Susan Walsh argues that the well-intentioned organizations working in Jalq’a communities paid insufficient attention to longstanding knowledge that has supported human survival in regions where the natural world has the upper hand.

She goes beyond a critical review of misguided aid to offer reflections on the relationship between indigenous knowledge and resilience theory, the hopeful future of development assistance, and the contradictions in her own hybrid role as researcher and development-practitioner.

In light of growing global concern over the worsening food crisis and interconnected climate extremes, Trojan-Horse Aid offers an important critique of development practices that undermine peasant strategies. It also offers suggestions for more effective approaches for the future.