Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Planting Knowledge, Harvesting Agro-Biodiversity: A Case Study of Southern Guinea-Bissau Rice Farming

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In marginal and complex agricultural environments, modern varieties of rice have been scantily adopted by resource-poor farmers. This is due, on the one hand, to farmers’ nonexistent or reduced access to agro-chemicals, irrigation facilities, and seeds, and on the other hand, to the fact that they did not fulfil the farmers’ socioeconomic and cultural priorities and needs. An understanding of farmers’ criteria for variety selection is key to promoting effective plant breeding and achieving broader aims of food security and food sovereignty. Based on extensive ethnographic field research, this paper discusses rice biodiversity management strategies and the experimental skills and knowledge of Southern Guinea-Bissau farmers against the backdrop of failures by development interventions to introduce modern rice varieties. I conclude that the present cereal crises and environmental concerns should reshape researchers’ exclusive priorities on genetic engineering in order to identify economically valued landraces, and promote their dissemination through participatory seed self-sufficiency approaches.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. According to data from the 1991 population census (the only ethnic census available), the Balanta represent 62% of the population, the Nalu 10%, the Fulbe 8%, the Sosso 5%, and the other ethnic groups 15% (INEC 1992). Research conducted between 1994 and 1996 revealed that there were no major differences among non-Balanta ethnic groups with respect to livelihood systems, agricultural practices and knowledge about rice varieties.

  2. I translate here as “household” the Kriol concept of fogon, a unit of organization of production, processing, consumption and distribution.

  3. Over years, as a result of their expertise in swamp rice technology, the Balanta were considered Guinea-Bissau’s main rice producers. However, during the last decade, even Balanta farmers have begun to change their farming system by decreasing the importance of rice production, and by investing in cashew nut orchards.

  4. Guinea-Bissau does not possess accurate agricultural and climate statistics. For this reason, the data presented here are mainly based on interviews with farmers. The Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) reports on Guinea-Bissau corroborate my statements (e.g., IRIN 2006a, b).

  5. The name changed after some years to Department of Agricultural Research in order to include broader aims, but the acronym was maintained.

  6. Also spelt and pronounced as Cablak, Caublac or Caulaca in Guinea-Bissau. Barry et al. (2007: 1680) wrote Kaoulaka for the same variety introduced in the Republic of Guinea. In this paper I adopted the most common spelling. Caulac, which is the name of the Nalu village in the region of Cacine (Guinea Bissau) where the variety was first introduced.

  7. This point is in clear contradiction with Adesina and Seidi (1995: 364), who state that “it is difficult for MV’s [modern varieties] to surpass the local varieties in terms of taste.”

References

  • Adesina, A., and Seidi, S. (1995). Farmers’ Perceptions and Adoption of New Agricultural Technology: Analysis of Modern Mangrove Rice Varieties in Guinea Bissau. Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture 34(4): 358–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anginot, E. (1988). Approche de la diversite des systemes agraires du secteur de Bedanda. CNEART, EITARC, EDI, IRFED, Montpellier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, M., Pham, J., Courtois, B., Billot, C., and Ahmadi, N. (2007). Rice Genetic Diversity at Farm and Village Levels and Genetic Structure of Local Varieties Reveal Need for In Situ Conservation. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 54: 1675–1690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baum, R. (2001). Alinesitoué: a Djola prophet in West Africa. In Falk, N. C., and Gross, R. M. (eds.), Unspoken World’s: Women’s Religious Lives. Wadsworth, Thompson Learning, Belmont, pp. 179–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, J. (1949). Nota sobre a distribuição e história dos povos da área do Posto de Bedanda. Bissau, Boletim Cultural da Guiné Portuguesa 14: 307–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocks, M. (2006). Biocultural Diversity: Moving Beyond the Realm of ‘Indigenous’ and ‘Local’ People. Human Ecology 34(2): 185–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, T., and Guei, R. (2003). Productivity Gains from Rice Genetic Enhancements in West Africa: Countries and Ecologies. World Development 31(2): 359–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, J. (2010). Cultivating Knowledge: Development, Dissemblance, and Discursive Contradictions Among the Djola of Guinea-Bissau. American Ethnologist 37(2): 212–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diagne, A. (2006). Diffusion and Adoption of NERICA Rice Varieties in Côte d’Ivoire. The Developing Economies 64(2): 208–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dias, N. (1990). Produção, importação e comercialização de arroz na Guiné–Bissau. Seminário Nacional sobre Arroz Próspero. DEPA, Bissau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Écoutin, J.-M., Barry, M., Boujou, S., Charles-Dominique, E., Journet, O., Penot, E., Ruë, O., Souaré, D., and Sow, M. (1999). Aménagement technique du milieu. In Cormier-Salem, M.-C. (ed.), Rivières du Sud: societes et mangroves ouest-africaines, vol. I. IRD, Paris, pp. 209–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Espírito Santo, J. (1949). Notas sobre a cultura do arroz entre os balantas. Boletim Cultural da Guiné Portugues 4(14): 197–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (1999). Fourniture d’urgence d’intrants agricoles aux populations affectées par la crise. OSRO/GBS/901/SWE—Rapport final. Bissau, FAO.

  • Ferreira Mendes, J. (1969). Problemas e perspectivas do desenvolvimento rural da Guiné. Centro de Estudos da Guiné Portuguesa, Bissau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca, J. (1988). Alguns elementos da estratégia do desenvolvimento agrícola. Boletim de Informação Científica e Técnica 1: 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca, J. (1990). Arroz: Que política? Seminário Nacional sobre Arroz Próspero 6. DEPA.

  • Galli, R., and Jones, J. (1987). Guinea-Bissau: Politics, Economics and Society. Frances Printer, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imbali, F. (1992). Um olhar sobre o sistema alimentar balanta: o caso das tabancas de Mato Farroba e Cantone. Soronda 14: 3–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • INEC (1992). Recenseamento geral da população e habitação de 1991. Resultados preliminares da província Sul. INEC, Bissau.

    Google Scholar 

  • IRIN (2006a). Guinea-Bissau: Diversification from Cashew Nuts Essential. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=59338, downloaded 11.02.2010.

  • IRIN (2006b). Guinea-Bissau: Price of Rice Out of Reach. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=60782, downloaded 11.02.2010.

  • Junta de Investigações do Ultramar (ed.) (1972). Prospectiva do desenvolvimento económico e social da Guiné. JIU, Lisboa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacy, S., Cleveland, D., and Soleri, D. (2006). Farmer Choice of Sorghum Varieties in Southern Mali. Human Ecology 14(3): 331–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lea, J., Cornelius, H., and Ribeiro, C. R. (1990). Rice production and marketing in Guinea–Bissau. A contribution for policy dialogue. Food and Feed Grains Institute and INEP, Bissau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linares, O. (1981). From Tidal Swamp to Inland Valley: On the Social Organization of Wet Rice Cultivation Among the Diola of Senegal. Africa 51(2): 557–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linares, O. (2002). African Rice (Oriza glaberrima): History and Future Potential. PNAS 99(25): 16360–16365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longley, C. (2000). The social life of seeds: local management of crop variability in North-West Sierra Leone. PhD Dissertation, University College of London.

  • McGuire, S. (2008). Securing Access to Seed: Social Relations and Sorghum Seed Exchange in Eastern Ethiopia. Human Ecology 36: 217–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miranda, I. (1990). A pesquisa orizícola do DEPA: resultados e prioridades. Seminário Nacional sobre Arroz Próspero. DEPA, Bissau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miranda, I. (1993). Pesquisa orizícola guineense. In IICT (ed.), Primeiras Jornadas da Agricultura da Guiné–Bissau. Comunicações 13: 97–114.

  • Nuijten, E., van Treuren, R., Struik, P. C., Mokuwa, A., Okry, F., Teeken, B., and Richards, P. (2009). Evidence for the Emergence of New Rice Types of Interspecific Hybrid Origin in West African Farmers’ Fields. PloS ONE 4(10): e7335. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuitjen, E. (2005). Farmer management of gene flow: the impact of gender and breeding systems on genetic diversity and crop improvement in The Gambia. PhD Theses. Wageningen University, The Nederlands.

  • Penot, E. (1991). PRP région de Tombali. Rapport d’activités de l’année 1990. Fichier varietal des varietés locales et ameliorées de riz de mangrove et de riz pluvial cultivées dans la région de Tombali en Guinée–Bissau (annexe 8). DEPA, Caboxanque.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penot, E., and Robin, S. (1991a). PRP région de Tombali. Rapport d’activités de l’année 1990. DEPA, Caboxanque.

  • Penot, E., and Robin, S. (1991b). PRP région de Tombali. Rapport d’activités de l’année 1990. Seminaire “Communication paysannale” Avril 1990. Programation et thèmes abordés lors du séminaire (annexe 3). DEPA, Caboxanqu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penot, E., and Robin, S. (1992). Project de Recherche Paysanne dans la région de Tombali. Rapport d’ activités, anées 1990–1991. EDI–IRFED, DEPA, Paris.

  • Pimbert, M. (2009). Towards Food Sovereignty: Reclaiming Autonomous Food Systems. IIED, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rana, R., Garforth, C., Sthapit, B., and Jarvis, D. (2007). Influence of Socio-economic and Cultural Factors in Rice Varietal Diversity Management On-farm in Nepal. Agriculture and Human Values 24: 461–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribeiro, R. (1989). Causas da queda de produção de arroz na Guiné–Bissau—A situação no sector de Tite, região de Quínara. Revista Internacional de Estudos Africanos 10(11): 227–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, P. (1985). Indigenous Agricultural Revolution: Ecology and Food Production in West Africa. Hutchinson, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, P. (1986). Coping with Hunger: Hazard and Experiment in a West African Rice Farming System. Allen & Unwin, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, P. (2006). The History and Future of African Rice: Food Security and Survival in a West African War Zone. Africa Spectrum 41(1): 77–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, C. (1988). Ponto da situação e perspectivas da pesquisa agrícola (86–88) (2ª parte). Boletim de Informação Científica e Técnica 3–4: 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, C. (1990). Os sistemas orizícolas da Guiné–Bissau. Seminário Nacional sobre Arroz Próspero. DEPA, Contuboel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, C. (1992). Os ecossistemas orizícolas da Guiné–Bissau. Boletim de Informação Sócio-Económica 1–2: 11–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, C. (1993). Os ecossistemas orizícolas da Guiné–Bissau. In IICT (ed.), Primeiras Jornadas sobre a agricultura da Guiné–Bissau. Comunicações 13: 367–388.

  • Scott, J. (1990). Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. Yale University Press, Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. (1998). Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition have Failed. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soleri, D., Smith, S., and Cleveland, D. (1999). Evaluating the Potential for Farmer-Breeder Collaboration: A Case Study of Farmer Maize Selection from Oaxaca, Mexico. Agren Network Paper 96: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temudo, M. P. (2005). Western beliefs and local myths: a case study on the interface between farmers, NGOs and the state in Guinea-Bissau rural development interventions. In Igoe, J., and Kersall, T. (eds.), Between a Rock and a Hard Place: African NGOs, Donors and the State. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, pp. 253–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temudo, M. P. (2008). From ‘People’s Struggle’ to ‘This War of Today’: Entanglements of Peace and Conflict in Guinea-Bissau. Africa 78(2): 245–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Temudo, M. P., and Schiefer, U. (2003). Disintegration and Resilience of Agrarian Societies in Africa—The Importance of Social and Genetic Resources: A Case Study on the Reception of Urban War Refugees in the South of Guinea-Bissau. Current Sociology 51(3–4): 395–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tin, H. (2002). O benefício do fracasso: PAM, ajuda alimentar e sobrevivência local na Guiné-Bissau, 1998–1999. Soronda 3: 77–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Drift, R. (2000). Democracy: Legitimate Warfare in Guinea-Bissau. Soronda, Nº Especial 7 de Junho: 37–65.

  • Virk, D., and Witcombe, J. (2007). Trade-offs Between On-farm Varietal Diversity and Highly Client-Oriented Breeding: A Case Study of Upland Rice in India. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 54: 823–835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WARDA (2008a). 2007 Africa Rice Trends. Cotonou, Benin.

    Google Scholar 

  • WARDA (2008b). Africa Rice Centre (WARDA) Annual Report 2006–2007: Women Taking Africa Forward. Benin, Cotonou.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zinnah, M., Compton, J., and Adesina, A. (1993). Research–Extension–Farmer Linkages Within the Context of the Generation, Transfer and Adoption of Improved Mangrove Swamp Rice Technology in West Africa. Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture 32(2): 201–214.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2005 AEGIS Conference and benefited from comments from Paul Richards, Olga Linares, Ramon Sarró, Marie-Christine Cormier-Salem, Edwin Nuijtn and David Berliner. Insightful and stimulating comments were later added by Olga Linares, Eric Gable, Harry West, Joanna Davidson, José M. C. Pereira, João Silva and Rui Figueira. I also would like to thank Walter Hawthorne for planting a title (and a work) of so many harvests. This paper was written within the framework of the project PPCDT/BIA-BDE/57965/2004 funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science (FCT). My deepest thanks and acknowledgements go to Cubucaré farmers and their families for their teaching, patience and warm welcome into their homes.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Research Institute (IICT), Tapada da Ajuda, Ed. das Tropicais, 3º andar, Apartado 1301, Lisbon, Portugal

    Marina Padrão Temudo

Authors
  1. Marina Padrão Temudo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marina Padrão Temudo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Temudo, M.P. Planting Knowledge, Harvesting Agro-Biodiversity: A Case Study of Southern Guinea-Bissau Rice Farming. Hum Ecol 39, 309–321 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9404-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9404-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation