LinKs Project
Mozambique, Tanzania, Swaziland

Government of Norway

FAO in Mozambique

World Bank Indigenous Knowledge Programme

Purpose

The overall goal of the project is to enhance rural people’s food security and promote sustainable management of agro-biodiversity by strengthening the capacity of institutions in the agricultural sector to apply approaches that recognise men and women farmers’ knowledge in their programmes and policies.

Mozambique

Swaziland

Tanzania

Background and use of SL

The LinKS project is a regional effort in Southern Africa aimed at raising awareness about how rural men and women use and manage biological diversity. It seeks to help development practitioners recognize that farmers have knowledge, practices and skills that are often highly sustainable and respectful of the natural ecosystems they depend on for their food and livelihoods and that rural men and women have different knowledge about how to use and manage genetic resources that is derived from their different roles and responsibilities in the farming system. It is estimated that up to 90 percent of the planting material used by poor farmers is derived from seeds and germplasm that they have produced, selected and saved themselves. This means that small farmers play a crucial role in the preservation and management of genetic resources and biodiversity. The project works with a diverse range of local institutions - both governmental and non-governmental - to strengthen their ability to recognize and value this knowledge and to use gender-sensitive and participatory approaches in their work.

It has three main activity areas:
• capacity building and training, about the role and importance of local knowledge; how to use gender analysis and participatory methods for both research and action processes;
• Research grants and technical assistance for research on gender-based differences in farmers' knowledge related to agro-biodiversity management;
• Communication and advocacy including technical assistance to enhance communication and the exchange of information about the value of local knowledge in agriculture within and between communities; as well as with institutions that interact with farmers and with policy-makers.

The sustainable livelihoods approach is used as an overall framework to understand better the linkages between gender, local knowledge and agrobiodiversity, and for promoting a growing awareness of the importance of gender and local knowledge for sustainable agrobiodiversity management. The aim of capacity building activities is to promote a holistic understanding of these components and to strengthen the institutional capacity in the agricultural sector to recognise and foster these linkages in the relevant programmes and policies. Training focuses specifically on the linkages between local knowledge systems, gender roles and relationships, the conservation and management of agrobiodiversity, plant and animal genetic resources, and food security and provides an overview of the policies, processes and institutions at the global level that may affect farmers and agrobiodiversity.