In this chapter we explore the governance of traditional agricultural knowledge (TAK) under the commons framework, or the idea that knowledge can be governed as a commons, i.e., as a resource used by a group of people who have self-developed a set of rules to manage the social dilemmas derived from the resource collective use. To illustrate the governance of TAK under the commons framework, we present two case studies in which TAK is shared by communities of users who operate at different scales. The first case illustrates the local governance of TAK as commons by a close community with tight social bonds; the second case provides an example of how digitalized TAK could be governed by a peer-to-peer governance system and become part of the global digital commons. We conclude by exploring the degree towhich a commons-based governance can be considered a contestation to commodification and enclosure movements that threaten the maintenance of TAK systems, and thus supports people's ability to sustain environmentally and culturally adapted food systems.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Routledge Handbook of Food as a Commons on 2018, available online: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Food-as-a-Commons/Vivero-Pol-Ferrando-DeSchutter-Mattei/p/book/9780367628567

Research leading to this paper has received funding from the Spanish government through a grant of the Economy and Competitiveness ministry (CSO2014-59704-P)

Peer reviewed