Malagasy Swidden Agriculture: The Influence of Conservation Organizations on Indigenous Knowledge

This research evaluates the influence of conservation organizations on the cultural model of tavy (swidden agriculture) in eastern Madagascar. It compares communities in protected and unprotected areas of eastern Madagascar, whose members have been influenced to varying degrees by the introduction of non-indigenous conservation practices. The analysis makes use of schema theory and cultural models to present the various stages of tavy agriculture. Principal components analysis and ANOVA are used to test following hypothesis: As knowledge of non-indigenous conservation practices increases, knowledge of tavy decreases. The implications for the hypothesis being accepted are then discussed.