Evolving Epistemologies: understanding hybrid knowledge and its impact on livelihoods in migrant-agricultural settings in Ghana.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is increasingly recognised for its value in improving people’s livelihoods and increasing the resilience of livelihoods. This research aims to further explore this assertion by understanding the process of how different TEK systems can co-exist and interact, between different groups of people. The spaces where different groups meet can be plenty, however, this research proposes to look at agricultural knowledge creation between migrant farmers and local farmers in the Brong Ahafo Region in Ghana. It will look at which agricultural knowledge systems and farming practices are present, how they interact and create hybrid knowledge, how hybrid knowledge can contribute to livelihoods and what the conditions for such a knowledge creation are. These knowledge systems that are present, can be a blend of local and extra-local knowledge such as knowledge coming from external research institutes, government and (non-)governmental organisations, for example. This interdisciplinary research will make use of mixed methods, both qualitative and quantitative, within an action research case study. The research is both theoretically and empirically innovative in its specific focus on the intersection of agriculture, migration, philosophy of knowledge, anthropology and development.