Exploring agriculturally-based environmental learning in southern Africa

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Exploring agriculturally-based environmental
learning in southern Africa

• Nikki Köhly
• Borlaug LEAP fellow
• Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program
• n.kohly_at_ru.ac.za
• 12 September 2006

304 Fernow Hall, Cornell University 3.30pm
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Context of Study
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Environment Social Justice

• The mainstream environmental movement has not
  sufficiently addressed the fact that social
  inequality and imbalances of power are at the
  heart of environmental degradation, resource
  depletion, pollution and even overpopulation...
• The environmental crisis cannot be solved
  effectively without social justice.
• (Bullard 1993, in Gruenewald, 2003)

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Educational Context

• The environmental crisis requires the
  transformation of education and a corresponding
  alignment of cultural patterns with the
  sustaining capacities of natural ecological
  systems.
• (Bowers, 1993 O'Sullivan, 1999 Orr, 1992 in
  Gruenewald, 2003)
• There is a close relationship between poverty,
  lack of food, health and absence of education.
• (Vandenbosch et al. 2002)

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Environmental Education (EE)

• EE recognises the relationship between
  environmental issues, risks, human rights
  social justice.
• EE a socio-ecological movement, embracing
  ecological knowledge understanding, total
  people-environment relationships, ethics,
  politics, culture, sociology public
  participation in decision-making. (Irwin, 2002)

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Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Information communication technologies
ESD a strategy to address social, economic
environmental issues by empowering youth adults
to make informed choices promote
sustainability. (IUCN 2003)
Rural transformation
Cultural diversity
Overcoming poverty
Intercultural understanding peace
Human rights
Sustainable production consumption
Health
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Framework for Research
Children in schools losing contact with community
knowledge (Shava 2000)
School-community links
Economy
Society
Environment
EE/ ESD
Environmental learning action
Agriculture
Most ESD programmes contain important elements of
sustainable agriculture (Vandenbosch et al 2002)
Agriculturally-based activities
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Research goals
Q Exploring the role of agriculturally based
school-community links in facilitating
environmental learning and action.

• What fosters school community links
• Perceptions of agriculturally-based activities
• Sources of knowledge expertise
• Promotion of environmental learning
• Relationship between agriculture and ESD

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Research Methodology
What my experiences mean to me

• Holistic / pragmatic research integrates
  observable phenomena, behaviour social
  structures with intentionality cultural
  contexts
• Qualitative data with empirical base
• Interpretive approach for
  in-depth understanding
• Emergent theory

My view
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Study Sites

• USA
• Malawi
• South Africa

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South Africa

• Health Promoting Schools government initiative
  to promote healthy school environment in
  collaboration with local communities. Food garden
  requisite.
• Eco-Schools curriculum-linked FEE programme to
  promote sustainable environmental management at a
  local level through schools. Since 1994. UNEP
  support.

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Malawi

• Farmers of the Future ICRAF initiative to
  incorporate agroforestry into school curriculum
  promote sustainable agriculture in communities.
  Since 2002.
• Community Based Organisation community
  initiative to adopt sustainable agriculture,
  conserve environment improve socioeconomic
  conditions.

International Centre for Research in
Agroforestry / World Agroforestry Centre
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USA

• Garden Mosaics NSF funded project since 2001,
  using community gardens for science learning,
  inter-generational mentoring, multicultural
  understanding, community action. American
  Community Garden Association project since 2006.
• Community gardens community initiatives to
  create alternative sites for socialising
  growing food plants.

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Research Methods

• Observations
• Semi-structured interviews
• Collection / photographic recording of learning
  support materials activities
• Journal
• Correspondence
• Collated in data log

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Initial Findings Impressions
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South Africa, Malawi Zambia
The plot thickens!

• South Africa
• Makana Public Primary School
• Umthathi project
• Dept of Health, Dept of Agriculture, Dept of
  Education (Health Promoting Schools)
• Eco-Schools
• School-community gardens
• Malawi
• ICRAF Chitedze Agricultural Research Station,
  Lilongwe
• ICRAF Makoka Agriculture Research Station, Zomba
• Malawi College of Forestry
• Thondwe Primary school

• St Anthony Girls school
• Thondwe Village Polytechnic
• Casa Perugia, Italy
• Mapanga CBO, Thyolo district
• Nangombe Secondary school
• Mozambique / Zimbabwe
• ICRAF Southern Africa Regional Programme
  (Caroline Jacquet de Haveskercke Joyce Mitti)
• Zambia
• ICRAF, Chipata
• Manje Basic school, Chadiza
• Mwala Basic school, Chadiza

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South Africa, Malawi Zambia

• School community links
• Knowledge skills
• (a) Sources
• (b) Sharing
• Support and resources
• Environmental learning
• Perceptions of agricultural activities
• Evidence of action / change

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1. School community links

• Fostered by positive interactions

In the holidays, the parents are looking after
this garden (Teacher, SA)
The parents cook food at school for the children
(Teachers, SA, Zam)
The CBO pays school fees for some of the pupils
who are orphans (Teacher, MW)
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School community links

• Impacted by negative interactions

A parents cows are walking through the school
garden (Teacher, Zam)
People steal vandalise (Teacher, SA)
Some parents sell junk food at the school gates
(Teacher, SA)
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School community links

• Not always fostered

Community members wont do volunteer teaching
about cultural practices as they dont get paid
for it (Teacher, MW)
Teachers and farmers make extra money through
this paprika project but do not involve the
learners (Teacher, MW)
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2a. Knowledge skills - Sources

• Outside expertise community

People recognise traditional fruits its
similar to agroforestry (Teacher, Zam)
A Filipino taught us how to make organic plant
growth hormones (Coordinator, MW)
Uapaca kirkiana
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Knowledge skills Sources

• Outside expertise community

These old people who were cultivating pigeon peas
together with maize, or growing Tephrosia candida
as a poison to catch fish they didnt know
that they were already practicing agroforestry.
They didnt know they were doing something very
important (Coordinator, MW)
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2b. Knowledge skills - Sharing

• Both ways between schools communities

In Zimbabwe, parents do agroforestry because
children teach their parents (Coordinators, MW
Zam)
My parents taught me about trees (Pupil, Zam)
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Knowledge skills Sharing

• Not shared, or delayed

Not all children can to teach their parents, they
are considered too young. Maybe only at 20 years
will the parents take them seriously (Volunteer
orphan care teacher, MW)
My family has not learned yet about making fruits
to juice. Im planning to teach them (Pupil, MW)
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3. Support and resources

• Access to opportunities and resources for
  education are limited in some study sites in
  South Africa
• More limited in study sites in Malawi Zambia

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Support and resources

• Factors to consider

The problem with donors is that they just give
you what they think, without first finding out
what you need (Coordinator, MW)
People are used to handouts, they are clever with
beautiful words, sit down and wait for
delivery. I dont know where the delivery will
come from if you do not start doing something for
yourself! (Teacher, SA)
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4. Environmental learning

• Linked to the curriculum

Farmers of the Future aims to integrate
agroforestry natural resource management into
basic education (Coordinator, MW)
The only teachers who make curriculum links are
those in Eco-Schools (Facilitator, SA)
It sounds similar to the 4H programme in the USA
(Coordinator, USA)
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Environmental learning

• Spontaneous

For Health Promoting Schools, there is a general
focus on environment, but it is not linked to the
curriculum (Facilitator, SA)
I only link food gardening to the curriculum so
all students gain the knowledge (Teacher, SA)
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Environmental learning

• Uncertain

The theme for the rally is The sustainable use
of wild birds, and HIV/AIDS awareness
(Coordinator, MW)
It is important to retain some of the indigenous
trees, but they cut them all down to make way for
orange trees (Extensionist, Zam)
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5. Perceptions of agricultural activities

• Beneficial

The programme has business potential, we can
generate extra income for the school (Teachers,
SA, MW, Zam)
To augment diet strengthen the immune system
(Teachers, SA, MW, Zam)
We can have fruit products even when the fruit is
out of season (Teacher, MW)
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Perceptions of agricultural activities

• Factors to consider

The garden needs to be very productive, so that
excess can be sold in order to buy other things
(Teacher SA)
Not all the children like to go to the food
garden (Teacher, SA)
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6. Evidence of action / change

• Success stories

Farmer demonstrations work the best (Student, MW)
We stopped buying maize about three years ago. We
even provide maize to the orphan care now
(Teacher, MW)
For successful extension, we work with
traditional chiefs (Student, MW)
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Evidence of action / change

• Intentions possibilities

We hope the School Governing Bodies will take
responsibility for the gardens so that they
keep producing for the soup kitchens or for
income generation (Coordinator, SA)
After I have graduated, Ill go back to my home
and practice all this on my farm (Student, MW)
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Where to now?
What do I do? The world isnt the same anymore
as I grow up. The environment needs us to make
change, I want to make it happen (Pupil, Zam)
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Concluding remarks
Initial findings on agriculturally based
school-community links in facilitating
environmental learning and action

• Links are fostered through sharing of knowledge
  and skills
• Links are fostered through provision of support
  resources
• Adoption of beneficial agricultural practices is
  incentive driven
• Can adoption of sustainable agricultural
  practices be linked to deeper environmental
  understanding?

Economy
Society
ESD
Environment
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Ideas to explore

• Can adoption of beneficial agricultural practices
  be linked to ethics?
• Do school community links promote empowerment of
  youth adults to make informed choices?
• Can schools community links help align cultural
  patterns with ecologically sustainable practices?
• Critical interrogation of links between
  environment, culture education

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Acknowledgements

• United States Agency for International
  Development Borlaug LEAP
• Dr Marianne Krasny, USA project mentor
• Dr Festus Akinnifesi, Malawi CGIAR mentor
• Prof Pat Irwin, South Africa MEd supervisor

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Thank you