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Participatory Technology Development (PTD)

You can see an interesting picture in the morning vegetable market in Mengsong: women from Hongqi village are selling wild vegetables in queue, but standing opposite to Hongqi women, women from Guangming village are selling vegetables collected from their home gardens…

The positive role that traditional culture can play in sustainable and effective resource management has received scant attention. More often, traditional culture is neglected when we look at today''''s impact on the environment and its current reality that communities face. This case study examines traditional resource management practices of the Hani minority in Mengsong. The study found: 1) By the end of 1980s rattan''''s popularity had grown and the rattan market became open to outside businessmen. Increasingly, local leaders and outside entrepreneurs exploited and inevitably depleted natural rattan resources. 2) On the other hand, the local culture has been preserved through private rattan cultivation by Mengsong villagers who utilize sustainable practices. The authors propose that further examinination of traditional rattan cultivation will help in finding a practical application of resource management. The authors also suggest resource management and related policies should include local villagers' direct involvement since they affect their livelihoods and places demands on their indigenous culture.

In August 2004 the Workshop on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Experience Sharing was held in Luqun. Participants from different places, different government sectors and other NGOs shared their experiences in rural development and sustainable agriculture development in the workshop. The results of different projects, agricultural products, handicraft were displayed in the workshop either.