Indigenous Knowledge Development in Bangladesh : Present and Future

Contents: Introduction. 1. The state of indigenous knowledge in Bangladesh/Paul Sillitoe. I. Indigenous knowledge and development issues: 2. Indigenous technical knowledge: unexplored potential for sustainable development/Abdul Momen Miah. 3. Towards an understanding of indigenous knowledge/M. Millat-e-Mustafa. 4. Indigenous knowledge and sustainability: on the brink of disaster or revolution?/H. Zaman. 5. Development disasters: the role of indigenous knowledge and practices/Mahfuzul Haque. 6. Investigating indigenous knowledge: a review of the Bangladeshi literature on natural resources/Dwijen Mallick. II. Indigenous knowledge and agroforestry: 7. Use of indigenous knowledge in the sustainable development of Bangladeshi farm forestry/M.A. Quddus. 8. Tree pathology and Bangladeshi agroforestry practices/Mohammad Abdur Rahman. 9. In praise of the indigenous Neem tree/L. Mohammed Lalon. III. Indigenous knowledge and plant resources: 10. Indigenous knowledge of plant use in a hill tracts tribal community and its role in sustainable development/M.A. Rahman, Aditi Khisa, S.B. Uddin and C.C. Wilcock. 11. Wild vegetables: a valuable natural resource for the rural poor/Jane Stokoe. 12. Local vegetable seed storage methods and women\'s participation in development/Wajed A. Shah and Salina Jahan Nuri. 13. Medicinal plants for the survival of rural people/N. Begum, M.F. Haq and K. Naher. 14. Indigenous medicinal plant use, sustainability and biodiversity: learning from the Grameen Bank experience/M.I. Zuberi. IV. Indigenous knowledge and fish resources: 15. Indigenous knowledge of fish and fisheries: a pilot study/Nurul Islam, Antonia Reihlen and Paul M. Thompson. 16. Freshwater fisheries: indigenous knowledge and issues of sustainability/D. Mazumder, Z. Samina and T. Islam. 17. An indigenously developed pond aquaculture system/Wajed A. Shah and Philip Townsley. V. Indigenous knowledge and methodological issues: 18. Indigenous knowledge and agricultural research: conflicts and complementarities/S.B. Naseem. 19. Cultivating indigenous knowledge on Bangladeshi soil: an essay in definition/Paul Sillitoe. 20. Actors and rural livelihoods: integrating interdisciplinary research and local knowledge/P.J. Dixon, J.J.F. Barr and P. Sillitoe. 21. Databases, indigenous knowledge and interdisciplinary research/J.J.F. Barr and P. Sillitoe. 22. Indigenous knowledge fieldwork: interaction with natural resource scientists/Mahbub Alam. 23. When a Bangladeshi \'Native\' is not a Bangladeshi \'Native\'/Zahir Ahmed. Conclusion: 24. The Bangladesh resource centre for indigenous knowledge and its network/Sukanta Sen, Ben Angell and Anna Miles. References. Index.

"Development has failed to deliver on many of its promises to nations such as Bangladesh. Even worse, it stands accused sometimes of making matters worse, particularly for the poorest of the poor. The policies imposed from above by international agencies and central governments have been sadly at variance with the needs and aspirations of ordinary people. The development \'industry\', concerned at evidence of the damage inflicted by its well-intentioned actions, has been searching for sometime past for alternative approaches.

While the aims of indigenous knowledge research are straightforward, their achievement presents us with some of the largest challenges in development currently. It is an exciting time. The work has only recently started in earnest and a great deal remains to be accomplished. If you wish to see more equitable use of resources, this book is a must for you. Indeed it should be compulsory reading for all those working in the development field." (jacket)

Paul Sillitoe is Professor of Anthropology at Durham University, U.K. His publications include Roots of the Earth : The Cultivation and Classification of Crops in the Papua New Guinea Highlands and An Introduction to the Anthropology of Melanesia: Culture and Tradition.