Outmoded functional skills in rural communities

Rural residents have poor access to the acquisition of technological expertise. Old methods are dying out as resources became more scarce, but training for new means of livelihood tends to be the responsibility of employers in urban areas. Where there are volunteer teachers in practical skills, these tend to be only partially trained themselves and therefore do not have the confidence of the community. For most, practical vocational training is only within the family, as youth become apprentices to parents of relatives who are craftsmen.

There is a lack of knowledge of even the most rudimentary procedures for dealing adequately in emergency health situations; traditional food preparation and eating patterns prevent the greatest nutritional value from being drawn from existing resources; the good health vital for change is further compromised by unsanitary animal care. Adult training is at best simply the perpetuation of traditional knowledge and skills; apprenticeship schemes transmit to the coming generation methods which are identical to those practised by their parents and there is no effective access to new wisdom or methods.