Paper short abstract:

Traditional agronomic practice in Elgeyo Marakwet, Kenya, is characterised by processes of ongoing creative transformation. In this paper we argue for the conservation of innovation where smallholders are empowered to more readily design and regenerate their own agricultural systems.

Paper long abstract:

Innovation, iterative experimentation and creative agronomic practice are fundamental characteristics of the agricultural systems in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Northwest Kenya. The inherent ability for people across the region to adapt to ever unfolding environmental, demographic and socio-economic situations has historically resulted in a dynamic, flexible and resilient system of food production. Traditional agronomic practice in this context is thus not something that can be conserved as a moment in time, but rather is itself a process of ongoing transformation. Yet, as the climate and biodiversity emergency continues to escalate at an unprecedented scale, and agricultural interventions continue to prioritise high input farming and cash cropping, windows for this tradition of innovation are slowly being eroded.

Drawing upon recent work at the Institute for Global Prosperity, UCL, this paper aims to explore these interrelated dynamics in order to foreground smallholder creativity and experimentation both as aspects of tradition and as key to diverse prosperous agricultural futures. In doing so, we explore how, whilst it is important to document and conserve diverse landrace crops for the preservation of agricultural diversity and resilience, it is imperative to comprehend how such foodstuffs are integrated into ever shifting processes of living agronomic knowledge and practice. Consequently, agricultural conservation needs to be conceptualised temporally. In this sense, we argue for the conservation of processes of innovation where smallholders are empowered to autonomously design and regenerate their own agricultural systems making use of traditional and indigenous crops and practices.