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Brown University

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Program Name

Panama: Tropical Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract

Indigenous agroecological systems are gaining international recognition for their capacity to conserve biodiversity while promoting food security and sovereignty. Nainu is the ancestral agriculture of the Guna people of eastern Panama, and it is characterized by a successional growing system that imitates the regeneration of the tropical forest in which it is practiced. This research aimed to (a) characterize how nainu is practiced by farmers in Isla Tigre, a community in Guna Yala, (b) characterize how nainu practices have changed over time, and (c) describe how farmers and community members in Isla Tigre are envisioning and actualizing the revitalization of their ancestral agrarian knowledge. Semi-structured interviews and nainu visits were conducted with farmers and community members in Isla Tigre. Farmers described a prescriptive annual calendar that nainu cultivation follows and detailed the specific practices involved in the successional regeneration of their parcels, including soil selection, slash-and-burn, intercropping, organic matter application, and erosion management. Isla Tigre has experienced a decline in farming and some specific ancestral agricultural practices and crops due to a breakdown in the intergenerational transmission of agrarian knowledge, young people increasingly leaving the community to pursue educational and career opportunities, and economic barriers, among other drivers. The decline in nainu practice in Isla Tigre carries implications for cultural integrity, autonomy, food security and sovereignty, and health, which motivates the community to revitalize the nainu tradition. The decline of nainu is Isla Tigre and its broader implications can be situated within trends of Indigenous food system decline globally. Revitalization of Indigenous agroecological knowledge can contribute to reversing these trends. Multiple organizations and initiatives in Isla Tigre are working to promote and improve nainu cultivation. Interviewees stressed the importance of revitalizing their ancestral agrarian knowledge while also adapting their agricultural production to changing environmental, socio-economic, and cultural contexts through the integration of non-Guna agricultural practices. Knowledge co-production between Guna and non-Guna agroecological knowledge systems has the potential to fortify and adapt nainu in a rapidly changing world. The ways nainu revitalization is being envisioned and actualized in Isla Tigre reflects the dynamism and adaptability of Indigenous ecological knowledge systems.

Disciplines

Agriculture | Biodiversity | Community-Based Research | Environmental Studies | Food Security | Human Ecology | Indigenous Studies | Sustainability

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