2006 International Year of Deserts and Desertification STRATEGIES TO INTEGRATE TRADITIONAL AND MODERN KNOWLEDGE Implications for Policy Options

Links and Feedbacks between Desertification, Global Change and Biodiversity

Modern Knowledge Traditional Knowledge Specific Solution Multipurpose system Immediate efficacy Functionless in the long run Specialization Holism Dominant powers Autonomy Separation Integration External resources Internal inputs Conflicts Symbiosis Monoculture Relationship and complexity Uniformity Diversity Severity Flexibility Expensive maintenance Self-regulation and work intensity Waste Saving Technicism and rationalism Symbolism and wealth of meanings Internationalization Contextualizing Dependence Autopoiesis

2006 International Year of Deserts and Desertification Strategies for Policy Formulation 1. To adopt a bottom-up approach in research and development which puts the farmer- innovator at the centre 2. External scientific and technical experts should learn to listen and to enter into dialogue with knowledgeable local actors 3. Mechanisms to share and disseminate traditional knowledge and its innovations can be set up and supported 4. Relationship between capacity of decision-making and capacity of realizing innovations. Empowerment is an essential dimension in encouraging innovations. 5. Local entitlements on use and management of natural resources should be strengthened and consolidated when modern knowledge or technologies enter into traditional settings. 6. Mechanisms to valorize and recognize the achievements of knowledgeable local actors and inventors should be developed 7. Participatory bottom-up approaches to development are necessary. adaptation includes a change of attitude among scientists and technology transfer experts. 8. Science in traditional technology viewed from gender perspective; 9. Horizontal dialogues different cultures and understanding of cultural specificity and diversity in which traditional knowledge is reproduced and expressed are two key elements.

The MODERN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VIEW The Four Criticisms of Traditional Knowledge Traditional technologies constitute a specific and limited series of technical solutions. They are proposed because of an ideological and anti-technological vision Not technologically, with the result that they are technologically inefficient and less productive than modern technologies. Not technologically competitive, with the result that they are technologically inefficient and less productive than modern technologies. Traditional technologies concern the developing world and are marginal compared to great economic and technological processes.