Page 179 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

156 G.E. Glasson

knowledge learned from school knowledge has evolved on the best ways to grow crops
together, which gives protection from pests and also maintaining soil fertility and texture.
Unlike traditional farmers we previously interviewed, Dr. Chinkhuntha was edu-
cated and exposed to western agricultural knowledge. He was purposeful in his
decision to farm using low-cost inputs and indigenous ideas and technology; however,
his hybridized approach benefitted from two knowledge traditions:
We use both traditional and western ideas. What I think is that good farmers need to be
knowledgeable about what is going on in their farms. Most of people we call farmers fail
to do well because they lack knowledge. Some are mere cultivators but lack knowledge
about what to do to get what they want from farming, under prevalent conditions in their
local places.
Dr. Chinkhuntha was also concerned that educated students abandon farming as an
occupation and do not learn about sustainable farming practices in agricultural
schools that include both western and indigenous knowledge.
Dr. Chinkhuntha elaborated on how the local community is involved in the pro-
duction of food and learning about sustainable farming practices at Freedom
Gardens:
The local community provides all the labor requirements for Freedom Gardens. People from
the neighborhood come to work for money or food all the time. This arrangement has also
acted as education for those who come to work in this garden because I have seen many
workers borrowing the science and technology for establishing their own small enterprises
both upstream and downstream. So, the villages that surround this place are my main source
of labor. In difficult times we are capable of supporting six villages that surround us.
Restoring indigenous knowledge and practices within the local community at
Freedom Gardens is a powerful example of revitalization of the commons (Bowers
2007a). Revitalizing the commons involves making choices that are beneficial to
the local community, environment, and culture. The organic practices at Freedom
Gardens also demonstrate how traditional farming methods can be connected to the
larger global society. A variety of crops, such as beans, sugarcane, pineapples,
strawberries, citrus fruits, and bananas are sold to the local hotels in Lilongwe (the
capital city of Malawi) as well as the international airport. According to Dr.
Chinkhuntha, many people come to Freedom Gardens for produce because they do
not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

In summary, Dr. Chinkhuntha’s family practiced sustainability science so that
“human needs can be met at the same time the earth’s life support systems are
conserved” (Carter 2007, p. 166). However, because Malawi is not a country with
widespread electricity, energy resources, or economic infrastructure that might be
conducive to the successful implementation of western agricultural science taught
in schools (Dzama and Osborne 1999), the Chinkhuntha family operated in a third
space to make choices that are better for living sustainably. In Dr. Chinkhuntha’s
case, finding ecojustice requires empowerment by considering knowledge from
multiple sources and negotiating what makes sense for practicing sustainable farm-
ing and achieving food sovereignty. Many other Malawian farmers, dependent on
government subsidies for synthetic fertilizers, accept western agricultural practices