The United Nations organized the World Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This conference, typically referred to as “The Earth Summit” was aimed at reconciling the dramatic world environmental conditions affecting the development and welfare of people. Three conventions for climate, biodiversity, and desertification were considered from development and technology perspectives with the consideration of traditional knowledge and practices. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) selected a Science and Technology Committee to look at the inventory and classification of traditional knowledge. This effort researched approximately 200 member countries. The following definition of traditional knowledge was developed:
Traditional knowledge consists of practical (instrumental) and normative knowledge concerning the ecological, socio-economic and cultural environment. Traditional knowledge originates from people and is transmitted to people by recognizable and experienced actors.
It is systematic (inter-sector and holistic), experimental (empirical and practical), handed down from generation to generation and culturally enhanced. Such a kind of knowledge supports diversity and enhances and reproduces local resources.
A list of 78 techniques and practices were developed by the committee and were classified into the seven topics: water management for conservation, improvement of soil fertility, protection of vegetation, fight against wind or water erosion, silviculture, social organization, and architecture and energy. Desertification was defined as “deterioration of the land in the arid, semiarid and semi humid dry areas due to factors including climate changes and human activity.”
“Modern technology aims at an immediate efficiency through a high specialization of knowledge supported by dominant structures able to mobilize resources external to the environment” (Laureano, 2001). An example of modern technology would be to dig deep wells and pump to an extent that would harm water supplies for the future, which has been done in so many places in both the developing and developed parts of the world. Traditional knowledge would have relied on a system for harvesting meteoric water or exploiting run-off areas using the force of gravity or water catchment methods that would allow the replenishment and increasing the durability of the resource (Laureano, 2001). “Modern technological methods operate by separating and specializing, whereas traditional knowledge operates by connecting and integrating.”
The use of traditional knowledge does not directly apply techniques of the past but instead, “to understand the logic of this model of knowledge” (Laureano, 2006). Traditional knowledge allowed ancient societies to keep ecosystems in balance, carry out outstanding technical, artistic, and architectural work that has been universally admired. The use of traditional knowledge has been able to renew and adapt itself. Traditional knowledge incorporates innovation in a dynamic fashion, subject to the test of a long term, achieving local and environmental sustainability.
Most of the drylands are located in developing countries, and therefore the application and development of traditional knowledge and technologies should be encouraged. The present trends are such that the use of traditional water management technologies is falling by the wayside. Adeel (2009) presents four major reasons for this.
• Changes in socio-economics of developing countries have meant that there are fewer skilled experts to develop and manage the traditional systems. These systems are primarily rural, therefore with the rural-to-urban-exodus of people the manpower to maintain them becomes limited. In addition there are few economic incentives for the young to use these systems.
• Newer methodologies such as electrical powered tube wells and irrigation systems that deliver water through canals and channels have greater appeal. Unfortunately these newer approaches are not economically favorable to the traditional approaches when all of the costs are included.
• Very limited research has been performed to improve traditional technologies for coping with population growth, desertification, and other external social and economic driving forces.
• At the international level investment into research, evaluation, maintenance and deployment of traditional technologies has been basically nonexistent.
Because of the potential for sustainable management of water resources we could argue that there should be a strategic and pro-active investment in these technologies.
World History
