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The corrosion problem has been solved in China by eliminating the metal gasholder, and leakage is the result of faulty construction, which can b e avoided if the builders know what they are doing. Chan G. As to solidarity, I will come later on to sisterhood, a s I would r a t h e r call it among women. Queda, sin embargo, un interrogante:? He also criticized the structural organisation of the company a s faulty though he did not state the nature of the human relationship which is pursued for effective management and production.❿
 
 

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Full text of “The Times , , UK, English”

 

The pods and leaves of the t r e e s and bushes a r e raw materials for protein enrichment a s livestock feed; t h e beans and groundnuts a r e processed for sale, with the residues used a s feed materials; the f r u i t s a r e sold in o r d e r to purchase cheap feed materials a s s u b s t r a t e for protein enrichment; a n d the squashes a r e t r a n s formed b y micro-organisms into high-protein feed.

Culture of sweet potatoes and aeroponic culture of various inoculated beans in special plastic containers, t h r e e meters h i g h , a r e done on both sides of the rows of t r e e s , a n d processed a s mentioned above. Multicropping and rotation of leafy vegetables a r e done between the aeroponic s t a n d s , with c r o p s l y e a r. The vegetables are sold if prices a r e good, o r used a s s u b s t r a t e s for transformation into high-protein feed.

Drip irrigation t u b e s a r e used on the ground for the t r e e s l b u s h e s and multicropping; and overhead irrigation pipes for hydroponics and aeroponics. The industrial operations are limited to processing some crops such a s beans and groundnuts into products such as oil and condiments for sale in order to purchase feed materials which, together with the processing residues, are converted into fermented products of high-protein content and used a s feed.

The remaining crops, including the aquatic ones, are used a s substrates for organisms to perform microbial processes for protein enrichment before they a r e used a s feed. The ultimate aim i s to produce livestock feed of the highest protein content at the lowest cost, using the abundant and efficient natural organisms a s the work force and providing them with the best environmental conditions for optimum growth. It is to be noted that the industrial operations a r e not labor-intensive, with the farm family itself being able to cope through new skills and more creative processes obtained from the intensive help of modern scientific methods and technological innovations.

Biogas is used to provide heat for optimum microbial activity, or electricity for grinding, pressi n g , s t i r r i n g , mixing and other operations, which are all connected with the livestock and crop processing industry.

The appropriate investment should be made so a s to build the solid foundation for the advanced farming techniques and the processing industries, but using a s much a s possible simple machinery and locallyavailable materials and skills. The IFS still benefits from traditional Chinese practices concerning the biological recycling of wastes to recover valuable resources and utilize them beneficially, in order to maintain the intensive but ecologically balanced farming on the dike and in the pond.

It also incorporates science and technology not only to solve the aesthetic and health problems, but also to enhance the bioengineering processes in the interaction between land and water, in o r d e r to utilize free natural resources to produce livestock, fish and crops.

So we a r e able to avoid the wasteful practices of so-called modern farming that i s heavily dependent on expensive machinery and fossil fuel, with substantial use of chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides that create many environmental problems which are mostly ignored. The livestock wastes represent the most valuable component of the IFS.

They must be flushed many times a day into digesters to minimize t h e losses due to ammonia and sulfides, which are lost to the atmosphere and consequently reduce the nitrate and sulfate content of the effluent, resulting in a lower fertilizer value. The organic compounds in the wastes a r e broken down at a fast rate by anaerobic bacteria, naturally present in the intestines of the livestock, at optimum temperature range of obtained by solar or biogas heating, producing almost instant fuel when compared with the thousands of years required by biomass to become fossil fuel.

The availability of biogas in the rural areas will also stop the cutting of trees and bushes for use a s firewood – a practice that has already caused serious erosion problems in China and other countries. The digesters should be properly designed and built so a s to avoid leakage o r corrosion problems that have often plagued the digester programs.

The corrosion problem has been solved in China by eliminating the metal gasholder, and leakage is the result of faulty construction, which can b e avoided if the builders know what they are doing. Operation and maintenance are simple, and the farmers have themselves to blame – and nobody else – if they do not perform their work properly.

However, the design should include all the appropriate breakthroughs obtained worldwide. The algal liquid is moved intermittently by a biogas-operated pump o r compressor. The algae also fix nitrogen and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing the nitrogen and carbon content of the system for higher-protein feed, b e t t e r fertilizer value, and more available components for organism growth to enhance the microbial processes.

At the same time, oxygen is also r e leased to oxidize the remaining organic content of the wastes into minerals. Such treatment of wastes in ponds i s v e r y effective and economical where waterlogged land i s available, and this has been advocated a decade o r two ago by scientists in L’SA I l l b u t , unfortunately, non-Asian countries were not culturally r e a d y t o r such innovations, which have served Asia so well for centuries.

Fortunately, the oil crisis in the early seventies has encouraged some institutions in USA and even Europe to t r y and change this situation E l. The algal effluent flows into a shallow pond without much health o r pollution problem, because any pathogens that happen to be in the original wastes a r e almost completely destroyed by the various treatment processes.

The additional retention in the shallow p o n d , where aquatic plants a r e grown, will eliminate any remaining pathogens before the effluent flows into the deep ponds. The use of raw wastes in traditional ponds i s responsible for pathogens accumulating inside the fish without showi n g any external sign of infection 1 2 1 , and they can transmit diseases s to humans consuming the fish i f it i not adequately cooked.

Also most of the polluting organic matter has been transformed into minerals, but nothing can be done if there are heavy metals present because of industrial pollution, which is not a problem with the IFS. The highly mineralized water encourages plankton growth to feed various species of fish and prawn if u s e d , and also makes the aquatic and land plants grow faster.

These plants remove the minerals so efficiently that the final effluent is almost pure water, which is never the case with any conventional sewage treatment plant anywhere in the world.

The Dike-Pond area in the Pearl River Delta is lucky because there is not much grazing by cattle, sheep and goat, o r monoculture without crop rotation, a s in some neighboring places which should replace such bad practices with integrated farming systems, so i t has no soil depletion problems. There is no fallow, and the only period when nothing is growing on the dikes is between rice harvesting and planting of winter vegetables, while the paddy fields are waiting to be cultivated, but this can often take a long time if the farmer still relies on himself and his water buffalo to do the work.

In the IFS, we are not growing rice, but if we should do so we would integrate a special crayfish with rice cult u r e , as is the practice in part of the USA, and let the crayfish do the cultivation for u s after the rice is harvested, t h u s saving u s a lot of work and time besides having succulent crayfish for sale.

In the IFS, besides using the soil as the media to grow various c r o p s , with the fertility maintained by natural organisms, each pilot plot of land is also used once every two y e a r s for one crop of worm and maggot for use as feed and fertilizer, which are in short supply or relatively expensive in most Third World countries.

Such activities can revive the fertility of large areas of land that have been depleted of their nutrients because ot excessive grazing o r monoculture worldwide. The system of dikes and ponds also p r e v e n t s erosion of the precious soil because i t can only b e washed from t h e dikes into the ponds. The mud from the bottom of all ponds is removed by means of a special pump and spread on the dikes every two months, before broadcasting new seeds in the multicropping process that can yield up to 1 2 crops of leafy vegetables yearly in hot climates, without tilling, using the highly mineralized pond water tor irrigation and fertilization.

It should also b e noted that in the IFS neither the livestock nor the human excreta a r e used directly as fertilizer, but are fully treated first – in fact, the treatment is far superior than what is done in any other c o u n t r y , so all the products should meet the most stringent standards anywhere.

No chemical fertilizers, except for some trace elements, o r toxic pesticides are used so a s to avoid the insurmountable pollution problems plaguing many countries, including China which i s indiscriminately using such poisonous materials in some regions with irresponsible disregard of the consequences in the name of modernization. The IFS Pilot Farm demonstrates the rational utilization of all available resources – human, environmental, material and energy – with the physical, chemical, biological and microbial processes to maintain a favorh l e ecological cycle integrating livestock, aquaculture, agriculture and i n d u s t r y , using the residues of one process iia input for one o r more of the tollowing processes.

It mobilizes all the human, natural and scientific forces of production to utilize the available resources in symbiotic relationships to develop animals, b i r d s , algae, fish, plants, trees and agro-industries simultaneously as an integrated whole, instead of having any one ot them at the expense of another.

The primary aim i s to narrow the socio-economic gap between urban and rural areas by promoting other activities besides the traditional subsistence farming- t h a t , despite the hard work, has brought nothing’ but poverty to the countryside.

Since the new responsibility system was e s tablished less than a decade ago, many farm families have increased their output and income b y getting involved in integrated farmingindustry-commerce operations, and are now much b e t t e r off than most urban workers.

Some even own China’s few private airplanes and sophisticated computers, as well a s most of i t s private c a r s and other motor vehicles However, it is still not good enough because they have become dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, o r are not concerned enough about environmental pollution and degradation that will threaten future rural and even industrial development; o r about energy input-output deficits that were unknown in traditional farming.

Modern farming, based on energy input-output balance using a special computer program, a s practiced in USA, shows a deficit factor of l; in Britain, 6 : 1 ; and in Japan, 4 : 1. A similar assessment applied to Chinese farming in an eco-village outside Beijing, using digesters and fish ponds to recycle the energy and fertilizer resources, shows a favorable factor of 1. There is no doubt that the energy inputoutput balance in the IFS of Livestock-Aquaculture-Agriculture-Industry will be much more favorable when the actual production figures of the Pilot Plant are obtained.

With an adequate and convenient supply of the three essential elements fuel, feed and fertilizer for optimum biomass productivity in South China, with wide applications for other countries within the tropical zone, and the use of science and technology to enhance three-dimensional yields a s well as protein quality, the scope of the IFS with complete recycling of all resources through already known processes of bioengineering is almost limitless. Still we do not have to worry too much about marketing our produce at p r e s e n t , because of the huge insatiable Chinese market and the versatility of the Chinese who do not have many cultural, social o r religious qualms concerning food.

As the saying goes, the Chinese will eat anything with legs except humans, tables and chairs, and do not care where the food comes from as long a s i t ‘ s well cooked and tastes good;. Chan G. UCN Canada. Zhonq C. Chan C. In the. USA, “Microbial Control of of Eutrophication Food ana! Wanq C. Esta v e r s i o n ha s i d o enriquecida media :r’Cticas, comentcir’ios y a p o n e s ccmple’r.

Contrariamente a otros usos corrientes, definimos aqui cultura como ‘la suma de elementos de 10s cuales un grupo social, en nuestro caso la poblaci6n urbana y suburbana pobre, dispone para responder a 10s desafios y condiciones cambiantes de la realidad’. Estos elementos pueden s e r tanto de c a r i c t e r material — herramientas, tip0 de vivienda, costumbres alimenticias e incluso pricticas de medicina popular — como asimismo de naturaleza inmaterial — conductas sociales, creencias y pricticas religiosas o attitudes politicas.

Son las condiciones materiales, sociales e historicas compartidas por un grupo poblacional las que determinan s u cultura.

Dichas condiciones van validando o invalidando 10s elementos que conforman la cultura del grupo de acuerdo a su efectividad o la utilidad que tienen para ‘responder’ a 10s desafios de la realidad en la cual vive.

Pero e s dificil describir la cultura de este g r u p o , incluso si se trata tan solo de ennumerar algunos elementos importantes de ella: la cultura de la poblaci6n urbana y suburbana pobre constituye una verdadera mezcla de culturas diferentes, resultado de la confluencia de representantes de grupos culturales diversos en el context0 de una realidad nueva, con-.

En este ensayo, nos limitamos a describir algunos elernentos de la cultura inmaterial q u e , segfin encontramos, tienen validez mAs general e intluyen especialmente en la conducta social y politica de la poblaci6n. Hacemos la salvedad que describir elcmentos culturales de un sector social a1 que no pertenecernos y cuyas vivencias diarias no compartinios conlleva el riesgo de e n t r a r en prhcticas paternalistas: por la selection de elementos para nosotros resaltantes e importantes, por una interpretaci6n de hechos a partir de nuestras propias categorias de pensamiento y por la intenci6n que tenemos a1 q u e r e r hacer la descripci6n propuesta.

De e s t e rnodo, se puede llegar a glorificar la pobreza, a reducirla a algo romantico, folkl6rico o curioso, o se puede caer en una vision sombria que asocia la pobreza con la inconciencia, el letargo y la incapacidad de vivir.

Ninguna de estas opciones vienen a1 caso: 10s pobres de la ciudad viven su vida y tratan de manejarla con elementos y valores propios. Su cult u r a no se agota en carencias o negaciones de culturas de otros sectores. Por el contrario, tiene s u propio s t a t u s , uno cuyas dimensiones y caracteristicas deben s e r descubiertas desde adentro de la cultura y con la participaci6n de s u s propios protagonistas.

Es en ese sentido que nos abstenernos d e hacer juicios d e valor sobre estos elementos: nos contentamos con indicar que aparenternente existen y con seftalar s u incidencia positiva o negativa sobre las posibilidades de supervivencia colectiva del grupo. Algunos elementos de indole general Se puede constatar la presencia de diversos mecanisrnos de defensa, que se ponen de manifiesto tanto a nivel individual corno a nivel colectivo.

EstAn, por ejernplo, el ‘fternbotavy’ hacerse el tonto ; la opci6n por una manera d e expresarse poco clara y afirrnativa a1 hablar; el no q u e r e enf r e n t a r en forma directa u n problema o a una persona que pone dificultades; la represi6n o autorepresibn de las manifestaciones de rabia o enojo; no q u e r e asumir cornpromisos; la predisposici6n a criticar y c a e r l e ‘ a1 que se cornprorneti6 a nivel colectivo; la terquedad con la cual se defiende una posici6n que expresa negaci6n o resistencia.

Estos mecanismos constituyen una verdadera estrategia de superviviencia dentro de u n arnbiente percibido como algo extrafto y desconocido, y de hecho determinado por otros. Permiten una evasion no-violenta de la realidad, a la vez que crean condiciones favorables para una minima tranquilidad y vigcncia dc lo ‘asegurado’, frente a 10s impactos y desafios d e un mundo externo y de una vida diaria dominada por factores y poderes q u e se ubican fuera del alcance de esta poblacion.

Particularmente notables e s la fuerza con la cual la poblaci6n, a traves de e s t e tipo de mecanismos, se resiste a cambiar s u s costumbres, creen-. El10 echa por t i e r r a 10s anhelos d e 10s poderosos, de 10s patrones, las patronas y 10s e d u c a d o r e s ‘ del pueblo en todos 10s ambientes en 10s cuales estos se manit’iestan.

Dentro de este context0 cabe mencionar tambien la gran capacidad de improvisaci6n de la gente: cJn estrategias tradicionales de respuesta a 10s impactos del medio, la gente intenta — y muchas veces consigue -transformar elementos concretos que constituyen obsticulos de la vida diaria en elementos utiles para la superviviencia y defensa de s u s propios intereses.

Una postura que se asume frecuentemente e s el inmediatismo: se vive el p r e s e n t e , no se toman muchas previsiones ni se planit’ica el futuro.

Esto implica que las dificultades, cuando finalmente son percibidas colectivumente como tales, casi siempre se han convertido ya en problemas agudos: para entonces, ya requieren una soluci6n urgente que debe s e r adoptada en medio de circunstancias que ejercen considerable presi6n y limitan 10s cursos de acci6n posibles. Como consecuencia, hay reacciones antes que acciones, junto con conductas puramente pricticas ante 10s hechos que se presentan.

Contrariamente a 10 que algunos c r e e n , la falta de previsi6n no constituye un hecho cultural de por s i ; basta recordar que las culturas campesinas conocen la previsi6n y la consideraci6n del f u t u r o , por ejemplo, a t r a v e s d e la neeesidad de guardar semillas para la siembra del aiio e n t r a n t e. Se puede suponer mAs bien que la poblacibn urbana pobre no e n c u e n t r a , e n t r e 10s elementos y las condiciones d e s u vida, aquellos que Ie permiten practical- la planificacion y la previsi6n.

El bienestar y la tranquilidad individual y familiar constituyen valores fuertemente anhelados. Estos valores, conseguidos solo en casos aislados y en forma precaria, s e contraponen a la intranquilidad general y a las deficientes condiciones del ambiente de vida y de trabajo. El bienestar individual o t’amiliar priman sobre el colectivo de la comunidad, del barrio o del g r u p o.

Es decir, e n casos d e incompatibilidad, se t r a t a de luchar por el bienestar individual o familiar a6n si ell0 va en detriment0 del bienestar colectivo. Otro element0 cultural muy fuerte e s la religiosidad. Estos elementos proyectados por la religion se mezclan alli con 10s conceptos y valores q u e la realidad d i a n a d e la vida y del trabajo torma en l a s personas: estan interrela-. Sin embargo, estos valores ya no constituyen un cuerpo compact0 y cerrado, sin0 mas bien u n conglomerado mis suelto de valores; algunos se retienen y se van ai’irmando, mientras que otros son reemplazados paulatinamente por valores dictados y vilidados por la practica diaria.

Los elementos religiosos vigentes pueden s e r desglosados en t r e s imbitos: el de las creencias, el de las p r i c t i c a s de la religiosidad popular y el de 10s valores proyectados por las iglesias institucionales.

Las creencias forman parte del amplio cuerpo normative del saber popular. Estas creencias son, por un lado, consejos sobre como actuar en circunstancias concretas para el ‘teko pora’; por o t r o , son explicaciones de ’10 que pasa’ que perrniten a las personas mantener una vision coherente sobre el mundo externo y sobre las formas en que ese mundo externo interviene en s u s vidas.

Pero se t r a t a de un cuerpo inestable y cuestionado, a veces incluso negado frente a extranos o a s u rnido parcialmente, con cierta verguenza o a escondidas. El10 se debe al trato despectivo con el c u d la sociedad formal ha mirado y sigue mirando al saber popular, generalrnente resttindole importancia o denunciando su caracter supuestamente nocivo.

En las practicas de la religiosidad popular se juntan elementos de las creencias con elementos de 10s ritos de la Iglesia Catblica, estos ultimos interpretados por la p o b l a c i h a la luz de las creencias y la comprensi6n popular.

A pesar de que existen difercncias profundas e n t r e 10s valores promovidos por las iglesias institucionales — la Catblica, les Evangeli’cas y las llamadas ‘sectas’ –, no hacernos distinci6n e n t r e ellas en 10 que respecta a tales valores; el peso d e la Iglesia Cat6lica e s rnuy superior a1 de las r e s t a n t e s , aun cuando algunos valores de las sectas encuentren fuerte respuesta a nivel popular. Nos limitamos a sefialar valores que son prornovidos por una o varias de las iglesias institucionales a t r a v e s d e s u presencia e n 10s sectores populares.

Pero tambien se encuentra la i. Finalmente, cabe sefialar, eritre 10s elernentos culturales de indole general, la tremenda capacidad? La vida y la lucha por la supervivencia e s enfrentada en muchos casos con confianza y fuerza. Se aprovechan todos 10s espacios disponibles para ‘estar bien’ y hasta para alegrarse. Queda, sin embargo, un interrogante:?

Forrnas culturales como respuesta a problemas colectivos Frente a problemas concretos que se presentan a nivel grupal o barrial, generalmente s e espera que la iniciativa para resolverlos sea asurnida por otros. La colectividad tiende a descargar la responsabilidad sobre algfin individuo, y con ello, s u s integrantes tienden a asumir el rol de s e g u i d o r e s ‘. Raras veces ocurre que una persona asuma un inter6s colectivo en base a una responsabilidad sentida a nivel personal, y es diffcil que se comprometa en una organizacibn.

Se hace valer mas bien conceptos que justifican la reserva de la persona, y que demuestran la inconveniencia de arriesgarse como individuo responsable en nombre de un interes colectivo. Es comun escuchar expresiones tales como ‘no te metas’, ‘ocupate dc tu familial, ‘despues la gente va a hablar mal de vos’, ‘te van a criticar’, ‘la gente e s desagradecida, no sabe valorarl. Un ‘fie enga’ dicho aplicable en este caso, ‘ofiekuava osevai’ ‘el que se ofrece, sale malt , forma parte de valores de conducta sugeridos y practicados dentro de estructuras autoritarias; constituye un mecanismo de defensa en situaciones que de entrada coartan las posibilidades de un accionar participativo.

El que se ofrece en esta situaci6n ‘sale m a l l y se le dela fracasar. El concept0 que s e contrapone a e s t e , propio de estructuras igualitarias cuya presencia aUn se retiene de alguna manera en la cultura popular, e s el do la persona ‘itekove’ ‘que actfia espontineamente donde hace falta’.

En lugar de enfrentar 10s problemas por medio de la organizaci6n. Esta actitud es frecuentemente citada -pero pocas veces analizada — en relacion a 10s factores que la motivan. Pensamos que algunos de esos factores son 10s siguientss:. A culpar de esta manera la propio mar1 g-inalizado de s u rnarginacibn, niiseria y pobreza, la sociedad, a. Los sectores populares, a pesar de s e r mayoritarios, no accedieron nunca ni a 10s instrumentos ni a1 espacio necesarios para enfrentar sus propios problemas.

A no poder acceder a puestos de autoridad, esa 1 e s t r u c t u r a mental hace que 10s sectores populares asuman el de dominados y sometidos. Ya desde la escuela se enseiia que ‘no hay que hacer nada sin que se te diga’. Esta suerte de fatalism0 nace de la experiencia cotidiana de una vida pautada y deterrninada por las autoridades o , alternativamente, por un destino oscuro que se relaciona tarnbien con el concept0 de la predeterrninacibn en 10 religioso.

Existe cierta predisposici6n autosugestiva a creer que la autoridad personificada e s fundamentalmente buena e intcresada en promover el bien cornfin, 10 que motiva expectativas en este sentido. Ademas, tambi6n hay determinantes nateriales que inciden negativarnente sobre las posibilidades de encarar 10s problemas colectivarnente, como por ejernplo, la situaci6n economica apremiante.

El10 hace diflcil que la gente de estos sectores, dentro del sinfin de preocupaciones vitales cotidianas, dedique mucho tiempo o tenga un interes mis que pasajero en cuestiones relacionadas con la organizaci6n grupal o cornunitaria. La misma inestabilidad de 10s ernpleos o trabajos, que puede implicar cambios repentinos e n el horario o en el lugar de trabajo, dificulta la participaci6n en tareas organizativas con la constancia que ella requerirfa.

Asimismo, 10s sectores populares suelen equiparar 10s esfuerzos por organizarse con la subversion, sea como consecuencia de amenazas o del recuerdo de hechos represivos del pasado. El10 contribuye a1 desarrollo de actitudes autorepresivas. Incluso, se puede constatar q u e , en algunos intentos de soluci6n colectiva de 10s problemas a traves de organizaciones que surgen esporadi-. Los demis esperan y se desentienden del asunto sin pretender mayor participaci6n en las decisiones y las tareas.

Los mecanismos de toma de decision que se aplican son, por lo general, 10s que la sociedad formal considera corno democriticos: las decisiones son preparadas y adoptadas en reuniones, aplicandose el voto por rnayoria en caso de no haber consenso.

Sin embargo, al mismo tiempo sigue vigente otra pauta cultural s e e n la cual las decisiones son tomadas por consenso, pero en base a una discusion y preparation informal del tema con 10s familiares, vecinos y amigos en un proceso que se desarrolla y madura antes que tenga lugar el debate en asamblea. Segun esta pauta, la r e u n i 6 n r v e para la mera ratificaci6n del concenso alcanzado en las discusiones informales previas.

La vigencia latente de esta pauta dificulta la toma de decisiones en base a mecanismos democrhticos ‘occidentales’. En estas circunstancias, la aplicacion de mecanismos ‘occidentales’ no garantiza que las decisiones adoptadas sean realmente asumidas posteriormente por todos y cada uno de 10s participantes del proceso.

En cuanto a estrategias para resolver problemas, no se reivindica tanto el cumplimiento de derechos ya establecidos y supuestamente respetados por las autoridades. El recurso mbs cornfin, y tal vez el mAs expedito en el context0 de la sociedad actual, e s el de r e c u r r i r a ‘compadres’, funcionarios en posici6n influyente, lideres de partido, etc. Si estos pueden intervenir y resolver problemas, 10 hacen corno favor y rnuestra de benevolencia personal, vale decir, en base a mecanismos de tipo clientelista antes que a partir de una realizaci6n efectiva de una norrna legal que e s , o que deberia s e r , valida para todos.

Valores morales Los valores morales tradicionales, junto con aquellos que son amparados oficial y legalmente, van siendo complernentados — y en p a r t e , reemplazados — por valores morales nuevos y alternatives. Estos, por un lado, son forjados y validados por la experiencia y la prbctica diaria, segun la pauta de ’10 que s i r v e , e s bueno’.

Por el otro, se t r a t a de valores adoptados a partir de la observaci6n de la prictica de la sociedad global; valores q u e , a pesar de no s e r promovidos oficialmente, se encuentran en plena vigencia y no son reprimidos, o si son reprirnidos, 10 son a e manera simb6lica el ejempio mAs claro e s el de la corruption tolerada. Estos nuevos valores cambian a medida que se va transformando el entorno social: no se encuentran formulados en ningun codigo normativo, pero constituyen un sisterna de normas reales dotado de alguna coherencia.

De este modo, 10s valores proyeetados por la sociedad y s u s instituclones frecuentemente carecen de contenido y validez efectiva: no son verdaderamente respetados e n la p r i c t i c a , sino mis bien asurnidos como apariencia cuando hay q u e enfrentar una presi6n o un control ineludible. Entre 10s ejemplos de hechos y actuaciones amparados por 10s mencionados valores morales de la ‘ s u b l e g d i d a d ‘ , podemos citar:.

Esto no o c u r r e solamente a nivel de 10s sectores populares, sin0 que constituye una prhctica generahzada. A nivel de 10s p o b r e s , sin embargo, adquiere mayor importancia cuando el engaiio — evasion de controles, impuestos y fiscalizaciones, por ejemplo — e s cond i c i h necesaria para sobrevivir. En estos casos, la lucha por la supervivencia marca y dicta pautas de valoraci6n q u e no pueden mis q u e romper con codigos y consideraciones morales tradicionales.

Y dad0 q u e son valores percibidos como ‘vigentes de hecho’, tampoco son mayormente sometidos a presiones o correctivos, sean grupales o colectivos. A nuestro p a r e c e r , estos nuevos valores no deben s e r vistos como antivalores o valores negativos, asociados a la delincuencia o a ‘las malas costumbres’.

Son valores q u e marcan conductas, pautas y attitudes de 10 q u e se podria llamar una sociedad paralela o sociedad informal, tal como s e habla de una economia informal , y que constituye un sistema normative perfectamente ‘normal’ e n esa ‘otra’ sociedad.

Quer6moslo o n o , nos g u s t e o no nos g u s t e , 10s sectores urbanos pobres adoptan valores q u e , en s u ambiente, les permitirhn la supervivencia: si necesitan r o b a r , r o b a r i n , y para ellos, estarh bien. T h e meetings will d i s c u s s t h e pathways b y which environmental, economic, social, cultural a n d political c h a n g e impact on the health of t h e affected populations.

Health i s h e r e u n d e r stood both in t h e quantitative s e n s e of ‘number of y e a r s lived’ – with related universal indicators s u c h a s mortality r a t e s and life expectancy – and in t h e qualitative, highly c o n t e x t – d e p e n d e n t , s e n s e of wellbeing freedom from d i s e a s e , personal satisfaction, social participation, p r o d u c t i v i t y.

T h e aim of t h e meetings i s to develop operational tools and recommendations to optimize t h e health impact of development projects a n d to promote related awareness among health a n d development worke r s. The proceeding’s will b e published and available on r e q u e s t. Reade r s involved in development projects with clear positive o r negative consequences fur t h e health of t h e affected communities a r e kindly invited to write to t h e a d d r e s s below and include a description of t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e.

R e f e r e n c e s , c a s e – s t u d i e s , observations and justified o p e r a tional recommendations to increase t h e health pluses and decreased the health minuses 01′ Ji-‘vrilopil! The strangu7at’im o f small s s a l e i. Les 3rsr. This also implies increased efforts to achieve optimum utilization of o u r human and material resources; i x development of technology; X increase productivity; and x i the promotion of a new national orientation conducive to greater discipline, b e t t e r attitude to work and cleaner environment Federal Ministry of National Planning, l : 3 7.

But experience in Nigeria since the First National Development Plan , has shown that i t is difficult to achieve the expected goals because of lack of plan discipline, emergence of corruption in a large scale, lack of proper statistical data, lack of indigenous manpower in key positions etc. Okigbo, Even today Nigeria cannot boast of being a self-reliant nation; she still imports elementary goods and services.

The economy is depressed with hyper inflation, and high rates of unemployment, retrenchment and crime. So, s h e has so far not succeeded to b e a land of full opportunities for all citizens a s a result of poor economic planning and management of resources.

Nigeria emphasizes the establishment of large scale industries e. Investment on indigenous small scale industries i. The Third National Development Plan stated that the main objectives of the Government programmes for the establishment of small scale industries are the creation of employment opportunities, mobilization of local resources, mitigation of rural-urban migration, and distribution of industrial enterprises in different p a r t s of the country Federal Ministry of Economic.

Planning, Plans on how to develop small scale industries are contained in the Fourth National Development Plan. The above sounds good and commendable but it says little o r nothing about how to encourage t h e development of existing indigenous small scale industries.

This is a very serious omission because the indigenous socio-economic system which had enabled the development of complex kingdoms and states in Nigeria was rooted on small scale industries which flourished, for instance, in Awka, Benin, Nupe, Oyo and Zaria i n pre-colonial e r a , slave trade not-with-standing. This aspect will be discussed below. This paper is in four p a r t s.

The first part discusses the traditional and contemporary indigenous small scale industries. The second focuses on the contemporary large scale industries in Nigeria. The third deals with the relevance of indigenous economic organisation to Nigeria while the final part draws conclusions and make recommendations.

Indigenous small scale industries: past and present The development of indigenous centralized and non-centralized states in Africa especially i n West Africa and Nigeria has intrigued anthropologists, sociologists, historians and political economist S.

They agreed that each indigenous state had an economic base which sustained it such a s long distant t r a d e , local crafts and technology, occupational guilds and associations.

Smith on Zaria; Alagoa on Ijo; Bohannan on Tiv; Onwuejeogwu on Nri-Igbo; and Bradbury on Benin establish beyond doubt that guilds and associations of small and medium scale industries formed the basic work and industrial group s t r u c t u r e of production, distribution and consumption in the states.

He described how through the market and non-market systems production, distribution and consumption were generated by small industrial groups o r guilds through-out the kingdom and hegemony which at its climax involved many Igbo settlements “living in an area of about 4, square miles east and west of the River Niger”.

Leo Frobenius and Nadel described the flourishing metal-work in Bida at the beginning of this century as small scale industries with core groups of kinsmen engaged in economic production of various types. The g r o u p s made iron implements used for planting grain which was an important food item that sustained the kingdom’s economy. Bida people manufactured sophisticated bronze and b r a s s household materials, decorative trinkets and bangles. The glass and bead industries were rich and prosperous; manned by small group of persons related through kinship and non-kinship ties.

These few ethnography examples support the theories put forward h e r e , that small scale groups indigenous economic organisation formed the basis of effective production in traditional Nigerian economy. Indeed, indigenous economic production was more effective in the context of small group a s epitomised in the Hausa Gandu system which was the most effective farming group that p r o d u c e d e groundnut and cotton pyramids which Hausland was famous for during their trading history especially between and The relegation of small scale industries in Nigerian economy began after the Nigerian Civil War when the oil boom blinded the planners from including small scale industries in their National Development Plan.

Chapt e r Eleven of the Third National Development Plan, for example, listed what is considered as small scale industries and defined it a s industries with less than ten persons with capital of up-to N60, This definition aside, the list did not include motor mechanics, metal workslblacksmiths who construct hoes, cutlasses, r a k e s , grinding and milling machines.

The Third National Development Plan says nothing about how to encourage the growth of these small scale industries. The study on Rural small scale industries in Bendel North and their role in rural development has revealed a boom in small scale industries such a s bakeries. The existence of med” ium sized urban c e n t r e s which retail different raw materials has enabled the research area to benefit greatly in terms of raw material production, distribution and generation of employment Segynola, ; X-xii.

The study of separate groups of bloc moulders in Benin City revealed that performance was superior under conditions of goal setting and supervision than “in no goal situations with supervision”.

To the Nigerian manager, the result of the s t u d y implies that goal setting and supervision act jointly to motivate and maximise the performance of the workers Ebegbe, Mbagwu classified indigenous small scale industries into two categories, namely i those concerned with processing of raw materials into intermediate o r finished.

He highlighted the intellectual and the policy neglect of indigenous small scale industries and their significant roles but lacked statistical data to support his argument. The experience of Western Germany shows that small scale industries play important roles in the economy. For example, the recent statistics number 1. The small scale industries provide 2 out of every 3 jobs, 4 out of every 5 apprenticeships and half of the gross national products GNP. Entrepreneurs of these industries a r e creative and take risks in times of crises.

In the early s, unfavourable economic conditions forced some large scale industries to close down, retrench workers or render them redundant, whereas small scale industries expanded, and are still expanding.

Between the first q u a r t e r of and the first q u a r t e r of , they created , new jobs in Western Germany Scala, The Japanese experience i s another ethnographic case of how the Japanese government encouraged small scale industries in agricultural and in many industrial sectors. The Japanese successes in rapid and effective industrialisation is strongly correlated with the adaptation of indigenous small scale industries into contemporary manufacturing companies, on the one hand, and the incorporation of ideas of the g, the family system, in organising t h e large industries, on the other.

These make the workers have a feeling of family solidarity by introducing welf a r e , and promotional systems that motivate workers into putting their best i n their companies Beardley, Hall and Ward, Contemporary large scale industries in Nigeria The strangulation of small scale industries in colonial and post-colonial e r a made room for the take-over of the economy by the transnational and government-owned industries.

Some studies of the large scale industries done at state levels show that they a r e inefficient and wasteful e. Anao, Between and , about state-owned limited liability companies were registered in Bendel State to pursue activities in industrial and commercial sectors.

They include cement, glass and textile industries; brewery industry; insurance, banking, clearing houses and consultancy; woodwork; laundry; supermarkets and gambling industry. These economic activities were traditionally reserved for the private entrepren e u r s. By the end of the decade, the state-owned industries started to collapse and were consequently criticized by the public for poor perforrnance.

In his effort to find out the causal f a c t o r s , Anao conducted an indepth study of the Bendel Construction Company Limited. He discovered that the company failed because of lack of clear and rational objectives for investments coupled with the appointment of successive boards of directors who were ill-equipped and unsuitable for the needs of the company Anao, He also criticized the structural organisation of the company a s faulty though he did not state the nature of the human relationship which is pursued for effective management and production.

Limited in Owerri Imo State and in Enugu Anambra State shows the effects of traditional values of et’ticiency of Western bureaucratic style of organisation.

According to Eke , in Hardel and Enic Nig. L t d , there is a peaceful coexistence of both traditional values as ignored by Max Weber, and bureaucratic values as postulated by him. These two values operated simultaneously and effectively in most of the activities in the firm, e.

What Max Weber regards as detrimental to the efficiency of bureaucratic organisation in the West is what the managers and subordinates of Hardel and Enic Nig.

Ltd appreciate most in the firm Eke, In Hardel and Enic Nig. Ltd, traditional cultural values of workers were integrated into the cultural values of Western bureaucracy.

These have the positive effect of ameliorating the rigidity of Western bureaucracy, and making work more meaningful and acceptable for the workers. Consequently, they a r e able to perceive the firm as their personal property that should be protected at all costs.

This i s similar to the situation in Japanese firms a s described b y Linhart The relevance of indigenous economic organisations to Nigeria Small scale industries establish face-to-face relationship between the boss and the subordinates similar to kinship relationship obtained in indigenous economic organisations which a r e organised in small groups of k i n s , relations and friends.

This type of network enhances high motivation to work among workers. Workers have a feeling of belonging at workplaces, and accept slogans such a s i The work i s “our work” and not “Oyibo work”, and ii S. The positive attitude towards work found in indigenous industries i s diametrically opposed to the negative type found mostly in big companies for various reasons such a s : impersonal relationship established in the name of bureaucracy and lack of cultural relations which a r e found in small scale industries.

The effectiveness and adaptability of small scale industries to the changing fate of world economy is remarkable. During the present economic depression that started around 1 9 8 0 , the Nigerian government introduced stringent economic measures to fight against the devaluation. The first industries to collapse were the large scale industries specialises in importation of raw materials and manufactured goods.

The collapse of these large scale industries saw the boom of the small scale industries. The manpower retrenched in various large scale i n d u s t r i e s , some unemployed school leavers and university graduates were absorbed into the existing small scale industries. New small scale industries were established especially in the areas of food and metal industries.

They began to make use of the local manpower and raw material resources which the large scale industries ignored d u r i n g the boom years. Spare p a r t s were re-conditioned and new ones made with interior metal t h e so-called Taiwan make in Anambra and Imo states especially Onitsha-Nnewi-Owerri-Aba axis. The big Aladja and Ajaokuta iron and steel industries were unable to cope with the new situation. Ajaokuta was unable to produce flat iron sheets necessary for metal work which the small scale indigenous non-univer-.

The small scale indigenous ‘engineers’ began to use scrap irons to make hoes, plates, iron and steel p o t s , boxes and machines and motor p a r t s. Small scale meachanics, welders and vulcanizers emerged here and there and made it possible for private company and public vehicles to sustain the country’s transport system. While the Volkswagen Nigeria Ltd and the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd were contracting, the small motor-part makers and mechanics were expanding and even absorbing workers retrenched from the big companies.

This is the state of the present phase of the economy. It is at this stage that the Nigerian government came out with i t s small scale industry project which i s one of the four projects currently organised by the National Directorate of Employment in order to combat unemployment The main objective of the small scale industry project i s to encourage unemployment graduates and young entrepreneurs to establish small businesses, become self-employed, and provide employment for other workers Babangida, l; The Guardian 1 0.

The completion of the above requirements Nos i-iii present little or no problems to the applicants. However, concern should be expressed about requirement No i v which deals with comprehensive feasibility report of the proposed project.

W appreciate the fact that comprehene sive feasibility report of any business project can be very expensive. Given the financial predicament of the unemployed graduate, how can he afford such bills? Assuming that he finally presents a feasibility report of the proposed project, how authentic and genuine is i t , putting into consideration the high wave of corrupt and fraudulent practices which are prevalent in Nigeria?

These are some of the problems which should be addressed, especially by the planners, in order to achieve fruitful results. Furthermore, it is observed that loans are given to qualified unemployed individuals who have little or no experience of business management to s t a r t new businesses These loans should be given, instead, to existing established entrepreneurs of indigenous small scale.

It seems that in i t s present form the project i s organised on a n individual basis for those who can satisfy the requirements for selection, and not necessarily on developing and expanding the existing indigenous small scale industries. So, it is planned with the socio-cultural realities of Nigeria not taken into proper consideration. The project is saddled with western individualism and bureaucratic exigencies which are foreign to success and inimical to growth of indigenous small scale industries in Nigeria.

Conclusion It has been shown in this paper that indigenous economic organisations which a r e small scale are invaluable to the socio-economic and technological developments in Nigeria, and a s such should be encouraged to grow and prosper.

In view of this, the following recommendations a r e made: 1 the Government should study the s t r u c t u r e and functions of indigenous traditional organisations and find ways of integrating them into the development plans, and ii the present method devised by the National Directorate of Employment to establish small scale industries i s inadequate from a cultural and sociological point of view and may not sustain the test of time a n d , a s such, should be restructured to reflect the needs of existing indigenous small scale industries.

Babangida, l. Eke, C. Nadel, S. Onwuejeogwu, M. Okiqbo, N. Segynola, A. Thesis ,. L ‘importance iconomique de t e l l e s e n t r e p r i s e s a e ‘ t i dimontree au Japon e t en A 2 Leqagne, e t L’e-cpdrience nige’riane r i c e n t e confirme q u ‘ s t i e s contribuent davantaqe au de’ueloppement sn raison de leur enrac-inement dans l a euLdeux r e ture povu’iaire.

L’auteur fd? The Gaia Atlas and the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World are circulating in more than a dozen languages, the Annual report of the World Resources Institute stands in easy reach of enlightened UN officials, and environmentalists across the world hail the report of the BrundtlandCommission as high-level testimony to their claims.

I should show gratitude and relief. It i s t r u e , the curtain of silence is finally pulled away from the global survival crisis and a series of data and tables reveal the vast panorama of today’s threats and perils.

The evidence i s indeed undebatable. Also the appeal for urgent responsible action has been long overdue and cannot but command consent. Conversion i s indeed indispensable. Yet my admiration for the reports i s increasingly stained with mistrust in their effects. The proposed policies of resource management, I am afraid, ignore the option of intelligent self-limitation and reduce ecology to a higher form of efficiency.

Such a reductionism, I claim, implicitly affirms the universal validity of the economic world-view and will eventually spread further the Westernization of minds and habits, a cultural fall-out that in the long r u n also endangers the overall goal of sustainability.

More out of less Each of the 80 odd Worldwatch papers, for example, paints a picture of the global state of affairs which looks roughly a s follows: On the one hand we see how more and more people with increasing- needs for food, shelter, health care or e n e r g y , a r e demanding to be recognized, as the population grows and some inequality is levelled.

On the other hand we are shown how economies squander their potential to meet these demands as they deplete resources, ruin the environment and drive up costs.

The available means are diminishing, while needs become more pressing: what looms large in the picture i s a global sustainability squeeze. Fossil fuels, for instance, use up in one year what took a million years to produce, overburden the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, and prove to be more costly than investing in saving energy. The misuse ot water supplies deprives humans, animals and plants of a basic means of survival, pollutes the earth’s reserves for a long time to come, and new water works c a r r y a multi-billion dollar price tag.

Examples abound. Fortunately enough, t h e Worldwatch people s a y , the pict u r e i s not completely gloomy, but shows a streak of light in the distance. Shifting to less harmful means and concentrating on efficiency. Renewable fuels and fine tuning through conservation and careful management are typical r e sponses which point to the desired t a r g e t : resource efficiency. Indeed, if one were to suggest a motto to be engraved above the entrance of the Worldwatch Institute, the obvious choice would be “More Out Of Less”.

I will not doubt the necessity of this approach nor will I quarrel with the soundness of the alternative solutions suggested.

But i would like to draw attention to a hidden reductionism which t u r n s ecological politics from a call for new public virtues into a set of managerial s t r a tegies. As with a pair of pliers where p r e s s u r e is relieved by yielding the grip of both p a r t s , there are two possibilities to move out of the dangerous squeeze between growing demand and insufficient means: to consider an enlightened restraint of demand on the one hand and to deal diligently with the available means on the other.

The world watchmen, however, highlight only the second alternative and allow the first alternative to sink into oblivion. In their r e p o r t s , they alert to the efficiency of means, elevating the rules of micro-economics to imperatives for national and even global policy. Certainly, by doing so they spearhead the transition from an output-centered to an input-centered economy where not all resources are lavished on boosting the G N P but utilized with utmost efficiency in o r d e r to obtain growth without slag and d r o s s.

Under the new prescriptions, economies are supposed to “work out” until they reach overall fitness, instead of simply putting on more muscle until they break some record, as in the decades after the war. Optimizing, not maximizing, i s the order of the day, and both engineers and economists take renewed pleasure in their trade puzzling out the minimum input for each unit of output.

Yet, disregard for t h e first alternative – to consider an enlightened restraint of supply-oriented demands – t r a p s the world watchmen into the economic world-view. In such a perspective, each society p u t s production highest on i t s list of values and seeks the good life through expanding and accelerating the economic apparatus. As the reports rarely question the predominant position of the economy in society, they implicitly take for granted that the world’s cultures converge in the steady desire for more material production.

This prejudice b a r s the way to examining closer – even for the overindustrialized countries of the North! Failing to do t h a t , the reports seem to consider less cornmodity-intensive, less professionalized, less speedy societies inherently deficient.

Since they are unable to imagme diverse cultures that intentionally live on intermediate levels of material demand, they cannot but make the economic outlook appear a s the natural mode of human living. Consequently, the view on the globe they propose continues in the tradition of “development” to assume that all circumstances have first to be judged according to the imperative of production, be i t even environmentally rational production.

Ecological politics, however, which take the steady growth in demand for g r a n t e d , and limit themselves to propagating efficient means, fall into the t r a p to p u s h , in the name of ecology, for the f u r t h e r rationalization of the world.

Resources everywhere The myopia of conventional economists has become proverbial. While staring at the role of capital and labour, they ignore many other sources of wealth and well-being: from the unpaid labour of women backing up the world of production, to the silent workings of nature replenishing water, nutrients and energy. Eco-developers set out to overcome this tunnel vision; they prospect the broad range of lifesupporting factors to assure the sustainability of yields over the long term.

Through their glasses, numerous things and actions which so far had been taken for granted as part of ordinary life acquire a new, dramatic significance: they change into valuable resources. Cow dung for example, kindled b y the Senegalese peasant to heat water in the cooking p o t , suddenly becomes an energy resource; the scrap metal used b y a Peruvian squatter to build an annex to his hut takes on the dignity of a recoverable i n p u t ; Kenyan women cultivating village fields a r e discovered to be human resources for boosting food production.

Und e r Worldwatch e y e s , more and more p a r t s of the world assume a new s t a t u s , they are disembedded from their local context and redefined as resources. In what new light, however, do actions, things and people appear when they are redefined a s “resources”? Obviously they acquire importance because they a r e considered useful for some higher purpose.

They count not because of what they are but because of what they can become. They a r e stripped of their own worth in the present in o r d e r to be stripmined for somebody else’s use in the future. A resource i s something that has no value until it has been made into something else. Whatever i t s intrinsic value, it fades away under the claim of superior interests. For more than years tlie term “resource” has been used to survey the world for useful inputs into industry.

Consequently, perception has been trained to look at forests and see lumber, at rocks and see o r e , at landscapes and see real estate, at people and see human resources. The utilization of waterlogged land for the IFS does not only t u r n a useless resource into a high productivity unit, but also saves considerable sums of money on costly drainage and irrigation systems, and prevents environmental degradation such a s soil erosion because the pond mud i s constantly recycled on the dikes; flooding damage because the dikes and ponds control any excess water to protect all the crops; toxic chemicals because only organic fertilizer i s used with rotation of crops for disease and pest control; and pathogens for propagation of diseases because of the complete treatment of all wastes.

The pilot farm i s established on one hectare of land, preferably in a water-logged area that is non-productive at the moment, o r near a river.

Two shallow ponds and four deep ponds are d u g , using the excavated soil to build up the dikes above highest water level, with minimum freeboard of 50 cm. The total area of ponds i s 2 1 3 hectare, with the dikes occupying hectare. There should also be a small farmhouse serving as residence for the farm family, with a workshop for processing and storage of the farm produce.

The integrated farm i s self-sufficient in power, water, waste disposal, and basic food supphes. It may require a telephone and some means of transportation for i t s produce. Livestock A special animal house i s built with square meters s.

There i s no communication between the animal pens, opening on the outside, and the chicken pens, opening on the inside. The ducks and geese are completely separated form the animals and chickens. There are animals on the ground floor, 1, chickens and duckstgeese on the mezzanine, and pairs of pigeons under the walkways. They are fed the best rations known in animal husbandry,.

The animals and poultry a r e sold live, f r e s h , frozen, o r processed into o t h e r p r o d u c t s for added value. Aquaculture Photosynthetic c u l t u r e of spirulina a n d other high-yield a n d high-protein algae o r minute aquatic p l a n t s is done in shallow t a n k s on roofs of buildings and d i g e s t e r s , on plastic basins floating on t h e shallow p o n d s , and in horizontal clear plastic p i p e s , a s stockfeed for the dig e s t e r s to increase biogas production 61 o r a s livestock feed.

The liq u i d i s moved intermittently b y m e a n s o f a small pump o r compressed a i r ; a n d artificial lighting, operated b y biogas fuel produced on t h e s i t e , is u s e d at night and on s u n l e s s d a y s for continuous photosynthetic growth of between and tons d r y l h e c t a r e l y e a r.

This i s a n efficient way of utilizing s u n l i g h t , carbon dioxide and nitrogen – all f r e e n a t u r a l resources – to produce in substantial q u a n t i t y the protein component of feedstuff t h a t is most essential for livestock growth.

Algae, protozoa, b e n t h o s , macrophytes and bacteria a r e grown naturally inside t h e deep p o n d s , and used a s feed in traditional Chinese polyc u l t u r e of five o r more compatible species of c a r p s a n d p r a w n s , where acceptable in the same ponds However, t h e appropriate feeds will also b e added to accelerate t h e i r g r o w t h. All t h e fish a r e u s e d a s raw materials for livestock feed; and t h e prawns if grown a r e retained for a few d a y s in one of t h e shallow ponds for polishing before sale.

T h e water temperature is kept a s high a s possible year-round b y solar heating. Such plants contain a high proportion of water b u t t h e y also have most of t h e amino-acids, nitrog e n , p h o s p h o r u s , potassium, s u l f u r and o t h e r minerals. Some a r e used. Lotus and water chestnut are grown on p a r t of the pond surface for processing into high-value flour, with the residues transformed into high-protein feed.

The sweet potatoes and crop remains a r e transformed by microbial processes into high-protein feed; and the beans a r e processed into high-value goods for sale, with the already high-protein residues converted into higher-protein feed b y microbial processes.

There a r e many o t h e r aquatic p l a n t s , fishes and animals that a r e not known in China, but can be of economic significance to i t s r u r a l development programs. The local academics and technologists should pay more attention to these potential resources that can be introduced into the local economy at low costs.

The crops on the dikes a r e not the same a s those in the Dike-Pond System, because t h e aims are different. In the traditional system the crops a r e mulberry leaves for silkworm culture; sugarcane for the s u g a r mills; r i c e , vegetables, f r u i t s a n d l o r flowers for the market; and g r a s s for t h e fish ponds.

In the IFS, the main aim is to produce crops a s raw materials for processing into high-value products o r high-protein feedstuffs.

There i s one row of fast-growing nitrogen-fixing t r e e s l b u s h e s and inoculated beans in the middle of every longitudinal dike, and one row of fruit o r oil-bearing t r e e s intercropped with high-yield g r o u n d n u t s and big squashes along the longitudinal edges of the ponds.

Similar t r e e s a r e also planted a s fences and windbreakers, and for shading around the farm and animal houses. The pods and leaves of the t r e e s and bushes a r e raw materials for protein enrichment a s livestock feed; t h e beans and groundnuts a r e processed for sale, with the residues used a s feed materials; the f r u i t s a r e sold in o r d e r to purchase cheap feed materials a s s u b s t r a t e for protein enrichment; a n d the squashes a r e t r a n s formed b y micro-organisms into high-protein feed.

Culture of sweet potatoes and aeroponic culture of various inoculated beans in special plastic containers, t h r e e meters h i g h , a r e done on both sides of the rows of t r e e s , a n d processed a s mentioned above.

Multicropping and rotation of leafy vegetables a r e done between the aeroponic s t a n d s , with c r o p s l y e a r. The vegetables are sold if prices a r e good, o r used a s s u b s t r a t e s for transformation into high-protein feed.

Drip irrigation t u b e s a r e used on the ground for the t r e e s l b u s h e s and multicropping; and overhead irrigation pipes for hydroponics and aeroponics. The industrial operations are limited to processing some crops such a s beans and groundnuts into products such as oil and condiments for sale in order to purchase feed materials which, together with the processing residues, are converted into fermented products of high-protein content and used a s feed.

The remaining crops, including the aquatic ones, are used a s substrates for organisms to perform microbial processes for protein enrichment before they a r e used a s feed. The ultimate aim i s to produce livestock feed of the highest protein content at the lowest cost, using the abundant and efficient natural organisms a s the work force and providing them with the best environmental conditions for optimum growth. It is to be noted that the industrial operations a r e not labor-intensive, with the farm family itself being able to cope through new skills and more creative processes obtained from the intensive help of modern scientific methods and technological innovations.

Biogas is used to provide heat for optimum microbial activity, or electricity for grinding, pressi n g , s t i r r i n g , mixing and other operations, which are all connected with the livestock and crop processing industry. The appropriate investment should be made so a s to build the solid foundation for the advanced farming techniques and the processing industries, but using a s much a s possible simple machinery and locallyavailable materials and skills.

The IFS still benefits from traditional Chinese practices concerning the biological recycling of wastes to recover valuable resources and utilize them beneficially, in order to maintain the intensive but ecologically balanced farming on the dike and in the pond. It also incorporates science and technology not only to solve the aesthetic and health problems, but also to enhance the bioengineering processes in the interaction between land and water, in o r d e r to utilize free natural resources to produce livestock, fish and crops.

So we a r e able to avoid the wasteful practices of so-called modern farming that i s heavily dependent on expensive machinery and fossil fuel, with substantial use of chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides that create many environmental problems which are mostly ignored.

The livestock wastes represent the most valuable component of the IFS. They must be flushed many times a day into digesters to minimize t h e losses due to ammonia and sulfides, which are lost to the atmosphere and consequently reduce the nitrate and sulfate content of the effluent, resulting in a lower fertilizer value.

The organic compounds in the wastes a r e broken down at a fast rate by anaerobic bacteria, naturally present in the intestines of the livestock, at optimum temperature range of obtained by solar or biogas heating, producing almost instant fuel when compared with the thousands of years required by biomass to become fossil fuel. The availability of biogas in the rural areas will also stop the cutting of trees and bushes for use a s firewood – a practice that has already caused serious erosion problems in China and other countries.

The digesters should be properly designed and built so a s to avoid leakage o r corrosion problems that have often plagued the digester programs. The corrosion problem has been solved in China by eliminating the metal gasholder, and leakage is the result of faulty construction, which can b e avoided if the builders know what they are doing.

Operation and maintenance are simple, and the farmers have themselves to blame – and nobody else – if they do not perform their work properly. However, the design should include all the appropriate breakthroughs obtained worldwide.

The algal liquid is moved intermittently by a biogas-operated pump o r compressor. The algae also fix nitrogen and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing the nitrogen and carbon content of the system for higher-protein feed, b e t t e r fertilizer value, and more available components for organism growth to enhance the microbial processes. At the same time, oxygen is also r e leased to oxidize the remaining organic content of the wastes into minerals. Such treatment of wastes in ponds i s v e r y effective and economical where waterlogged land i s available, and this has been advocated a decade o r two ago by scientists in L’SA I l l b u t , unfortunately, non-Asian countries were not culturally r e a d y t o r such innovations, which have served Asia so well for centuries.

Fortunately, the oil crisis in the early seventies has encouraged some institutions in USA and even Europe to t r y and change this situation E l. The algal effluent flows into a shallow pond without much health o r pollution problem, because any pathogens that happen to be in the original wastes a r e almost completely destroyed by the various treatment processes. The additional retention in the shallow p o n d , where aquatic plants a r e grown, will eliminate any remaining pathogens before the effluent flows into the deep ponds.

The use of raw wastes in traditional ponds i s responsible for pathogens accumulating inside the fish without showi n g any external sign of infection 1 2 1 , and they can transmit diseases s to humans consuming the fish i f it i not adequately cooked. Also most of the polluting organic matter has been transformed into minerals, but nothing can be done if there are heavy metals present because of industrial pollution, which is not a problem with the IFS.

The highly mineralized water encourages plankton growth to feed various species of fish and prawn if u s e d , and also makes the aquatic and land plants grow faster. These plants remove the minerals so efficiently that the final effluent is almost pure water, which is never the case with any conventional sewage treatment plant anywhere in the world.

The Dike-Pond area in the Pearl River Delta is lucky because there is not much grazing by cattle, sheep and goat, o r monoculture without crop rotation, a s in some neighboring places which should replace such bad practices with integrated farming systems, so i t has no soil depletion problems.

There is no fallow, and the only period when nothing is growing on the dikes is between rice harvesting and planting of winter vegetables, while the paddy fields are waiting to be cultivated, but this can often take a long time if the farmer still relies on himself and his water buffalo to do the work. In the IFS, we are not growing rice, but if we should do so we would integrate a special crayfish with rice cult u r e , as is the practice in part of the USA, and let the crayfish do the cultivation for u s after the rice is harvested, t h u s saving u s a lot of work and time besides having succulent crayfish for sale.

In the IFS, besides using the soil as the media to grow various c r o p s , with the fertility maintained by natural organisms, each pilot plot of land is also used once every two y e a r s for one crop of worm and maggot for use as feed and fertilizer, which are in short supply or relatively expensive in most Third World countries. Such activities can revive the fertility of large areas of land that have been depleted of their nutrients because ot excessive grazing o r monoculture worldwide.

The system of dikes and ponds also p r e v e n t s erosion of the precious soil because i t can only b e washed from t h e dikes into the ponds. The mud from the bottom of all ponds is removed by means of a special pump and spread on the dikes every two months, before broadcasting new seeds in the multicropping process that can yield up to 1 2 crops of leafy vegetables yearly in hot climates, without tilling, using the highly mineralized pond water tor irrigation and fertilization.

It should also b e noted that in the IFS neither the livestock nor the human excreta a r e used directly as fertilizer, but are fully treated first – in fact, the treatment is far superior than what is done in any other c o u n t r y , so all the products should meet the most stringent standards anywhere.

No chemical fertilizers, except for some trace elements, o r toxic pesticides are used so a s to avoid the insurmountable pollution problems plaguing many countries, including China which i s indiscriminately using such poisonous materials in some regions with irresponsible disregard of the consequences in the name of modernization.

The IFS Pilot Farm demonstrates the rational utilization of all available resources – human, environmental, material and energy – with the physical, chemical, biological and microbial processes to maintain a favorh l e ecological cycle integrating livestock, aquaculture, agriculture and i n d u s t r y , using the residues of one process iia input for one o r more of the tollowing processes.

It mobilizes all the human, natural and scientific forces of production to utilize the available resources in symbiotic relationships to develop animals, b i r d s , algae, fish, plants, trees and agro-industries simultaneously as an integrated whole, instead of having any one ot them at the expense of another.

The primary aim i s to narrow the socio-economic gap between urban and rural areas by promoting other activities besides the traditional subsistence farming- t h a t , despite the hard work, has brought nothing’ but poverty to the countryside.

Since the new responsibility system was e s tablished less than a decade ago, many farm families have increased their output and income b y getting involved in integrated farmingindustry-commerce operations, and are now much b e t t e r off than most urban workers. Some even own China’s few private airplanes and sophisticated computers, as well a s most of i t s private c a r s and other motor vehicles However, it is still not good enough because they have become dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, o r are not concerned enough about environmental pollution and degradation that will threaten future rural and even industrial development; o r about energy input-output deficits that were unknown in traditional farming.

Modern farming, based on energy input-output balance using a special computer program, a s practiced in USA, shows a deficit factor of l; in Britain, 6 : 1 ; and in Japan, 4 : 1. A similar assessment applied to Chinese farming in an eco-village outside Beijing, using digesters and fish ponds to recycle the energy and fertilizer resources, shows a favorable factor of 1.

There is no doubt that the energy inputoutput balance in the IFS of Livestock-Aquaculture-Agriculture-Industry will be much more favorable when the actual production figures of the Pilot Plant are obtained.

With an adequate and convenient supply of the three essential elements fuel, feed and fertilizer for optimum biomass productivity in South China, with wide applications for other countries within the tropical zone, and the use of science and technology to enhance three-dimensional yields a s well as protein quality, the scope of the IFS with complete recycling of all resources through already known processes of bioengineering is almost limitless.

Still we do not have to worry too much about marketing our produce at p r e s e n t , because of the huge insatiable Chinese market and the versatility of the Chinese who do not have many cultural, social o r religious qualms concerning food. As the saying goes, the Chinese will eat anything with legs except humans, tables and chairs, and do not care where the food comes from as long a s i t ‘ s well cooked and tastes good;.

Chan G. UCN Canada. Zhonq C. Chan C. In the. USA, “Microbial Control of of Eutrophication Food ana! Wanq C. Esta v e r s i o n ha s i d o enriquecida media :r’Cticas, comentcir’ios y a p o n e s ccmple’r. Contrariamente a otros usos corrientes, definimos aqui cultura como ‘la suma de elementos de 10s cuales un grupo social, en nuestro caso la poblaci6n urbana y suburbana pobre, dispone para responder a 10s desafios y condiciones cambiantes de la realidad’.

Estos elementos pueden s e r tanto de c a r i c t e r material — herramientas, tip0 de vivienda, costumbres alimenticias e incluso pricticas de medicina popular — como asimismo de naturaleza inmaterial — conductas sociales, creencias y pricticas religiosas o attitudes politicas. Son las condiciones materiales, sociales e historicas compartidas por un grupo poblacional las que determinan s u cultura. Dichas condiciones van validando o invalidando 10s elementos que conforman la cultura del grupo de acuerdo a su efectividad o la utilidad que tienen para ‘responder’ a 10s desafios de la realidad en la cual vive.

Pero e s dificil describir la cultura de este g r u p o , incluso si se trata tan solo de ennumerar algunos elementos importantes de ella: la cultura de la poblaci6n urbana y suburbana pobre constituye una verdadera mezcla de culturas diferentes, resultado de la confluencia de representantes de grupos culturales diversos en el context0 de una realidad nueva, con-. En este ensayo, nos limitamos a describir algunos elernentos de la cultura inmaterial q u e , segfin encontramos, tienen validez mAs general e intluyen especialmente en la conducta social y politica de la poblaci6n.

Hacemos la salvedad que describir elcmentos culturales de un sector social a1 que no pertenecernos y cuyas vivencias diarias no compartinios conlleva el riesgo de e n t r a r en prhcticas paternalistas: por la selection de elementos para nosotros resaltantes e importantes, por una interpretaci6n de hechos a partir de nuestras propias categorias de pensamiento y por la intenci6n que tenemos a1 q u e r e r hacer la descripci6n propuesta.

De e s t e rnodo, se puede llegar a glorificar la pobreza, a reducirla a algo romantico, folkl6rico o curioso, o se puede caer en una vision sombria que asocia la pobreza con la inconciencia, el letargo y la incapacidad de vivir. Ninguna de estas opciones vienen a1 caso: 10s pobres de la ciudad viven su vida y tratan de manejarla con elementos y valores propios.

Su cult u r a no se agota en carencias o negaciones de culturas de otros sectores. Por el contrario, tiene s u propio s t a t u s , uno cuyas dimensiones y caracteristicas deben s e r descubiertas desde adentro de la cultura y con la participaci6n de s u s propios protagonistas. Es en ese sentido que nos abstenernos d e hacer juicios d e valor sobre estos elementos: nos contentamos con indicar que aparenternente existen y con seftalar s u incidencia positiva o negativa sobre las posibilidades de supervivencia colectiva del grupo.

Algunos elementos de indole general Se puede constatar la presencia de diversos mecanisrnos de defensa, que se ponen de manifiesto tanto a nivel individual corno a nivel colectivo. EstAn, por ejernplo, el ‘fternbotavy’ hacerse el tonto ; la opci6n por una manera d e expresarse poco clara y afirrnativa a1 hablar; el no q u e r e enf r e n t a r en forma directa u n problema o a una persona que pone dificultades; la represi6n o autorepresibn de las manifestaciones de rabia o enojo; no q u e r e asumir cornpromisos; la predisposici6n a criticar y c a e r l e ‘ a1 que se cornprorneti6 a nivel colectivo; la terquedad con la cual se defiende una posici6n que expresa negaci6n o resistencia.

Estos mecanismos constituyen una verdadera estrategia de superviviencia dentro de u n arnbiente percibido como algo extrafto y desconocido, y de hecho determinado por otros. Permiten una evasion no-violenta de la realidad, a la vez que crean condiciones favorables para una minima tranquilidad y vigcncia dc lo ‘asegurado’, frente a 10s impactos y desafios d e un mundo externo y de una vida diaria dominada por factores y poderes q u e se ubican fuera del alcance de esta poblacion. Particularmente notables e s la fuerza con la cual la poblaci6n, a traves de e s t e tipo de mecanismos, se resiste a cambiar s u s costumbres, creen-.

El10 echa por t i e r r a 10s anhelos d e 10s poderosos, de 10s patrones, las patronas y 10s e d u c a d o r e s ‘ del pueblo en todos 10s ambientes en 10s cuales estos se manit’iestan. Dentro de este context0 cabe mencionar tambien la gran capacidad de improvisaci6n de la gente: cJn estrategias tradicionales de respuesta a 10s impactos del medio, la gente intenta — y muchas veces consigue -transformar elementos concretos que constituyen obsticulos de la vida diaria en elementos utiles para la superviviencia y defensa de s u s propios intereses.

Una postura que se asume frecuentemente e s el inmediatismo: se vive el p r e s e n t e , no se toman muchas previsiones ni se planit’ica el futuro. Esto implica que las dificultades, cuando finalmente son percibidas colectivumente como tales, casi siempre se han convertido ya en problemas agudos: para entonces, ya requieren una soluci6n urgente que debe s e r adoptada en medio de circunstancias que ejercen considerable presi6n y limitan 10s cursos de acci6n posibles.

Como consecuencia, hay reacciones antes que acciones, junto con conductas puramente pricticas ante 10s hechos que se presentan. Contrariamente a 10 que algunos c r e e n , la falta de previsi6n no constituye un hecho cultural de por s i ; basta recordar que las culturas campesinas conocen la previsi6n y la consideraci6n del f u t u r o , por ejemplo, a t r a v e s d e la neeesidad de guardar semillas para la siembra del aiio e n t r a n t e.

Se puede suponer mAs bien que la poblacibn urbana pobre no e n c u e n t r a , e n t r e 10s elementos y las condiciones d e s u vida, aquellos que Ie permiten practical- la planificacion y la previsi6n. El bienestar y la tranquilidad individual y familiar constituyen valores fuertemente anhelados. Estos valores, conseguidos solo en casos aislados y en forma precaria, s e contraponen a la intranquilidad general y a las deficientes condiciones del ambiente de vida y de trabajo.

El bienestar individual o t’amiliar priman sobre el colectivo de la comunidad, del barrio o del g r u p o. Es decir, e n casos d e incompatibilidad, se t r a t a de luchar por el bienestar individual o familiar a6n si ell0 va en detriment0 del bienestar colectivo.

Otro element0 cultural muy fuerte e s la religiosidad. Estos elementos proyectados por la religion se mezclan alli con 10s conceptos y valores q u e la realidad d i a n a d e la vida y del trabajo torma en l a s personas: estan interrela-. Sin embargo, estos valores ya no constituyen un cuerpo compact0 y cerrado, sin0 mas bien u n conglomerado mis suelto de valores; algunos se retienen y se van ai’irmando, mientras que otros son reemplazados paulatinamente por valores dictados y vilidados por la practica diaria.

Los elementos religiosos vigentes pueden s e r desglosados en t r e s imbitos: el de las creencias, el de las p r i c t i c a s de la religiosidad popular y el de 10s valores proyectados por las iglesias institucionales.

Las creencias forman parte del amplio cuerpo normative del saber popular. Estas creencias son, por un lado, consejos sobre como actuar en circunstancias concretas para el ‘teko pora’; por o t r o , son explicaciones de ’10 que pasa’ que perrniten a las personas mantener una vision coherente sobre el mundo externo y sobre las formas en que ese mundo externo interviene en s u s vidas.

Pero se t r a t a de un cuerpo inestable y cuestionado, a veces incluso negado frente a extranos o a s u rnido parcialmente, con cierta verguenza o a escondidas. El10 se debe al trato despectivo con el c u d la sociedad formal ha mirado y sigue mirando al saber popular, generalrnente resttindole importancia o denunciando su caracter supuestamente nocivo.

En las practicas de la religiosidad popular se juntan elementos de las creencias con elementos de 10s ritos de la Iglesia Catblica, estos ultimos interpretados por la p o b l a c i h a la luz de las creencias y la comprensi6n popular. A pesar de que existen difercncias profundas e n t r e 10s valores promovidos por las iglesias institucionales — la Catblica, les Evangeli’cas y las llamadas ‘sectas’ –, no hacernos distinci6n e n t r e ellas en 10 que respecta a tales valores; el peso d e la Iglesia Cat6lica e s rnuy superior a1 de las r e s t a n t e s , aun cuando algunos valores de las sectas encuentren fuerte respuesta a nivel popular.

Nos limitamos a sefialar valores que son prornovidos por una o varias de las iglesias institucionales a t r a v e s d e s u presencia e n 10s sectores populares.

Pero tambien se encuentra la i. Finalmente, cabe sefialar, eritre 10s elernentos culturales de indole general, la tremenda capacidad? La vida y la lucha por la supervivencia e s enfrentada en muchos casos con confianza y fuerza. Se aprovechan todos 10s espacios disponibles para ‘estar bien’ y hasta para alegrarse.

Queda, sin embargo, un interrogante:? Forrnas culturales como respuesta a problemas colectivos Frente a problemas concretos que se presentan a nivel grupal o barrial, generalmente s e espera que la iniciativa para resolverlos sea asurnida por otros. La colectividad tiende a descargar la responsabilidad sobre algfin individuo, y con ello, s u s integrantes tienden a asumir el rol de s e g u i d o r e s ‘. Raras veces ocurre que una persona asuma un inter6s colectivo en base a una responsabilidad sentida a nivel personal, y es diffcil que se comprometa en una organizacibn.

Se hace valer mas bien conceptos que justifican la reserva de la persona, y que demuestran la inconveniencia de arriesgarse como individuo responsable en nombre de un interes colectivo. Es comun escuchar expresiones tales como ‘no te metas’, ‘ocupate dc tu familial, ‘despues la gente va a hablar mal de vos’, ‘te van a criticar’, ‘la gente e s desagradecida, no sabe valorarl.

Un ‘fie enga’ dicho aplicable en este caso, ‘ofiekuava osevai’ ‘el que se ofrece, sale malt , forma parte de valores de conducta sugeridos y practicados dentro de estructuras autoritarias; constituye un mecanismo de defensa en situaciones que de entrada coartan las posibilidades de un accionar participativo. El que se ofrece en esta situaci6n ‘sale m a l l y se le dela fracasar. El concept0 que s e contrapone a e s t e , propio de estructuras igualitarias cuya presencia aUn se retiene de alguna manera en la cultura popular, e s el do la persona ‘itekove’ ‘que actfia espontineamente donde hace falta’.

En lugar de enfrentar 10s problemas por medio de la organizaci6n. Esta actitud es frecuentemente citada -pero pocas veces analizada — en relacion a 10s factores que la motivan. Pensamos que algunos de esos factores son 10s siguientss:. A culpar de esta manera la propio mar1 g-inalizado de s u rnarginacibn, niiseria y pobreza, la sociedad, a. Los sectores populares, a pesar de s e r mayoritarios, no accedieron nunca ni a 10s instrumentos ni a1 espacio necesarios para enfrentar sus propios problemas.

A no poder acceder a puestos de autoridad, esa 1 e s t r u c t u r a mental hace que 10s sectores populares asuman el de dominados y sometidos. Ya desde la escuela se enseiia que ‘no hay que hacer nada sin que se te diga’. Esta suerte de fatalism0 nace de la experiencia cotidiana de una vida pautada y deterrninada por las autoridades o , alternativamente, por un destino oscuro que se relaciona tarnbien con el concept0 de la predeterrninacibn en 10 religioso.

Existe cierta predisposici6n autosugestiva a creer que la autoridad personificada e s fundamentalmente buena e intcresada en promover el bien cornfin, 10 que motiva expectativas en este sentido. Ademas, tambi6n hay determinantes nateriales que inciden negativarnente sobre las posibilidades de encarar 10s problemas colectivarnente, como por ejernplo, la situaci6n economica apremiante.

El10 hace diflcil que la gente de estos sectores, dentro del sinfin de preocupaciones vitales cotidianas, dedique mucho tiempo o tenga un interes mis que pasajero en cuestiones relacionadas con la organizaci6n grupal o cornunitaria. La misma inestabilidad de 10s ernpleos o trabajos, que puede implicar cambios repentinos e n el horario o en el lugar de trabajo, dificulta la participaci6n en tareas organizativas con la constancia que ella requerirfa.

Asimismo, 10s sectores populares suelen equiparar 10s esfuerzos por organizarse con la subversion, sea como consecuencia de amenazas o del recuerdo de hechos represivos del pasado. El10 contribuye a1 desarrollo de actitudes autorepresivas. Incluso, se puede constatar q u e , en algunos intentos de soluci6n colectiva de 10s problemas a traves de organizaciones que surgen esporadi-. Los demis esperan y se desentienden del asunto sin pretender mayor participaci6n en las decisiones y las tareas.

Los mecanismos de toma de decision que se aplican son, por lo general, 10s que la sociedad formal considera corno democriticos: las decisiones son preparadas y adoptadas en reuniones, aplicandose el voto por rnayoria en caso de no haber consenso. Sin embargo, al mismo tiempo sigue vigente otra pauta cultural s e e n la cual las decisiones son tomadas por consenso, pero en base a una discusion y preparation informal del tema con 10s familiares, vecinos y amigos en un proceso que se desarrolla y madura antes que tenga lugar el debate en asamblea.

Segun esta pauta, la r e u n i 6 n r v e para la mera ratificaci6n del concenso alcanzado en las discusiones informales previas. La vigencia latente de esta pauta dificulta la toma de decisiones en base a mecanismos democrhticos ‘occidentales’.

En estas circunstancias, la aplicacion de mecanismos ‘occidentales’ no garantiza que las decisiones adoptadas sean realmente asumidas posteriormente por todos y cada uno de 10s participantes del proceso.

En cuanto a estrategias para resolver problemas, no se reivindica tanto el cumplimiento de derechos ya establecidos y supuestamente respetados por las autoridades. El recurso mbs cornfin, y tal vez el mAs expedito en el context0 de la sociedad actual, e s el de r e c u r r i r a ‘compadres’, funcionarios en posici6n influyente, lideres de partido, etc.

Si estos pueden intervenir y resolver problemas, 10 hacen corno favor y rnuestra de benevolencia personal, vale decir, en base a mecanismos de tipo clientelista antes que a partir de una realizaci6n efectiva de una norrna legal que e s , o que deberia s e r , valida para todos.

Valores morales Los valores morales tradicionales, junto con aquellos que son amparados oficial y legalmente, van siendo complernentados — y en p a r t e , reemplazados — por valores morales nuevos y alternatives. Estos, por un lado, son forjados y validados por la experiencia y la prbctica diaria, segun la pauta de ’10 que s i r v e , e s bueno’. Por el otro, se t r a t a de valores adoptados a partir de la observaci6n de la prictica de la sociedad global; valores q u e , a pesar de no s e r promovidos oficialmente, se encuentran en plena vigencia y no son reprimidos, o si son reprirnidos, 10 son a e manera simb6lica el ejempio mAs claro e s el de la corruption tolerada.

Estos nuevos valores cambian a medida que se va transformando el entorno social: no se encuentran formulados en ningun codigo normativo, pero constituyen un sisterna de normas reales dotado de alguna coherencia.

De este modo, 10s valores proyeetados por la sociedad y s u s instituclones frecuentemente carecen de contenido y validez efectiva: no son verdaderamente respetados e n la p r i c t i c a , sino mis bien asurnidos como apariencia cuando hay q u e enfrentar una presi6n o un control ineludible.

Entre 10s ejemplos de hechos y actuaciones amparados por 10s mencionados valores morales de la ‘ s u b l e g d i d a d ‘ , podemos citar:. Esto no o c u r r e solamente a nivel de 10s sectores populares, sin0 que constituye una prhctica generahzada. A nivel de 10s p o b r e s , sin embargo, adquiere mayor importancia cuando el engaiio — evasion de controles, impuestos y fiscalizaciones, por ejemplo — e s cond i c i h necesaria para sobrevivir.

En estos casos, la lucha por la supervivencia marca y dicta pautas de valoraci6n q u e no pueden mis q u e romper con codigos y consideraciones morales tradicionales.

Y dad0 q u e son valores percibidos como ‘vigentes de hecho’, tampoco son mayormente sometidos a presiones o correctivos, sean grupales o colectivos. A nuestro p a r e c e r , estos nuevos valores no deben s e r vistos como antivalores o valores negativos, asociados a la delincuencia o a ‘las malas costumbres’.

Son valores q u e marcan conductas, pautas y attitudes de 10 q u e se podria llamar una sociedad paralela o sociedad informal, tal como s e habla de una economia informal , y que constituye un sistema normative perfectamente ‘normal’ e n esa ‘otra’ sociedad. Quer6moslo o n o , nos g u s t e o no nos g u s t e , 10s sectores urbanos pobres adoptan valores q u e , en s u ambiente, les permitirhn la supervivencia: si necesitan r o b a r , r o b a r i n , y para ellos, estarh bien.

T h e meetings will d i s c u s s t h e pathways b y which environmental, economic, social, cultural a n d political c h a n g e impact on the health of t h e affected populations. Health i s h e r e u n d e r stood both in t h e quantitative s e n s e of ‘number of y e a r s lived’ – with related universal indicators s u c h a s mortality r a t e s and life expectancy – and in t h e qualitative, highly c o n t e x t – d e p e n d e n t , s e n s e of wellbeing freedom from d i s e a s e , personal satisfaction, social participation, p r o d u c t i v i t y.

T h e aim of t h e meetings i s to develop operational tools and recommendations to optimize t h e health impact of development projects a n d to promote related awareness among health a n d development worke r s. The proceeding’s will b e published and available on r e q u e s t.

Reade r s involved in development projects with clear positive o r negative consequences fur t h e health of t h e affected communities a r e kindly invited to write to t h e a d d r e s s below and include a description of t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e.

R e f e r e n c e s , c a s e – s t u d i e s , observations and justified o p e r a tional recommendations to increase t h e health pluses and decreased the health minuses 01′ Ji-‘vrilopil! The strangu7at’im o f small s s a l e i. Les 3rsr. This also implies increased efforts to achieve optimum utilization of o u r human and material resources; i x development of technology; X increase productivity; and x i the promotion of a new national orientation conducive to greater discipline, b e t t e r attitude to work and cleaner environment Federal Ministry of National Planning, l : 3 7.

But experience in Nigeria since the First National Development Plan , has shown that i t is difficult to achieve the expected goals because of lack of plan discipline, emergence of corruption in a large scale, lack of proper statistical data, lack of indigenous manpower in key positions etc. Okigbo, Even today Nigeria cannot boast of being a self-reliant nation; she still imports elementary goods and services. The economy is depressed with hyper inflation, and high rates of unemployment, retrenchment and crime.

So, s h e has so far not succeeded to b e a land of full opportunities for all citizens a s a result of poor economic planning and management of resources. Nigeria emphasizes the establishment of large scale industries e. Investment on indigenous small scale industries i.

The Third National Development Plan stated that the main objectives of the Government programmes for the establishment of small scale industries are the creation of employment opportunities, mobilization of local resources, mitigation of rural-urban migration, and distribution of industrial enterprises in different p a r t s of the country Federal Ministry of Economic.

Planning, Plans on how to develop small scale industries are contained in the Fourth National Development Plan. The above sounds good and commendable but it says little o r nothing about how to encourage t h e development of existing indigenous small scale industries. This is a very serious omission because the indigenous socio-economic system which had enabled the development of complex kingdoms and states in Nigeria was rooted on small scale industries which flourished, for instance, in Awka, Benin, Nupe, Oyo and Zaria i n pre-colonial e r a , slave trade not-with-standing.

This aspect will be discussed below. This paper is in four p a r t s. The first part discusses the traditional and contemporary indigenous small scale industries. The second focuses on the contemporary large scale industries in Nigeria.

The third deals with the relevance of indigenous economic organisation to Nigeria while the final part draws conclusions and make recommendations. Indigenous small scale industries: past and present The development of indigenous centralized and non-centralized states in Africa especially i n West Africa and Nigeria has intrigued anthropologists, sociologists, historians and political economist S. They agreed that each indigenous state had an economic base which sustained it such a s long distant t r a d e , local crafts and technology, occupational guilds and associations.

Smith on Zaria; Alagoa on Ijo; Bohannan on Tiv; Onwuejeogwu on Nri-Igbo; and Bradbury on Benin establish beyond doubt that guilds and associations of small and medium scale industries formed the basic work and industrial group s t r u c t u r e of production, distribution and consumption in the states.

He described how through the market and non-market systems production, distribution and consumption were generated by small industrial groups o r guilds through-out the kingdom and hegemony which at its climax involved many Igbo settlements “living in an area of about 4, square miles east and west of the River Niger”.

Leo Frobenius and Nadel described the flourishing metal-work in Bida at the beginning of this century as small scale industries with core groups of kinsmen engaged in economic production of various types.

The g r o u p s made iron implements used for planting grain which was an important food item that sustained the kingdom’s economy. Bida people manufactured sophisticated bronze and b r a s s household materials, decorative trinkets and bangles. The glass and bead industries were rich and prosperous; manned by small group of persons related through kinship and non-kinship ties. These few ethnography examples support the theories put forward h e r e , that small scale groups indigenous economic organisation formed the basis of effective production in traditional Nigerian economy.

Indeed, indigenous economic production was more effective in the context of small group a s epitomised in the Hausa Gandu system which was the most effective farming group that p r o d u c e d e groundnut and cotton pyramids which Hausland was famous for during their trading history especially between and The relegation of small scale industries in Nigerian economy began after the Nigerian Civil War when the oil boom blinded the planners from including small scale industries in their National Development Plan.

Chapt e r Eleven of the Third National Development Plan, for example, listed what is considered as small scale industries and defined it a s industries with less than ten persons with capital of up-to N60, This definition aside, the list did not include motor mechanics, metal workslblacksmiths who construct hoes, cutlasses, r a k e s , grinding and milling machines.

The Third National Development Plan says nothing about how to encourage the growth of these small scale industries. The study on Rural small scale industries in Bendel North and their role in rural development has revealed a boom in small scale industries such a s bakeries.

The existence of med” ium sized urban c e n t r e s which retail different raw materials has enabled the research area to benefit greatly in terms of raw material production, distribution and generation of employment Segynola, ; X-xii. The study of separate groups of bloc moulders in Benin City revealed that performance was superior under conditions of goal setting and supervision than “in no goal situations with supervision”. To the Nigerian manager, the result of the s t u d y implies that goal setting and supervision act jointly to motivate and maximise the performance of the workers Ebegbe, Mbagwu classified indigenous small scale industries into two categories, namely i those concerned with processing of raw materials into intermediate o r finished.

He highlighted the intellectual and the policy neglect of indigenous small scale industries and their significant roles but lacked statistical data to support his argument. The experience of Western Germany shows that small scale industries play important roles in the economy.

For example, the recent statistics number 1. The small scale industries provide 2 out of every 3 jobs, 4 out of every 5 apprenticeships and half of the gross national products GNP. Entrepreneurs of these industries a r e creative and take risks in times of crises.

In the early s, unfavourable economic conditions forced some large scale industries to close down, retrench workers or render them redundant, whereas small scale industries expanded, and are still expanding.

Between the first q u a r t e r of and the first q u a r t e r of , they created , new jobs in Western Germany Scala, The Japanese experience i s another ethnographic case of how the Japanese government encouraged small scale industries in agricultural and in many industrial sectors. The Japanese successes in rapid and effective industrialisation is strongly correlated with the adaptation of indigenous small scale industries into contemporary manufacturing companies, on the one hand, and the incorporation of ideas of the g, the family system, in organising t h e large industries, on the other.

These make the workers have a feeling of family solidarity by introducing welf a r e , and promotional systems that motivate workers into putting their best i n their companies Beardley, Hall and Ward, Contemporary large scale industries in Nigeria The strangulation of small scale industries in colonial and post-colonial e r a made room for the take-over of the economy by the transnational and government-owned industries.

Some studies of the large scale industries done at state levels show that they a r e inefficient and wasteful e. Anao, Between and , about state-owned limited liability companies were registered in Bendel State to pursue activities in industrial and commercial sectors.

They include cement, glass and textile industries; brewery industry; insurance, banking, clearing houses and consultancy; woodwork; laundry; supermarkets and gambling industry.

These economic activities were traditionally reserved for the private entrepren e u r s. By the end of the decade, the state-owned industries started to collapse and were consequently criticized by the public for poor perforrnance.

In his effort to find out the causal f a c t o r s , Anao conducted an indepth study of the Bendel Construction Company Limited. He discovered that the company failed because of lack of clear and rational objectives for investments coupled with the appointment of successive boards of directors who were ill-equipped and unsuitable for the needs of the company Anao, He also criticized the structural organisation of the company a s faulty though he did not state the nature of the human relationship which is pursued for effective management and production.

Limited in Owerri Imo State and in Enugu Anambra State shows the effects of traditional values of et’ticiency of Western bureaucratic style of organisation. According to Eke , in Hardel and Enic Nig. L t d , there is a peaceful coexistence of both traditional values as ignored by Max Weber, and bureaucratic values as postulated by him. These two values operated simultaneously and effectively in most of the activities in the firm, e.

What Max Weber regards as detrimental to the efficiency of bureaucratic organisation in the West is what the managers and subordinates of Hardel and Enic Nig. Ltd appreciate most in the firm Eke, In Hardel and Enic Nig.

Ltd, traditional cultural values of workers were integrated into the cultural values of Western bureaucracy. These have the positive effect of ameliorating the rigidity of Western bureaucracy, and making work more meaningful and acceptable for the workers. Consequently, they a r e able to perceive the firm as their personal property that should be protected at all costs. This i s similar to the situation in Japanese firms a s described b y Linhart The relevance of indigenous economic organisations to Nigeria Small scale industries establish face-to-face relationship between the boss and the subordinates similar to kinship relationship obtained in indigenous economic organisations which a r e organised in small groups of k i n s , relations and friends.

This type of network enhances high motivation to work among workers. Workers have a feeling of belonging at workplaces, and accept slogans such a s i The work i s “our work” and not “Oyibo work”, and ii S. The positive attitude towards work found in indigenous industries i s diametrically opposed to the negative type found mostly in big companies for various reasons such a s : impersonal relationship established in the name of bureaucracy and lack of cultural relations which a r e found in small scale industries.

The effectiveness and adaptability of small scale industries to the changing fate of world economy is remarkable. During the present economic depression that started around 1 9 8 0 , the Nigerian government introduced stringent economic measures to fight against the devaluation.

The first industries to collapse were the large scale industries specialises in importation of raw materials and manufactured goods. The collapse of these large scale industries saw the boom of the small scale industries.

The manpower retrenched in various large scale i n d u s t r i e s , some unemployed school leavers and university graduates were absorbed into the existing small scale industries. New small scale industries were established especially in the areas of food and metal industries. They began to make use of the local manpower and raw material resources which the large scale industries ignored d u r i n g the boom years.

Spare p a r t s were re-conditioned and new ones made with interior metal t h e so-called Taiwan make in Anambra and Imo states especially Onitsha-Nnewi-Owerri-Aba axis. The big Aladja and Ajaokuta iron and steel industries were unable to cope with the new situation. Ajaokuta was unable to produce flat iron sheets necessary for metal work which the small scale indigenous non-univer-.

The small scale indigenous ‘engineers’ began to use scrap irons to make hoes, plates, iron and steel p o t s , boxes and machines and motor p a r t s. Small scale meachanics, welders and vulcanizers emerged here and there and made it possible for private company and public vehicles to sustain the country’s transport system.

While the Volkswagen Nigeria Ltd and the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd were contracting, the small motor-part makers and mechanics were expanding and even absorbing workers retrenched from the big companies. This is the state of the present phase of the economy.

It is at this stage that the Nigerian government came out with i t s small scale industry project which i s one of the four projects currently organised by the National Directorate of Employment in order to combat unemployment The main objective of the small scale industry project i s to encourage unemployment graduates and young entrepreneurs to establish small businesses, become self-employed, and provide employment for other workers Babangida, l; The Guardian 1 0.

The completion of the above requirements Nos i-iii present little or no problems to the applicants. However, concern should be expressed about requirement No i v which deals with comprehensive feasibility report of the proposed project. W appreciate the fact that comprehene sive feasibility report of any business project can be very expensive. Given the financial predicament of the unemployed graduate, how can he afford such bills? Assuming that he finally presents a feasibility report of the proposed project, how authentic and genuine is i t , putting into consideration the high wave of corrupt and fraudulent practices which are prevalent in Nigeria?

These are some of the problems which should be addressed, especially by the planners, in order to achieve fruitful results.

Furthermore, it is observed that loans are given to qualified unemployed individuals who have little or no experience of business management to s t a r t new businesses These loans should be given, instead, to existing established entrepreneurs of indigenous small scale.

It seems that in i t s present form the project i s organised on a n individual basis for those who can satisfy the requirements for selection, and not necessarily on developing and expanding the existing indigenous small scale industries. So, it is planned with the socio-cultural realities of Nigeria not taken into proper consideration. The project is saddled with western individualism and bureaucratic exigencies which are foreign to success and inimical to growth of indigenous small scale industries in Nigeria.

Conclusion It has been shown in this paper that indigenous economic organisations which a r e small scale are invaluable to the socio-economic and technological developments in Nigeria, and a s such should be encouraged to grow and prosper. In view of this, the following recommendations a r e made: 1 the Government should study the s t r u c t u r e and functions of indigenous traditional organisations and find ways of integrating them into the development plans, and ii the present method devised by the National Directorate of Employment to establish small scale industries i s inadequate from a cultural and sociological point of view and may not sustain the test of time a n d , a s such, should be restructured to reflect the needs of existing indigenous small scale industries.

Babangida, l. Eke, C. Nadel, S. Onwuejeogwu, M. Okiqbo, N. Segynola, A. Thesis ,. L ‘importance iconomique de t e l l e s e n t r e p r i s e s a e ‘ t i dimontree au Japon e t en A 2 Leqagne, e t L’e-cpdrience nige’riane r i c e n t e confirme q u ‘ s t i e s contribuent davantaqe au de’ueloppement sn raison de leur enrac-inement dans l a euLdeux r e ture povu’iaire.

L’auteur fd? The Gaia Atlas and the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World are circulating in more than a dozen languages, the Annual report of the World Resources Institute stands in easy reach of enlightened UN officials, and environmentalists across the world hail the report of the BrundtlandCommission as high-level testimony to their claims. I should show gratitude and relief. It i s t r u e , the curtain of silence is finally pulled away from the global survival crisis and a series of data and tables reveal the vast panorama of today’s threats and perils.

The evidence i s indeed undebatable. Also the appeal for urgent responsible action has been long overdue and cannot but command consent. Conversion i s indeed indispensable.

Yet my admiration for the reports i s increasingly stained with mistrust in their effects. The proposed policies of resource management, I am afraid, ignore the option of intelligent self-limitation and reduce ecology to a higher form of efficiency.

Such a reductionism, I claim, implicitly affirms the universal validity of the economic world-view and will eventually spread further the Westernization of minds and habits, a cultural fall-out that in the long r u n also endangers the overall goal of sustainability.

More out of less Each of the 80 odd Worldwatch papers, for example, paints a picture of the global state of affairs which looks roughly a s follows: On the one hand we see how more and more people with increasing- needs for food, shelter, health care or e n e r g y , a r e demanding to be recognized, as the population grows and some inequality is levelled.

On the other hand we are shown how economies squander their potential to meet these demands as they deplete resources, ruin the environment and drive up costs. The available means are diminishing, while needs become more pressing: what looms large in the picture i s a global sustainability squeeze.

Fossil fuels, for instance, use up in one year what took a million years to produce, overburden the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, and prove to be more costly than investing in saving energy. The misuse ot water supplies deprives humans, animals and plants of a basic means of survival, pollutes the earth’s reserves for a long time to come, and new water works c a r r y a multi-billion dollar price tag.

Examples abound. Fortunately enough, t h e Worldwatch people s a y , the pict u r e i s not completely gloomy, but shows a streak of light in the distance. Shifting to less harmful means and concentrating on efficiency. Renewable fuels and fine tuning through conservation and careful management are typical r e sponses which point to the desired t a r g e t : resource efficiency.

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