Tikale, Sandra Tamara
(2025).
Reviving local seeds? Practices and narratives around maize, mahanga and sorghum seeds in Northeast Namibia.
Masters thesis, Universität zu Köln.
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Abstract
Small-scale rainfed cereal farming in the Zambezi Region in Northeast Namibia faces challenges such as unreliable rainfall, human-wildlife conflicts and labour shortages. Against that background, this ethnographic study explores how the rootedness, current situation and future potential of several cereal species and seeds are perceived and evaluated by various stakeholders in the region, including small-scale farmers, seed suppliers, and NGO workers. The thesis acknowledges advantages and disadvantages of all three dominant cereal species – maize, mahangu (pearl millet), and sorghum – and different seed types such as ‘formal’ and ‘local’ seeds. At the same time, it emphasizes the need to further research and promote currently neglected and underutilized cereal varieties and seeds to allow for greater diversity and resilience of cereal farming.
Item Type: | Thesis (Masters thesis) | ||||||||
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-786246 | ||||||||
Series Name at the University of Cologne: | Culture and Environment in Africa Series | ||||||||
Volume: | 18 | ||||||||
Date: | 2025 | ||||||||
Place of Publication: | Köln | ||||||||
ISSN: | 2194-1556 | ||||||||
Language: | English | ||||||||
Faculty: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities | ||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 4: Außereuropäische Sprachen, Kulturen und Gesellschaften > Institut für Ethnologie | ||||||||
Subjects: | Customs, etiquette, folklore | ||||||||
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Date of oral exam: | 2025 | ||||||||
Referee: |
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Refereed: | Yes | ||||||||
URI: | http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/78624 |
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