THE PURPOSE OF THE HANDBOOK

This handbook is a preliminary summary of practical information to guide CIDA project planning and implementation when indigenous peoples are affected directly or indirectly by a project supported by CIDA. For more details of the process of Results-Based Management as practised by CIDA, see Appendix 1. The project may be developed by indigenous peoples, or it may simply affect them in some way. It is not intended to be a guide to field operations. Rather it is a series of triggers that help alert project officers and managers to key issues that need to be addressed by actions to ensure indigenous peoples and their knowledge are included when it is appropriate to do so. The handbook makes the important observation that indigenous traditional knowledge is more than a simple compilation of facts drawn from local, and often remote, environments. It is a complex and sophisticated system of knowledge drawing on centuries of wisdom and experience. It is not possible to invoke this sophistication without including the indigenous peoples themselves as practitioners – in much the same way a project makes use of scientists or urban planners.

No handbook can or should attempt to teach indigenous traditional knowledge. In the same way that science or any other complex and vast body of knowledge, methods, belief systems, and assumptions requires context, language, and skilled interpreters to be used effectively in planning or implementation, so it is with indigenous traditional knowledge. Legitimate holders of indigenous traditional knowledge range from highly skilled and experienced Elders to hunters and trappers, gatherers of herbs and practitioners of many kinds. Men and women reach equivalent levels of wisdom and understanding in traditional ways. Often there are important gender differences in the knowledge content and in the assumptions for its use.

The handbook does not suggest topics for projects. It recognizes that the traditions of different indigenous groups vary immensely, and in important ways for project development. However, it is well beyond the scope of this handbook to do more than remind project officers and managers that it is critically important to understand the particular culture within which the project is to take place.

The handbook does not attempt to treat the subject exhaustively. A comprehensive work on the subject is needed, and many people in the world are vigorously addressing the problems in many different ways. In fact, CIDA recognizes that the handbook is really a single step in a program of change that will require many steps. Nonetheless, it is an important step forward and emphasizes the commitment to indigenous peoples and the many policies and conventions to which CIDA adheres.

Many traditional knowledge holders, indigenous peoples, indigenous associations, development agencies, scientists, officers in program planning and regulatory agencies, as well as representatives of corporations have participated in the assembly of information and ideas, and revision of the draft versions of this handbook. A number of people within CIDA who expressed an interest in the project were especially helpful in clarifying issues related to their areas of expertise.

Case Studies

#1 Balancing Autonomy with Participation
The Alto Mayo Project in Peru was sponsored by the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The fundamental lesson learned is that cultural viability can be safeguarded only through the continued habitation and use of traditional land. The valley of the Mayo River was isolated from the rest of the country until the 1970s, when construction of the Carretera Marginal trunk road gave access. A wave of spontaneous settlers from the highlands and the coast then came into the valley, increasing the population five-fold. Under such a dramatic event, the Aguarunas became a disadvantaged minority in their own traditional territory. Providing legal land titles to the nine Aguaruna communities living in the Alto Mayo basin, adjacent to the settled areas, was a condition of the IFAD project.

The native communities were thus able to obtain communal land titles and rights from the government before the major wave of migrants could reach the region. In this way, the nine communities became owners of 60,000 hectares of land, of which some 17,000 hectares were suitable for intensive agricultural production. Consequently, they could continue their traditional activities in shifting agriculture, growing about 80 species of plants, most important among them, manioc, maize, bananas, and rice. Hunting, fishing, and gathering fruits and nuts from the forest are other activities that significantly enhance their diet.

#2 Indigenous Women and Traditional Medicine in Oaxaca (Mexico)
Traditional medicine and healing are an emergent area of concern. In this region, women form the majority of traditional healers. Medicine people have formed 17 groups in Oaxaca and are now practicing their art in their communities. They are evolving various skills from indigenous mid-wives to specialized healers. Therapies based on herbs, massages, sweats, chiropractic, and other forms are sued for many physical and mental diseases.

After bitter struggles with official associations of physicians, traditional medicine people finally were able to organize joint meetings in which they shared their experiences and set up plans for collaboration. As a direct result, two reports on traditional medicine have been issued, and the indigenous women have benefitted immensely. Their involvement has been a key factor in cataloguing the plants, herbs, and practices, and in promoting the conservation and availability of curative products and practices. With the support of the National Indigenist Institute, UNICEF, and NGOs, an overall health program has been established. Recognized medicine people and healers train interested indigenous villagers as health promoters through courses and workshops, focussing on the recovery of communal knowledge about medicinal plants and traditional healing practices. The status of indigenous women has been enhanced through the creation of a council of traditional medicine where their knowledge is recognized, and through the opening of community clinics. Not only can they make wide use of their traditional knowledge in medicine, but also the exercise of their practice has been greatly improved.

#3 Bearers of Knowledge: Mossi farmers of Burkina Faso and the Revival of a Terracing and Water Harvesting Practice in the Sahel
Early this century the Mossi put up lines of stones (bunds) on their cultivated land to build up terraces. Because of political instability this method was later abandoned. After a series of droughts in the 1970s, the bunds were revived. Pits that conserve water were added. They were filled with organic material to increase soil fertility. Other introduced systems were shunned. The stone bunds are built up over the years, reaching about one meter height, terracing the slopes with relatively little labor input during the slack, dry season. The semi-permeable bunds allow for a gradual seeping in of the water and prevent the run-off caused by the scarce but highly intensive rains, reducing the risk of crop failure and soil erosion. In the disastrous drought years of 1983 and 1984, crops grew on land with bunds, while adjoining fields grew nothing. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (LIIAD) assisted Burkina Faso to disseminate the technology throughout the country's densely populated central plateau, where today 150 villages on the plateau now have stone lines. Sorghum yields on the plateau have risen by about 40 percent in fields with bunds. Locally developed practices require an enabling political and economical environment. A participatory approach allows farmers the choice of technology.

#4 Maasai Weather Forecasting in Tanzania
Maasai alternate the use of their natural grassland according to seasons. This requires a timing decision on when and where to move next. They predict droughts as well as weather related diseases by watching the movements of celestial bodies in combination with observing the date of emergence of certain plant species (e.g.. Ole Kitolya). Such "early warning signals" of an approaching environmental disaster are used to determine any preventive measures, prepare for mitigation and decide on the course of the community in using the natural resources. Similarly, estimates of animal fertility can be drawn from such forecasts with implication on stocking rates and density. This knowledge is little researched so far. Traditional expertise in astronomy and weather forecasting in combination with conventional agricultural meteorology could enhance local forecasts on harvests and food security.