Enabling frameworks — moving beyond technology transfer: indigenous knowledge and participatory approaches in rangeland development

Abstract

Conventional approaches to rangeland development have focused more on technical aspects of livestock and range management than on the people who inhabit such areas and utilise these resources. Technology transfer describes the conventional process whereby researchers develop 'improved' systems that are then promoted as models for boosting production. Where rangelands are traditionally used by groups of herders, such imposed models have a dismal record. One key reason is that indigenous knowledge, local practices, and traditional regulations have been ignored. In other fields, conventional norms of development are being challenged. Thus, for example, amongst small scale farmers in the developing tropics, participation is now the accepted entry point. So, what is the experience with, and potential for, similar approaches on the rangelands?