The mistakes and failures of many agricultural development programmes throughout Africa have been well documented. While the specific critiques vary, central explanations for the mistakes are the failure to take account of the sociocultural, political and institutional dimensions of production systems and the use of science-based knowledge that is inappropriate or misapplied. Over the past two decades, some radically new approaches for agricultural research and action programmes have been developedthat recognize the value of indigenous or local knowledge and of participation. Not least among the contributions has been the demotion of so-called 'formal', 'scientific' or 'western' knowledge from its pedestal to being one among several types of knowledge. Yet the critiques of these new ideas and practices are also valuable, challenging the validity of the opposition between indigenous and western (scientific) knowledge (Agarwal, 1995) and pointing to the danger of separating knowledgeable practicesfrom their political and economic contexts (Dove, 1996).
展开▼
