Dr. Mary Nyasimi
mnyasimi@ei.columbia.edu
Dr. Nyasimi is a PostDoctoral Research Fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York. Nyasimi received her PhD from Iowa State University, and she is currently engaged in ethnographically documenting the socio-cultural transformation occurring among ethnic groups in the Millennium Villages Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Joseph Okang’a
jonje67@yahoo.com
Okang’a is a research assistant based at Sauri Millennium Villages Project, Kenya. Okang’a is working toward his High National Diploma in Community Development at the CEFORED Institute in Nairobi, Kenya. Okang’a research interests are in rural development with focus on community participation and empowerment.
Abstract
The Earth Institute at Columbia University is implementing a development program in ten countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Referred to as the Millennium Village Project (MVP), the program aims to use a combination of science-based interventions and community participation to transform the livelihoods of African people and ultimately lift them out of extreme poverty. Involvement of local people is a critical ingredient and key processes of empowering them and ensuring the sustainability of MVP. To engage local people in assessing the impact of MVP on their lives, a community led Photovoice project was initiated in the first millennium village-Sauri, Kenya. In this project, local research participants used digital cameras and their own narratives to share their emic view of their changing world. The main objective of this photo essay is to share photographs and narratives from ten local research participants of different ages, educational levels and gender. The photographs and stories indicate that MVP is positively impacting on local people, and it can be used as a monitoring tool for various activities. In addition, the research participants were enthusiastic about Photovoice, and they provided a powerful internal visual interpretation of community changes. All the photographs and their stories will be shared in a community Photovoice exhibition later this year.
Author’s Note
One type of image that has become too familiar in Africa is photographs taken of them by development workers, tourists and journalists. Local people never get to see the photographs because they get published in foreign magazines, books and journal papers. When we begun working among the local residents of Sauri Millennium Village, we witnessed the same influx of visitors who were busy photographing local people. During one village meeting that we attended, we were taking photos of people, and one woman asked, “Why don’t you give me your camera and I will take photographs for you? I will provide you with personal pictures of our people engaged in various activities in Sauri Village…. Every week, I can provide you with photos that tell my stories, and you will have a better understanding of the impact of millennium project on Sauri people.”
There and then, the idea of the Photovoice project dawned on us. We knew that we had to provide Sauri residents with cameras and note books and empower them to photograph their changing lives as they participated in the millennium project. We shared the idea at the next weekly village meeting, and Sauri residents were quite ecstatic about the project. The Sauri people will be holding a Photovoice exhibition once every three months to share their photos and stories with surrounding villages, government officials and other organizations.
Keywords: Photographs, Personal Narratives, Sauri village, Millennium Project
Images and Voices of Change: Engaging Local Community in Assessing Impact of Millennium Villages Project in their Lives in Sauri Village, western Kenya.
Background – Images and Voices of Change Project (INVOCP)
‘See our pictures and read our stories, our lives are changing everyday’-Paul Omondi, Sauri Village.
One of the premises of sustainable development is designing a strategy that enables people in developing countries to understand the world they live in. In recent years, engaging local people in development projects has become one of the most critical components of achieving sustainable development (Sen, 1999; Robeyns, 2003). By drawing together all the skills, knowledge and ideas of local people, it can encourage them to take a fresh look at their own surroundings and problems and devise new and innovative sustainable solutions to solving them. The approach taken by the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) aims to integrate local people into the development process. The project is implemented by the Earth Institute at Columbia University in ten countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the intention to work in partnership with local people and national governments in selected African countries (Sachs, 2005). To transform their economies, the Earth Institute is concentrating investment in growing more and diversified foods, improving health, supporting education, extending information and communications technologies and building possibilities for new sustainable livelihoods (Sachs, 2005; MVP Annual Report, 2005).
Since its inception in 2004, reports from four villages in Sauri (Kenya), Koraro (Ethiopia), Mwandama (Malawi) and Mayange (Rwanda) indicate that about 120,000 people have increased their staple food production by three- to eight-fold, thereby eliminating seasonal hunger cycles of 3-4 months (Sanchez et al., 2007). Primary school enrollment has also increased as school feeding programs were initiated. Malaria infestation rates have declined as villagers are sleeping under insecticide-treated, long-lasting bednets. To engage the local people in documenting the changes occurring in their lives, a community led documentation project-Photovoice-was initiated and piloted in Sauri village, Western Kenya, with the intention to expand to other villages in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this project was to engage local people in monitoring the impact of the project in their lives, thus helping them to achieve long-term behavior change in sustainable manner.
For decades, anthropologists have used photography as a research tool to reveal and understand social and cultural realities that shape people’s lives (Worth and Adair, 1972; Ruby, 1975). In recent years, this technique is embracing the voices of local people in a participatory action tool referred to as photo-essay or Photovoice (Hockings, 1995; Banks, 1992; Crawford and Turton, 1992; Wang, 1998). As a participatory tool, Photovoice has been extensively used in eliciting community involvement and participation, raising critical consciousness, information sharing and as an impetus of social change (Wang et al., 2004; Henley, 1997). This is because Photovoice is a process and tool by which local ‘people can identify, visually represent, and enhance their community’ (Wang and Burris, 1997). It’s based on three concepts; a) images teach, b) images can emphasize and spur collective action and social change and, c) images can influence policy makers (Wang, 1998; Wang et al., 2004; Rhodes et al., 2008; Oliffe and Bottorff, 2007; Carlson et al., 2006). Photovoice is currently being used in various development programs including health, biodiversity and conservation, water and sanitation, education and natural resource management.
Combined with other approaches, Photovoice has the potential for developing long-term community involvement in social action to bring about real economic and social change within MVP across sub-Saharan Africa. Engagement of local people in the Photovoice project is expected to spur personal and social growth and put the whole community on the right highway toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The goal of Photovoice project is to involve local people in photographically documenting impacts of MVP activities in their lives, facilitate and critically understand their experiences and increase awareness about the complexity and diversity of impacts and effectiveness of MVP. Indeed, visual images are powerful representation of reality, and they can lead to improving the creativity and efficiency of implementing MDGs elsewhere across the developing world. In the spirit of participatory action research, we also plan to disseminate the findings from INVOCP through creation of a photo-album collective that would have an economical and social value to local people.
Sauri Millennium Village
The Photovoice project was initiated in Sauri village located close to the eastern shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. Sauri village lies about 1450 meters above sea level with average daily temperatures of 24oC (MVP Annual Report, 2005). The topography is undulating with ephemeral streams and a permanent river, and it receives an annual rainfall of 1800mm that is bimodally distributed. A total of about 5,521 people live in Sauri village and are mainly engaged in agricultural activities (MVP Annual Report, 2005). There are three primary schools and one secondary school. This is the first millennium village, and local people have had more than three years engaged in various development activities.
Nine local research participants decomposed of men and women of different ages and educational level were selected for this project. In addition, one woman who was the chairperson of the Sauri Executive Board for two years was purposively selected. Through their own eyes and voices, these ten participants were expected to provide a powerful insider visual interpretation of community changes. A local photojournalist was invited to train the participants on photographic techniques. The research participants decided on a theme and spend two weeks capturing images and writing personal narratives related to the theme.
The Photo Essay (June to August 2008: Sauri Village, Kenya)
For this photo essay, the research participants requested us to share two main themes that they have photographed: basic health provision and identification and support of vulnerable groups. These two themes target four of the eight Millennium Developments Goals: to promote gender equality and empower women (Goal 3), reduce child mortality (Goal 4), improve maternal health (Goal 5) and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (Goal 6). Since the inception of MVP in Sauri, the research participants felt that these are the goals where they have observed changes and felt the impact of the project. The research participants have observed that, for any meaningful sustainable development to be made in Sauri village, it is necessary to tackle diseases that kill young children such as malaria and halt the spread of HIV/AIDS among the adult population. Efforts by the Kenyan government to provide primary health care to its citizens, particularly those living in rural areas, are hindered by insufficient resources to build health centers and stock them with medical drugs. With the arrival of MVP and commitment from Sauri residents, a health center fully equipped with a pharmacy was built, and now everyone has access to medicine, particularly HIV antiretroviral drugs. Nine of the photographs directly depict the impact of health centers on their lives. According to one research participant, “our community cannot move forward if we do not deal with diseases in our village. We cannot farm, send our children to school or protect our environment if we do not deal with AIDS and malaria. If people are sick, they cannot invest nor participate in development.”
Finally, six of the photographs depict vulnerable members of the community who are often neglected in normal society. In Sauri village, these include widows, physically disabled, young girls and orphans. By focusing specifically on vulnerable people, the research participants aimed to raise community awareness and encourage integration into village activities. According to research participants, vulnerable people are often ignored when making development plans or given low priority in securing sustainable lives and livelihoods.
Photo Narratives
Photo 01-20 Sauri Health Clinic
The clinic was opened in 2005 to provide basic health care to the people of Sauri. The clinic provides diagnosis, testing, treatment and health awareness education to the community. At the clinic we also get HIV antiretroviral drugs and condoms. There is a clinical doctor in charge with nurses and community health workers. Before the clinic was built in Sauri, we only obtained minimum medical care at the sub-District hospital located 2 kilometers away. In most cases, we were treated by nurses and a doctor came occasionally. Most of us could not afford to purchase medicine and now we have our own Sauri pharmacy that is well stocked. The clinic does not have enough chairs for patients to sit on or for sick children to sleep. We also need to provide shelter for patients to shield themselves from the strong sun. Everyday the clinic is filled with patients of all ages. Some patients travel from as far away as 8 kilometers because they know they will get to see the doctor and receive the prescribed drugs (Photo and story by Paul Omondi, 2008).
Photo 02-20 Patients lining at Pharmacy
Having a well-equipped pharmacy at Sauri health clinic is attracting a lot of patients. The pharmacy is well stocked with drugs that we need particularly for malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea and HIV antiretroviral drugs. The queues at the pharmacy are never long because the nurse dispensing the drugs is very efficient and fast. She does not want anyone be in queue for more than 10 minutes because there is no shade shelter to protect those waiting from the sun and rain (Photo and story by Leonida Owino, 2008).
Photo 03-20 Patients arrive very early at the Sauri Health Clinic
Patients with all kinds of ailments come from far away and start arriving at the clinic as early at 6.00AM yet the clinic only opens at 8.00AM. Patients arrive very early so that they can see the doctor before midmorning when it gets so hot from the sun. Sauri clinic has become quite popular with neighboring people because there is guarantee of access to drugs medicine once the clinical doctor has prescribed them. We can also get free male condoms at the clinic. Are there condoms for women that we can get at the clinic? We want women to take charge of their sexual behavior because some men might refuse to use a condom (Photo and Story by Roseline Adhiambo, 2008).
Photo 04-20 and 05-20 Community Health Worker (CHW) at every Doorstep
These are the most important people in our village. A CHW does not have a scheduled time to help with sickness in Sauri village. All CHW work everyday of the week, very committed to their work. Anyone in Sauri can visit a CHW at their home whenever they have a medical emergency. A CHW checks in our house to ensure that every sleeping space has a treated malaria bednet and that the house is clean. If they find that there is no bednet, they threaten to report us to the Assistant chief. This month is the busiest period at the clinic because it is malaria season and most of the CHW come to help because people from neighboring villages are coming for treatment at the clinic. A CHW helps to keep medical records at Sauri clinic, helping in taking the weight and height of patients. A CHW also advises pre and post-natal mothers and teach the whole community on importance of sanitation. There are male and women CHWs of different ages so that every person in the community can easily approach a CHW of their age and discuss private issues affecting them in their homes. They keep minimum records and information they discuss with Sauri people in notebooks and report back to the MVP health team (Photo and story by Paul Omondi, 2008).
Photo 06-20 We are NOT Afraid of AIDS Anymore
This woman has AIDS but she is not afraid of letting everyone know that she has the disease. This is because people in Sauri are not afraid of AIDS stigma anymore. Anyone with AIDS now has a future, including children with mothers who have AIDS. We have HIV antiretroviral available in the Sauri clinic and this is saving a lot of lives in Sauri. People are not ashamed to talk about AIDS, or tell our children how to safeguard themselves against AIDS. We now know that AIDs is not a curse. Community health workers are doing excellent work sensitizing Sauri people about AIDS and everyone is openly talk about sexual behaviors and how we can change. Through intensive AIDS programs in our village, the MVP team has enabled us to readily accept people with AIDS, help them when they require assistance and even collect medicine for them from the clinic. We attend nutritional sessions organized by MVP team because all of us have someone who has AIDS and hence we need to know the right foods to cook for them. More and more people are also readily enrolling at the clinic to get HIV antiretroviral drugs. I encourage women who have AIDS and are nursing young children at attend AIDS awareness days at the clinic to that they learn how not to transmit the virus to their children (Photo and story by Monica Okech, 2008).
Photo 07-20 and 8-20 Responding to Medical Emergencies Faster – the Community Ambulance
Before we started working with MVP, we used to transport the sick to Yala Sub-District hospital using bicycles. Even now villages that are not included within the project target area still using bicycles to transport the sick. We now have a community clinic ambulance that in case of medical complications, it transports the patient to the district hospital, particularly for women who are delivering a baby. Now most women especially young teenage girls do not die during childbirth because they get to the hospital on time. The community ambulance is also used to carry patients who cannot walk to the hospital. It is on standby the whole day and night in case there is an emergency. Unfortunately, there is no nurse or medical officer accompanying the ambulance when it is carrying a patient (Photo and story by Shadrack Rading, 2008).
09-20
Photo 09-20 A father taking a Son to Sauri Health Clinic
Before MVP built the Sauri health clinic, men hardly carried their sick children to the sub-district hospital. This was a job mainly left to mother of the child. Since MVP initiated its activities, more men are engaging in activities they considered ‘women’s job’ such as carrying their own sick children to the hospital. Young and middle aged men in Sauri village are realizing the importance of helping their wives in household duties, particularly taking care of children. Since all young girls are attending school and not available to care for the child, the men have to take up that responsibility. As a young man myself, I know it’s our responsibility to change because the rest of Kenya is pushing ahead with development while in Sauri we will languish behind. Because of the MVP I have had opportunity to travel to other places in Nyanza among the Kipsigis people in Kericho and saw men engaged in farming activities more intensely than women, especially in raising vegetables for the market in Nairobi. I was encouraged and decided to assist my wife in establishing a vegetable garden so that we sell vegetables at Kisumu market, which is 35 kilometers away from Sauri village (Photo and story by Aggrey Ranyondo, 2008).
Photo 10-20 Sauri Theatre Group Disseminating MVP Information
A group of young men and women felt the need to form a theatre group to share information about MVP activities to the rest of Sauri community. This group has become important to us because they get information in English and then translate it into Luo and use drama, short plays, poems and games to share it with the community. I am a member of this group and we target adults and school children. We perform our shows to audiences at the primary and secondary schools, health clinic, churches, village meetings and at funerals. Our topics range from prevention of AIDS, sanitation, discouragement of early teenage girl marriages, protecting the environment, improving soil fertility, use of latrines and dissuade the culture of beating women (Photo and story by Samuel Ougo, 2008).
Photo 11-20 A Widow in Sauri is Triple Disadvantaged
For a long time, widows suffered a great deal in Sauri village. They were triple disadvantaged, never seen nor heard. First, they are women; second, they are widows; and third, have refused wife inheritance and hence shunned by the community. Now with MVP a widow can be seen and they are readily getting help. However, more work needs to be done to assist widows escape poverty. I am requesting MVP to include a 9th MDG which is: to provide quality shelter particularly to widows. This is because widows are shunned by the community and most men do not want to help them (Photo and story by Monica Okech, 2008).
Photo 12-20 A New Home for a Widow
One of our cultures is wife inheritance after the death of a woman’s husband. The widow has to be inherited before the dead husband is buried. However, with increasing cases of AIDS infection, many widows are refusing to be inherited. Since these widows do not have a man to build a house for them or even repair the old one, their houses collapse. When MVP initiated community activities, we realized that widows do need help in rebuilding their houses. So, we requested support from the MVP and this is one of the homes that the Sauri community built for widows with the help of the MVP. The houses have iron sheet roofs and they have a gutter to direct rainwater into a huge storage tank. This widow does not need to go to the protected springs to collect any water. She can use the spare time to do other jobs in the house or just rest or meet her friends. Not all widows have benefited from this generous gift but we are requesting our local leaders particularly our chief and assistant chief and Member of Parliament to assist these widows. There are constituency funds that can be used to rebuild houses for widows and we want our local Member of Parliament to allocate some funds to this. We cannot depend on the MVP all the time because they will be here for a short time and we need to continue the work we begun together (Photo and story by Shadrack Rading, 2008).
Photo 13-20 My Close Friends Provide a Safe Haven and Comfort
These are my friends who support me. Two of these women are widows who really need our support especially social and emotional moral support. We depend on each other to borrow household foods such as salt, sugar, maize flour and soap and also to provide a safe place when our husbands beat us. Our doors are open to each other day and night. We have formed a silent women group that includes both widows and women with husbands because we need each other. These women have assisted me getting fertilizer and maize seed on loan. We attend village meetings together at Sauri centre where we get information from the Assistant chief or MVP team (Photo and story by Pascalia Odando, 2008).
Photo 14-20 Young girls engage in Household Work and Attend School
The problem of being a girl in Sauri is that we are expected to attend school some days and stay at home to help our mothers on other days. This girl is my friend and classmate at Sauri Primary School but she did not come to school today (a Thursday). I came to check on her thinking that she might be sick. Her mother informed me that she had gone to collect water from the spring. I found her returning home with a pail and jerrican of water on her head and hand. Despite having free primary school and the school meals, some parents do not send their daughters to school everyday and instead involve them in water and firewood collection and other activities around the home. All parents should enroll girls and ensure that the girls attend school everyday (Name withheld to protect identity of photographer).
Photo 15-20 Physically Disabled People are Actively Engaging in Community Activities
Physically disabled people in Sauri have been neglected by the community for a long time. I can remember a long time ago that physically disabled people were supported by the community and provided with food and clothing. However, in recent years disabled people became ignored and lost within Sauri. Now MVP has raised our awareness of these people. We help them plant their crops and harvest as well. We have created a special seat for them in the Sauri Executive Committee so that they have a representative who can voice their concerns (Photo and story by Jackline Odindo, 2008).
Photo 16-20, 17-20 and 18-20 A Widow consumed by Jiggers
This woman’s husband died and her house collapsed. With the help of community members particularly the former Sauri Executive Chairlady, Monica Okech and MVP helped her build a new one but forgot about cementing the floors. With poor hygiene and sanitation, jiggers invaded her house and attacked her feet and fingers. She does not her sweep her house regularly or even keep it clean, so jiggers decided to make a home there. The community health workers could like to target her and assist her, but everyone in Sauri village thinks her late husband is cursing her. So many people are keeping away from her. Even me I was scared of taking the picture but I want the MVP team to see what is happening to this woman and they can plan on how to assist her with medicine. She cannot walk to the clinic because her feet are very painful (Photo and story by Pamela Adhiambo, 2008).
Photo 19-20 and 20-20 Offering Hope and a Home to Orphaned Children of Sauri Village
In the past 12 years, a lot of people have died in Sauri village leaving behind orphans. Traditionally some of the orphans could be taken care of and supported by immediate family members such as uncles and aunts. However, since AIDS hit our village, you find that these people have also died or have limited resources (land and cash) to take in more mouths to feed. With wife inheritance practice and other rituals that we perform, many adults in Sauri contracted AIDS and died. So, orphans were left to fend for themselves. Some were too young and ended up as street children in Kisumu, Kakamega and Siaya towns. They did not attend school at all and never had a responsible adult to guide them through life. Since MVP started and we recognized the need to support orphans, we started placing them under care of an adult who is not necessarily an immediate family member, but someone willing and ready to provide a home and guide them. Targeting of orphaned children in Sauri has offered a beacon of hope and opportunities for orphans to attend Bar Sauri Primary School where they get a nutritious school meal at lunch. Once someone agrees to take care of orphans we ensure that they get medicine from Sauri clinic, nutritious food, second hand clothes and shoes (Photo and story by Roseline Adhiambo, 2008).
Works Cited
Carlson, Elizabeth, Joan Engebretson and Robert Chamberlain. 2006. Photovoice as a social process of critical consciousness. Qualitative Health Research 16(6): 836-52.
Crawford, Peter and David Turton. eds. Film as Ethnography. Manchester. Manchester University Press. 1992.
Henley, Paul. 1997. The promise of ethnographic film. Visual Anthropology 13: 207-26.
Hockings, Paul. ed. Principles of visual Anthropology. Berlin & New York: 1995.
Millennium Village Project Annual Report. July 2004 to June 2005. Millennium Promise, New York. Downloaded on January 5, 2008 from http://www.millenniumvillages.org/
Oliffe, John and Joan Bottorff. 2007. Further Than the Eye Can See? Photo Elicitation and Research with Men. Qualitative Health Research 17(6): 850-58
Rhodes, Scott, Kenneth Hergenrather, Aimee Wilkin and Christine Jolly. 2008. Visions and voices: Indigent persons living with HIV in the southern United States use Photovoice to create knowledge, develop partnerships, and take action. Health Promotion Practice 9(2): 159-69.
Ruby, Jay. 1975. Is an ethnographic film ethnography? Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication 2:104-11.
Sachs, Jeffrey. The End of Poverty. Economic possibilities for our time. New York: Penguin 2005.
Sanchez, Pedro, Cheryl Palm, Jeffrey Sachs, Glenn Denning, Rafael Flor, Rebbie Harawa,
Bronwen Konecky, Eliud Lelerai, Alia Malik, Vijay Modi, Patrick Mutuo, Amadou Niang, Frank Place, Sonia Sachs, David Siriri, Awash Teklehaimanot, Karen Wang, Justine Wangila and Colleen Zamba. 2007. The African Millennium Villages. PNAS 104(43): 16775-80.
Robeyns, Ingrid. 2003. The capability approach: An introduction. Pavia, Italy.
Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Knopf
Wang, Caroline. Photovoice: Social Change through Photography. 1998. Retrieved January 10, 2008 from: http://www.photovoice.com/.
Wang, Caroline and Mary Burris. 1997. Photovoice: concept, methodology and use for participatory assessment. Health Education and Behavior 24: 369-87.
Wang, Caroline, Susan Morrel-Samuels, Peter Hutchison, Lee Bell and Robert Pestronk. 2004. Flint Photovoice: Community Building among Youths, Adults, and Policymakers. American Journal of Public Health 94(6): 911-13.
Worth, Sol and John Adair. Through Navajo Eyes: An Exploration in Film Communication and Anthropology. Bloomington & London: Indiana University Press. 1972.
Daniel Bachhuber
danielbachhuber@gmail.com
Daniel Bachhuber is a junior Environmental Sciences and Journalism student at the University of Oregon currently taking a break from school to journey around Peru.
Author’s Note
India faces tremendous developmental challenges, both in water and other sectors, in the next couple of decades. My three-month journey in spring 2008 was, at its core, an exploration of the myriad of complexities to providing safe and sustainable water access. I hope the images will lend an insightful introduction to the challenges of the subcontinent and inspire a desire to learn more.
Keywords: India, Ganges, Water Supply
India, Water and Sustainable Development
Introduction
In February 2008, I took a break from academic studies for three months of real-life study: trying to understand India’s cultural, social and religious constraints to clean water access. The subcontinent has the second largest population in the world, and nearly a quarter of its peoples are lacking access to safe and reliable water.
I set out to discover and document this issue. After landing in Delhi, I traveled to Kanpu, Allahabad and Varanasi, all sites along India’s most famous and-arguably-most toxic river because of heavy domestic and industrial pollution. From there, I went south to the Western Ghats and then northeast to the Kolwan Valley, where stories of complex political dynamics lived in every village. Traveling onward to Mumbai, it was a story of socio-economic inequalities. Finally I ended up in Rajasthan, where the biggest issue is also the most basic: there simply is not nearly enough water. Overall, the journey was an eye-opening exploration of India’s biggest challenge in the coming decade: clean and sustainable water access for all of its citizens.
Works Cited
Gupta, Anurag, NGO employee. Interview by author. 4 April 2008.
Joshi, Leena. Interview by author. 27 March 2008.
by Francisco Laso
Francisco received his B.A. in Environmental Biology from Columbia University in 2008. He melds science and art in his attempt to broaden the scientific community’s sphere of influence. He is currently working for the Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP) at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
Abstract
These images were captured during the summer of 2007 as part of an ongoing study that addresses habitat and community dynamics from broad to narrow ecological vantage points. Amazonian river turtles are ecologically important as they play an essential role in the seed dispersal of several fruit tree species in the flooded plain. These turtles also have religious, cultural, and economic significance for indigenous river communities. The endangered Amazonian river turtles Podocnemis expansa, P. unifilis, and P. sextuberculata are a local delicacy in Iquitos, Peru. Despite their importance and familiarity to people, we know very little about these species and commercial exploitation has decimated turtle populations outside natural reserves. Conservation of these species is aimed at the sustained wellbeing of the flooded forest ecosystem and its inhabitants. The hope is that future generations will inherit the success of our good stewardship rather than the failings of our negligence.
Author’s Note
The following is a selection from a group of pictures that was taken for a visual manual to be used by researchers, park officials, and river communities. The photo-manual is meant to serve researchers and conservationists in recognizing the basic physiology and biology of the three turtle species, learning basic blood sampling techniques, qualifying threats for extinction, and proposing strategies for conservation.
Keywords: Testudines, Podocnemididae, Podocnemis, Turtle, Amazon, Iquitos.
Challenges to the Conservation of River Turtles (spp. Podocnemis) in the Peruvian Amazon
June-August 2007, Iquitos, Peru. Created with the support of the Kluge Fellows Summer Research Program.
The Amazonian river turtles, Podocnemis expansa, P. unifilis, and P. sextuberculata, have long been of great ecological, economic, and cultural importance for the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants. All three species were once known for their astonishingly large population sizes all over the Amazon River basin. Today, they are a rare sight and are listed as species of conservation concern on several international endangered species listings. Most inhabitants of river communities in the Peruvian Amazon, who have hunted turtles for their meat and eggs for centuries, are aware of the severe drop in turtle populations during the past few decades. River community members identified the cause of the turtles’ disappearance to be the unsustainable commercial exploitation of this resource to meet the growing demands of large urban areas such as Iquitos, Peru.
Tourism is one of Iquitos’ main economic strengths, and much of the increasing demand for wildlife meat comes from tourists with adventurous palates. After having extirpated turtle populations for miles around Iquitos, turtles, especially rare specimens such as giant river turtles (P. expansa), are likely to be brought from within Peru’s largest protected area, the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve (RNPS). Unfortunately, current regulations and conservation efforts are insufficient. An anonymous RNPS park ranger explained that his organization is often unable to handle illegal activities like poaching and logging on its own because of fuel scarcity and conflict with armed offenders is dangerous. As a result, authorities rarely intercept turtles that are smuggled into Iquitos in the cargo of transportation barge passengers.
The genus Podocnemis is a primitive one, and it has evolved through millions of years to become intricately integrated with the flooded forest ecosystem. Since the turtles are important seed dispersers, scavengers, and sources of food for other predators, their disappearance has profound ecological implications. Historically, fresh water turtles can reach very high biomasses and densities, which can give us an idea about their significant contribution to nutrient cycling and to energy flow patterns in both lakes and rivers (Moll, 1990). In tropical forests, most plants produce fruit during the flooding season, and 70-90% of plant species are vertebrate-dispersed (Ganesh and Davidar, 1999); Podocnemis turtles have the potential to be high-quality seed dispersers because their diet is predominantly comprised of fruits, which are swallowed whole and generally pass unharmed (Moll and Moll, 2004). Seeds that have been ingested by turtles actually fare better than non-ingested seeds as turtles carry them away from the parent tree and are fertilized by the nutrients in turtle droppings (Moll and Jansen, 1995). The most important factor to determine the extent to which Podocnemis turtles fulfill their role as one of the flooded forest’s key seed dispersers is the density of turtle populations. It is probable that the consequences of the sudden disappearance of this genus from the Amazon Basin ecosystems are not yet fully perceptible because the cycles that are being disrupted by the unfulfilled niches of these turtles occur at larger time scales than humans can effectively perceive. The sheer longevity of fruit trees that depend on turtles to disperse their seeds is enough to camouflage their disrupted life cycles.
The ramifications of these turtle species’ extinctions goes well beyond bottom lines of fishermen and market vendors. Their survival or demise might influence the existence of the flooded forest itself and of all the life, resources, and ecological services it provides. The crucial role that these turtles play in the life cycles of Amazon plant species binds their destiny to both local and global processes. It ranges from a single tree providing food and a habitat to the entire flooded forest acting as a carbon sink, regulating global climate and producing the oxygen we breathe. After just a couple centuries of rapid anthropogenic growth in the area, these species are likely to face extinction if their situation is ignored. This resource urgently needs to be managed with improved information and organization.
Works Cited
Bendayán, Acosta. 1991. Influencia Socioeconomica de la Fauna Silvestre como Recurso Alimentario – Iquitos. Universidad nacional de la Amazonia Peruana, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas.
INEI 2002. Peru: Proyecciones de Poblacion por años calendario segun Departamentos, Provincias y Distritos. Lima, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica e Informatica.
Moll, D. and K. P. Jansen (1995). “Evidence for a Role in Seed Dispersal by 2 Tropical Herbivorous Turtles.” Biotropica 27(1): 121-127.
Moll, D. 1990. “Population Sizes and Foraging Ecology in a Tropical Fresh-Water Stream Turtle Community.” Journal of Herpetology 24(1): 48-53.
Moll, Don and Moll, Edward. “River Turtles” New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Mr. Dulguun Batkhishig
A native Mongolian, Dulguun Batkhishig studied Development and Economics at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. She works for UK charities striving to bring sustainable development and social justice to Mongolia.
Author’s Note
Though originally from Mongolia, I have lived and studied in London since 1997, but during this time, my connection with my homeland has motivated me to maintain a passion for its development. Consequently, I have studied Development and Economics at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
At the moment, I’m working for CAMDA, a UK charity that assists nomads in overcoming the difficult challenges they face, as well as Go Help UK, an organization with a strong presence in Mongolia fighting for child protection. Involvement with these groups has allowed me to take part in the arduous journey toward a developed Mongolia.
I have plans to study further in the field of agricultural and sustainable development, and, as the processes of development are not uniform from place to place, I want to explore the unique way Mongolia can attain proper development.
Keywords: Mongolia, Nomads, Self-sustainability.
Sustainable Living and Mongolian Nomads: Is There Development?
The first nomadic pastoral society developed around 8500-6500 BC in the southern Levant (modern-day Jordan and Southern Israel). It subsequently spread to the Eurasian steppe and, in the Middle Ages, to Turko-Mongol lands. Since then, nomadism has been a way of self-sustained living for the herders of Mongolia. Reliant on the vacillating seasons and the well-being of their livestock, nomadic herder families have developed a unique mode of living.
In the 1990s, the rapid transformation of the Mongolian economy and the country’s political fomented radical changes. The most drastic shifts occurred in rural areas since nomadic living was no longer subject to state support as during the socialist era. The open economy brought with it the need for herders to acquire sources of income and take part in the monetary market to supply themselves with basic necessities once provided by the government. Over the last decade, tourism has grown rapidly in Mongolia. Travelers from all over the world are eager to explore a large chunk of Asia previously unseen in modern times. Tourism has generated a constant, albeit small, rise in Mongolia’s GDP, and that upward trend is predicted to continue.
In the summer during tourist season, employment opportunities arise at resorts, ger camps and spas in regions of the country that tourists are inclined to visit. Some herder families send their children to schools and then further education in tourism and language courses so they can eventually secure full-time employment at the camp or resort. Such was the case with Saraa, the woman whose family I photographed. After graduating from university in the capital city Ulaanbaatar, Saraa had worked at the resort near where she is settled for three years as assistant manager. For many children of herder families, this career path is the only way to make a living that does not depend on the seasons. For herders that settle near a resort or camp, their traditional ways of life have been adapted to as what Mongolians call zah zeel, which literally translates as market and loans. The term means that, with the rapid burgeoning of tourism, the unique rituals and techniques of herders are now being performed for income.
Though an economic boon, the flourishing tourism industry also poses problems, increasing strains on resources of regions that are popular with visitors. One such resource is the water supply, an issue that has, in the last few years, received considerable attention from herders as well as NGOs and international organizations. Droughts and poor pasture has exacerbated the need for water, which is usually utilized in huge amounts at tourist attractions and resorts. Furthermore, the seasonal nature of tourism in Mongolia means herders see many difficult winters if their primary income is tourism. Plus, nomadic communities are vastly spread out, and not all herder families benefit from tourists in summer months, especially in remote regions.
For nomads, sustainable living is an important tradition and vital to their livelihood. This lifestyle needs more support to continue as viable for the significant portion of the Mongolian population that practices it. We need to learn from their simplicity of life and also recognize that nomadic herders can embrace development and progress, especially technological. Solar panels, wind generators and briquettes from recycled wood chippings are useful tools in their lives, as well as compact and environmentally friendly. Mongolians ourselves and travelers who visit must all realize that the preservation of this way of life is important. Otherwise, destabilizing plights like mass migration, unemployment and urban strains as well as illegal mining activities will increase due to herder poverty. When we photographed her in July 2008, Saraa had moved back to live with her nomadic community, including her parents and siblings, and was celebrating her engagement on the day we met.
The photographs have been taken in Arkhangai province near Tsenher village where Saraa and her family had settled for the summer. With their kindness and the support of Tseveendavaa Ozoi, who assisted me, I was able to enter their lives for a brief time.
Endnotes
1 One involved group is the Cambridge and Mongolia Development Appeal (CAMDA), which was established to support the Mongolian nomadic community through grassroots solutions. You can learn more www.camda.org.uk.
2 Natural disaster affecting the livestock caused by severe natural conditions such as drought and/or excessive heat/snow.
3 The ‘100,000 solar gers.‘
4 Steam cooked whole goat.
5 Simmering of the milk and standing to cool to create clotted cream.
6 Various types of cheeses made using different methods.
7 Made by curdling the milk and using the solids to form other types of dairy produce.
8 Literally meaning white produce.
9 Fermented mare’s milk is strengthened through freeze distillation, but it is more commonly distilled into the spirit known as arkhi in a large metal container. It is commonly drunk by herders and is said to be a very pure form of alcohol.
10 Also known as kumis amongst the people from the Central Asian steppe.
By Jonathan Pfeiffer (UCSB graduate student in Global and International Studies)
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the rise of human rights in the European imagination. By any account, human rights were a good idea. But as anyone who was around to witness the French Revolution would be able to attest, actually implementing human rights is a messy and potentially bloody process. Today, the idea of human rights has become mundane, but their implementation is no easier.
As the idea of sustainable development becomes increasingly ordinary, the question of what specific actions ought to be taken becomes more pressing. What are the appropriate policies and habits for a bright green future? Fighting and winning media and intellectual contests is one thing; developing a set of strong plans for actual progress is another.
Today’s progressives face different issues from those confronted by their counterparts in 1789. But one key certainty remains: All social struggles, no matter how worthwhile, unite diverse groups of people with competing aspirations. The line between right and wrong can become harder and harder to define. Even people with the most high-minded intentions can have sharply different goals. The philosophers of the French Enlightenment did not sweep the world in a single, unified stroke. Why do today’s champions of sustainability often expect something altogether different from their hoped-for revolution?
The climate policy arena happens to be the place where disunity is most obvious at the moment. As Andrew Revkin noted earlier this year in The New York Times, a debate has recently erupted over the question of whether or not our technologies are advanced enough to start cutting carbon emissions now. Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs believes that putting a tax on carbon will cause economic stress around the world in the absence of radically cutting-edge low-carbon technologies. Joseph Romm, a former technology development chief at the U.S. Department of Energy, believes today’s tools are good enough to get started right away. He accuses Sachs of vastly overestimating the power of technical breakthroughs.
Their debate, though it appears to be purely technical, is driven by profoundly political considerations. There is much more at stake than the question of which assortment of machines and gadgets can restrain carbon emissions. Their disagreement is a skirmish in a larger clash between competing visions for the future of a biosphere that is ever more anthropogenically controlled. Sachs and Romm are not fighting over natural resources, but they are competing for intellectual space at a crucial moment in the history of human confrontations with technology.
Other political conflicts could have more horrifying consequences. The futurist Jamais Cascio explained, in a Foreign Policy essay earlier this year (and in a subsequent interview), how climatology and climate policy could lead to the use of the planet itself as a weapon. Along with the need to control the climate may come the possibility of using the climate system itself as an instrument to advance strategic interests of states. Cascio envisions a government initiating a geoengineering project whose outcome could conveniently happen to harm the people of a foe nation.
We are now experiencing a time when a lot of people — scientists, policymakers, designers, democratic citizens — will increasingly weigh in on the future of human society and terrestrial life. It will seem like everyone has an opinion on the role of this or that technology in green development and security. It is crucial to understand that not all people who believe they support sustainable development will always, if ever, have the same outcomes in mind. And if nations are capable of believing that deities are on their side, then they are certainly capable of believing that they are on the correct side of sustainable development.
In a certain sense, none of this is new. The risks and surprises of trying to reconcile competing ambitions and expectations are precisely synonymous with what we call politics. Regardless of whether we read about it in political history, in the news, or in policy reports, we are continuing to witness diverse people attempting to share natural, social, economic, and cultural resources on a single planet. Figuring out how to direct those resources toward a dizzying variety of human demands is a persistent and urgent challenge. Expecting everyone to adopt an identical attitude toward sustainable development is not the answer.
Let us demand a revolution. Even better, let us demand a multiplicity of revolutions to respond to a multiplicity of needs.
