**2.2. Empirical studies on determinants of sustainable utilization of plant resources**

Many factors determine whether or not indigenous plant resources are to be used in a sustainable manner. **Table 1** summarizes the findings of empirical studies on determinants of sustainable utilization of plant resources.


**Author Objective Method Setting Main findings**

South Africa South Africa is a hot spot for biodiversity with more

than 22,000 plant species that form 10% of the world species on only 1% of the earth. Plant genetic resources are used for four main purposes: (1) medicinal by 60% of people who engage in informal trade with threats of depletion of many indigenous species. (2) Few species are used as food: leaves and trees have high nutritional value and, hence, could play an important role in preventing malnutrition in rural areas. (3) Ornamental industry based on a plant kingdom called *flora capensus* with 8600 species that were collected by many European explorers to develop new horticultural products. The indigenous flower industry supports 20,000 people in South Africa. (4) Economic exploitation of aloe and the devil's claw that are exported for medicinal use

Although women have always played a major role as food providers and plant domesticators, they were considered as ecologically naïve until the last decade when they were recognized as embodying environmental knowledge that could lead to sustainability since it is local, traditional, subsistenceoriented, contextual, communal and uncorrupted by the influence of the commercial market. However, gendered knowledge varies with the environment. For instance, out migration in Mexico pushes women into decision-making positions while in Bangladesh, women do not play a public role in agriculture but only preserve

Knowledge of medicinal plants is declining in the face of habitat alteration and cultural decay. However, women are the primary health care providers in the family and older women know more medicinal plants than men do; elderly women constitute cognitive repositories of traditional ethnomedical knowledge. Younger women and men, especially those with the most education and travel experiences, show little interest in learning the identities and use of local plants, albeit having a strong general commitment to environmental conservation

Gender differences in knowledge of varieties of maize are related to divisions of labor, farming of separate plots and men's out migration for long periods. Women could remember a greater number of varieties of maize that were no longer grown and that they often grew small plots of traditional maize varieties for special dishes or to maintain a variety passed on to

Home gardens and agricultural field are complementary gendered domains for varietal maintenance for both maize and squash, while a new space of family allocated plots (terrenos) is a joint agricultural domain where both genders make decisions about crop diversity. Mayan women select maize based on factors such as processing, food preparation and preservation methods, while men select squash cultivars for the market value of their

them by a parent or grandparent

indigenous crops

seeds

Literature review

Literature review

Literature review

Literature review

Field surveys Mayan communities, Mexico, Africa and Bangladesh

Brazil-Bahia State

Mayan community in the Yucatan

Central Mexico

[17] Examine the

162 Indigenous People

[56] Explore the

role of gender in sustainable utilization of environmental resources

Assess the effect of ecotourism on retention of knowledge on wild medicinal plants

[50] Dependent

[15] Examine the

role of gender in conservation of plant resources

on substance production of maize and b squash

different species and uses of plant genetic resources



*Source*: Author's synthesis of literature.

**Table 1.** Empirical studies on determinants of sustainable utilization of plant resources.

#### **2.3. Land degradation and sustainable land management in western highlands of Kenya**

An overwhelming number of smallholder farmers in western Kenya rely on subsistence farming as their main source of food and livelihood support. However, this resource base has experienced continuous widespread declining land productivity due to various forms of land degradation that include but not limited to: soil erosion, soil nutrient depletion, deforestation and biodiversity loss [30, 31]. This directly has concomitant negative effects on household food security, particularly for the resource-poor farmers. In a wider sense, this adversely affects the supply of a range of ecosystem services from the existing natural resources [32]. For instance, ecosystem services provided by tropical forests are becoming scarcer due to continued deforestation as demand for forest benefits increases with the growing population [33, 34], whereas land degradation is acknowledged as a key contributor to poverty and food insecurity [35]. SLM strategies have in recent years been a focus of the Government of Kenya, and numerous development partners, due to their potential to minimize degradation, rehabilitate degraded lands and increase food production (**Table 2**). Studies elsewhere have found that proper application of SLM practices reduces land degradation and improves productivity of ecosystem services within the targeted ecosystems [36, 37].

According to Ref. [39], SLM is "*a knowledge-based [process] that helps integrate land,…, biodiversity and environmental management … to meet rising food and fibre demands while sustaining ecosystem services and livelihoods*." SLM is necessary to meet the requirements of a growing population. Improper land management can lead to land degradation and a significant reduction in the productive and service functions.1 For operational definition purposes, we considered SLM as the "*application of a set of improved technologies and or better practices to enhance land productivity, increase on-farm returns and forest benefits than what is currently achieved*" [40].

<sup>1</sup> Numerous definitions of sustainable agriculture and natural resource management exist [54–56] that are equally applicable to land management. This chapter draws upon these in the definition provided *inter alia*.


**Table 2.** Some selected SLM projects implemented in western Kenya.

**2.3. Land degradation and sustainable land management in western highlands of Kenya**

**Table 1.** Empirical studies on determinants of sustainable utilization of plant resources.

ecosystem services within the targeted ecosystems [36, 37].

**Author Objective Method Setting Main findings**

Literature review

[75] Assessment of the use of biotechnology in conservation of plant generic resources

164 Indigenous People

*Source*: Author's synthesis of literature.

tion in the productive and service functions.1

1

An overwhelming number of smallholder farmers in western Kenya rely on subsistence farming as their main source of food and livelihood support. However, this resource base has experienced continuous widespread declining land productivity due to various forms of land degradation that include but not limited to: soil erosion, soil nutrient depletion, deforestation and biodiversity loss [30, 31]. This directly has concomitant negative effects on household food security, particularly for the resource-poor farmers. In a wider sense, this adversely affects the supply of a range of ecosystem services from the existing natural resources [32]. For instance, ecosystem services provided by tropical forests are becoming scarcer due to continued deforestation as demand for forest benefits increases with the growing population [33, 34], whereas land degradation is acknowledged as a key contributor to poverty and food insecurity [35]. SLM strategies have in recent years been a focus of the Government of Kenya, and numerous development partners, due to their potential to minimize degradation, rehabilitate degraded lands and increase food production (**Table 2**). Studies elsewhere have found that proper application of SLM practices reduces land degradation and improves productivity of

Kenya Conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources is essential to meet the demand for future food security. Advances in biotechnology have generated new opportunities for genetic resource conservation and utilization. Techniques like in vitro culture and cry preservation have made it easy to collect and conserve genetic resources, especially of species that are difficult to conserve as seeds. While technologies like enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have provided tools that are more sensitive and pathogen specific for seed health testing, tissue culture methods are now widely applied for elimination of systematic diseases such as viruses for

safe exchange of germplasm

According to Ref. [39], SLM is "*a knowledge-based [process] that helps integrate land,…, biodiversity and environmental management … to meet rising food and fibre demands while sustaining ecosystem services and livelihoods*." SLM is necessary to meet the requirements of a growing population. Improper land management can lead to land degradation and a significant reduc-

ered SLM as the "*application of a set of improved technologies and or better practices to enhance land productivity, increase on-farm returns and forest benefits than what is currently achieved*" [40].

Numerous definitions of sustainable agriculture and natural resource management exist [54–56] that are equally ap-

plicable to land management. This chapter draws upon these in the definition provided *inter alia*.

For operational definition purposes, we consid-

In the study area, the following SLM practices are ubiquitous: application of farm yard and compost manure, use of inorganic fertilizers and improved crop varieties, incorporation of crop residues and intercropping with legumes [41–44].

#### **2.4. Conceptualizing indigenous institutions in soil land management**

Institutions have been defined in various ways such as "rules of game in a society" [45], "regularized patterns of behaviour between individuals and groups in society" [46] and "structures of power" [47]. However, institutions can be simply understood as rules and norms framed by people, helping them in deciding what actions are required, permitted, or forbidden in society [48]. Institutions reflect power relations in community, which shape the ways in which differentiated actors access, use and derive well-being from environmental resources and services. They play a critical role in sustainable management of resources through defining property rights. For example, institutions ascertain who can graze cattle on a particular pasture and who cannot and also define one's share [49]. Institutions promote stability of expectations ex ante, and consistency in actions, ex post, from different actors [50]. Hence, it is increasingly believed that "getting institutions right" is as important as and inextricable from "getting incentives right," if sustainable resource development is to be achieved [48].

Like institutions, the term "indigenous institutions" has also been defined in many ways, which makes it difficult to understand what does it involve and what does it mean. Here for the sake of simplicity and clarity, a definition can be borrowed from [47], who defines indigenous institutions as "those institutions that have emerged in a particular situation or that are practiced or constituted by people who have had a degree of continuity of living in, and using resource of an area." These indigenous institutions can be traditional and nontraditional, and formal and informal. Indigenous institutions have a number of positive characteristics, which lead to successful natural resource management. Some of their characteristics are [50]: social embeddedness, flexibility, cost-effectiveness and ability to promote inclusive and holistic development.
