Appendix 1 - case study Indigenous technical knowledge among Yemeni women The Yemeni women of the Dhamar Montane Plains have been involved in a German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ)- sponsored development project since 1980. Several in-depth research reports have been published that give a good overview of women’s ITK in animal production (Maarse 1981; Maarse & Idriss 1988a; Maarse & Idriss 1988b; DHV 1989; Maarse 1989). The production system The farming system is based on sorghum, wheat, maize, barley, vegetables, cash crops (qat, potatoes, alfalfa), sheep production (extensive and intensive) and minor activities involving stall-fed cows, donkeys, goats, poultry, rabbits and camels. Women are involved more in animal than in crop production. Extensive sheep-raising is undertaken by all members of a family. Women are involved in all aspects of sheep-raising but take on a greater role in herding during Ramadhan or the peak agricultural season. Intensive sheep production is controlled exclusively by women. Only middle-class women own cows because the poor cannot afford either fodder or land, and the rich would seem to prefer to emulate urban lifestyles. Rangelands provide only 40% of the feed for intensive sheep production, while cultivated fodder and kitchen wastes provide the remainder. Alfalfa is cultivated, harvested, stored and managed exclusively by women. The cutting of fresh alfalfa is a most exacting and laborious task, requiring careful timing and gentle treatment in order to avoid losing plant leaves. Kitchen wastes, bread, grain, pulses, weeds and the like are also fed to sheep. The feeding of sorghum stover is avoided, as it hinders the preparation of dung cakes (which, as noted earlier, are used as fuel). Local women’s detailed knowledge of the nutritional requirements of all their animals, especially during the reproductive cycle, determines the performance of the flock. The women traditionally give the ewe extra supplements immediately after lambing to allow them to recover from the process. In the Dhamar Montane Plains, everything related to milk production and processing is women’s responsibility. Women decide whether or not to milk and how often to milk. A woman may pressure a man to start weaning the lambs or she may complain about the breeding strategy he follows. The senior woman of the family coordinates and manages all the tasks, while the younger women do the work. Women are well aware of the relationships between lactation and weaning. For example, they claim that complete weaning of lambs creates a shorter lactation period than does partial weaning. Yemeni women prefer to make soft cheese (laban) from fresh sheep’s milk because they believe that dairy products based on sheep’s milk have excellent medicinal qualities that are absent from substitutes such as milk powder or long-life milk. Women market shortening (ghee), eggs and dung cakes, but only within the confines of the village. Trade with other villages, involving other products, is a male preserve, although women may have some say in the process. The women have a detailed set of local veterinary techniques. For example, they know the causes of bloat (fresh alfalfa and wet grass) and are capable of treating it effectively, if the condition is detected early, by administering oil or Pepsi-Cola and modifying the ration. This example shows that ITK is continually being modified and improved using modern ingredients and techniques. The process of experimentation with ITK is still alive. Modern veterinary medicines are also used, but men control them. The following matrix provides an analytical framework for understanding the ITK of Yemeni women. The matrix illustrates the areas where women’s knowledge has been tapped, and where gaps remain. It also illustrates the extent to which ITK is used by Yemeni women in animal production. Analysis of Yemeni women’s ITK of sheep-fattening operations The following matrix shows the type of information available on women’s ITK. Where information is lacking, a question mark is used. The matrix shows what researchers’ view of what Yemeni women do, and not necessarily what Yemeni women know. Animal husbandry: breeds Nomenclature:
names of all breeds Animal husbandry: flock structure Nomenclature:
breeding flock vs. fattening flock Animal husbandry: fattening Nomenclature:
four types of fattening ('aleifa, daraji, bain al ghanam sarahat)
Animal husbandry: reproduction Nomenclature:
mating; selection; fecundity Animal husbandry: housing Nomenclature:
night pens; feed troughs; kitchen pens; range shelters Animal husbandry: milking and lactation Nomenclature:
quantity and quality of milk; season Animal husbandry: manure production for fuel
Animal nutrition Nomenclature:
concentrates; roughage/bulk; salt Animal health Four
types of diseases for sheep identified: Feed management Nomenclature:
types of feed (alfalfa, riparian zones, fallow fields, stover and
residue, roots of Cynodon dactylon in ploughed fields, different
types of rangelands, private range reserves, kitchen
wastes and bread/grain)
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