ternational Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR) has launched a website, the
"Patenting Sentinel and Action Service", with information on legal, technical and
practical aspects of animal patenting, as well as worldwide news in the field.
ence, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal
people. Increasing population, disputes over usage rights, and the depletion, mis-
management and exploitation of natural resources pose huge challenges. The
country has been unable to meet its planning goals for livestock, despite a large
amount of resources devoted to this area. Attempts to introduce industrialized food
production bring with them fears of further environmental damage and outbreaks of
pests and diseases. And a global agreement on trade could threaten the livelihoods
of millions of poor farmers.
dicinal herbs. How best to take advantage of these resources to solve the country's
food production problems?
medicines. Farmers increasingly understand how to use herbal treatments and
other complementary and alternative medicines. Veterinarians are complying with
strict guidelines to reduce the misuse of chemical drugs. Vet students are learning
complementary and alternative medicines, and animal health camps in remote ar-
eas of Nepal emphasize disease prevention and promote local healing practices.
nary medicine. Documenting this indigenous knowledge is an urgent need. Desig-
nating the Institute of Veterinary and Animal Science as a centre for endogenous
livestock research would be a major step to preserving Nepal's livestock genetic
diversity and its heritage of indigenous knowledge on livestock health and treat-
ment.
Indonesia as a way to im-
prove pest control in rice
crops, the philosophy be-
hind the "farmer field
school" was one of
farmer-centred learning.
Top-down approaches
had failed; farmers
needed an environment in
which they could experi-
ment, innovate and learn.
have spread, their original
purpose of farmers influ-
encing what they learn
has been lost. Instead, the
field school curriculum
tends to be increasingly
focused on introducing
externally developed
technologies. This, Isubi-
kalu argues, is ineffective
in achieving the goal of
erty reduction. The system
needs radical redirecting.
The author calls for a re-
vised model that focuses
on catalysing, promoting
and building on local inno-
vations.
www.new-ag.info
ing of participatory ag-
ricultural extension
Field Schools in
Publishers, 2007, 215 pp