmers to cope with
catastrophic changes
Multiple functions of diverse smallholder systems
Creating and managing microhabitats (China)
Overcoming crop diseases (Brazil)
Dealing with catastrophe and opportunity (Peru)
Coping with market and policy change (Kenya)
PLEC China Site
Baoshan, Yunnan
Reforestation Projects in China
Smallholder Diversification of
Reforestation Projects
Government forestry projects did
not offer the diversity of species
farmers wanted
Expert Farmers diversified the government project. Not only did they increase the number of tree species, but also created microhabitats for many other economic
species
In Kenya’s PLEC sites farmers are diversifying coffee monocultures by using multicropping
systems such as “edge” and “cluster” systems
Farmers in Kenya use diverse systems to cope with falling
prices for coffee and changes in
government policies
PLEC Brazil SiteMazagao, Amapa
Banana EncapoeiradaUsing Diversity and Experimentation to
Fight Disease
Since the appearance of Moko disease in the 1970s, farmers cannot produce bananas in monocultures
Following farmer led observations and experiments all banana production is done in highly diverse agroforestry
systems called banana encapoeirada
The system uses naturally regenerating pariri andsororoca associated with bananas. This agroforestry
system allows farmers to regain about 70% of previous production by managing the fungal disease
The Multiple Benefits and Services Derived from
Agrodiversity are Difficult for Scientists to Translate
PLEC Empowers Expert Farmers to Demonstrate the Functionality of their
Own Agricultural Systems
The expert farmers determine how and to whom they will demonstrate
Expert Farmers do not demonstrate
“production packages” and participant farmers
do not merely copy systems
Demonstrated Technique:Agroforestry banana encapoeirada system
Objective:Managing Moko disease in bananas
Sororoca- pariri – bananaRecommended techniques:
A) Acai - BananaB) Fruteiras - BananaC) Madeira - BananaD) Combinations of A, B and C
Modification of demonstrated technique:
Building soils above tide level
Production of cassava and other crops less tolerant to tidal flooding
Keep sediments and organic matter from eroding during high tides (lançantes) using fences
Demonstrated Technique:
Objective:
Recommended techniques:
Modification of demonstrated technique:A) Use of logs in place of fencesB) Placing palm leaves around elevated section of the fieldC) Accumulating soils around tree trunksD) Accumulating wood residues from saw mills
Enriching fallows
Production of fruits and timber
Thinning and removal of vines
Demonstrated Technique:
Objective:
Recommended techniques:
Modification of demonstrated technique:
A) Thinning- plantingB) Removal of vines - broadcasting seedsC) Thinning - broadcasting seedsD) Combinations of the above
Managing forests
Production of fruits, timber and medicinals
Removal of vines and formation of gaps (clareras)
Demonstrated Technique:
Objective:
Recommended techniques:
Modification of demonstrated technique:
A) Gaps - broadcasting seedsB) Removal of vines - transplanting seedlings along trailsC) Gap formation - managing of seed dispersal during high tideD) Combinations of the above
We would like to thank…expert farmers and villagers in PLEC sites for their generosity
the many scientists and students who helped with data collection and analysis
UNU, UNEP, and the GEF for their support
We dedicate this presentation to Noe Buendia (Peru) and Chris Tokomeyeh (Papua New Guinea), two pioneers in understanding that conservation cannot be advanced without involving smallholders at every phase