Nature's Health Is Our Wealth! Farmer's Endogenous Knowledge and Practices for a Sustainable Butterfly Livelihood in Rural Philippines

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The paper is an exploratory qualitative research with demographic statistics that applies the concepts of sociology, ethnobotany and ethnoecology. The social history of the livelihood, which started from a hobby into an emerging enterprise, was presented. It discusses the endogenous wisdoms, traditional knowledges and alternative technological practices that the butterfly farmers of the province of Marinduque had developed and continuously practiced through time. The focus of the analysis was on the role of the butterfly farmers as social actors and their ‘agency’ in the development of the livelihood. It looked on actors’ experiences, developed bodies of knowledge, practices and values in relation to their continuous interactions with nature, culture and economics as social arenas for development. The study revealed the farmers’ endogenous system of identifying and categorising more than 300 species of butterflies, their respective larval- and nectar-food plants and the socio-cultural ‘meanings’ they ascribed to them. It revealed the emerging social networks, economic strategies (local and global); developed cultural beliefs and indigenous farming knowledge and practices that all redound to the protection of the environment towards the livelihood’s sustainability. The paper also discusses the changing and emerging socio-cultural, political and economic values of the people that affect their perceptions about butterfly farming and livelihood-related activities.

Stream: Economic Sustainability

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

I have been engaged in research for almost 15 years and my field of interests are phytochemistry, environment, butterflies and indigenous knowledge. I am a BSc Chemistry graduate and also finished Diploma in R&D Management. I took my Master of Science in Wageningen University & Research Centrum in The Netherlands. My master's is in International Development with focus on Rural Sustainable Development. I also presented various papers in International Research Conferences. One of my papers was presented in The Catholic University of America in 2006 under the sponsorship of Ford Foundation International Fellowship Programm, New York. That was during the Leadership for Social Justice convention of fellows worldwide. My research work on butterflies and their farming activities in the island province of Marinduque started in 1993, which is now one of the export products of the farmers.