Integrating Ethno-Ecological and Scientific Knowledge of Termites for Sustainable Termite Management and Human Welfare in Africa

By G. Sileshi, P. Nyeko, P. Nkunika, Benjamin M. Sekematte, F. Akinnifesi, Olu Ajayi. 2009

139 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Despite their well-known role as pests, termites also provide essential ecosystem services. In this paper, we undertook a comprehensive review of studies on human-termite interactions and farmers' indigenous knowledge across Sub-Saharan Africa in an effort to build coherent principles for termite management. The review revealed that local communities have comprehensive indigenous knowledge of termite ecology and taxonomy, and apply various indigenous control practices. Many communities also have elaborate knowledge of the nutritional and medicinal value of termites and mushrooms associated with termite nests. Children and women also widely consume termite mound soil for nutritional or other benefits encouraged by indigenous belief systems. In addition, subsistence farmers use termites as indicators of soil fertility, and use termite mound soil in low-risk farming strategies for crop production. In the past, chemical control of termites has been initiated without empirical data on the termite species, their damage threshold, and the social, ecological, or economic risks and trade-offs of the control. This review has provided new insights into the intimate nature of human-termite interactions in Africa and the risks of chemical control of termites to human welfare and the environment. We recommend that management of termites in future should be built on farmers' indigenous knowledge and adequate understanding of the ecology of the local termite species.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Genetics, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0338d3545d5b1f5f471dc91ae4f44bbff60a61a7

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. P. Stevenson
2. J. Eilenberg
3. G. Sileshi
4. S. Govorushko
5. A. van Huis

In Genetics

1. V. Meyer-Rochow
2. P. Stevenson
3. J. Eilenberg
4. G. Sileshi
5. S. Govorushko
6. A. van Huis

In Social Psychology

1. P. Rozin
2. S. Govorushko
3. A. van Huis
4. S. B. Olsen
5. P. Henry
6. J. Rohrer
7. Ara Norenzayan
8. Steven J. Heine

Citations in the corpus

• Economic and ecological importance of termites: A global review (2018, background): “There are dozens of species and most of them are highly valued as food or drugs (Sileshi et al. 2009).”
• ‘Entomophagy’: an evolving terminology in need of review (2015, background): “Failure to recognise different classification schemes obstructs the knowledge exchange crucial for developing a richer appreciation of insects’ edible potential (Sileshi et al. , 2009).”
• Farmers' insect pest management practices and pesticidal plant use in the protection of stored maize and beans in Southern Africa (2010, background): “Unfortunately, indigenous practices have been dismissed by some researchers in the absence of sufficient work to demonstrate their potential (Sileshi et al. 2008, 2009).”