This land tenure system, comparable to private property farmed by the owner, is unique for shifting forest agriculture. It confers high security to each family in access to land, in particular in the long term. Farmers can plan on investing in their fields 6 so as to increase their productivity Ducourtieux et al.
In the first year, glutinous rice dominates, associated with many crops maize, tubers and roots, cucurbits, crucifers, peppers, sunflower and groundnut. In Samlang, all the work requires an average of days of work per active worker, i.
It must be done according to a specific, restrictive schedule, or else weeds will put a strain on the yields of rice and associated crops. For example, weeding done too late lets the weeds sprout and spread their seeds, complicating the management of grass cover during the subsequent weeding periods.
June, July and August weeding monopolises the entire workforce. The fallow land is the pasture area for large ruminants; cattle are limited to grazing grassy fallow whereas water buffaloes graze indifferently year round on shrubby, tree-covered and grassy fallow. There are more potentially farmable areas than actually farmed.
The direct comparison of rice yields between lowlands—1. The progressive build-up of biomass resulting from photosynthesis on the fallow land has been proven, 12 but recent research work is challenging this oversimplified interpretation.
The yields are not directly proportionate to the fallow period Foppes et al. Furthermore, rapid rotations increase erosion, limiting future productive potential De Rouw et al. The role played by the fallow duration in the yield is itself the interaction of a substantial number of cumulative and synergetic factors, for which it is hard to isolate individual contributions. In addition to the build-up of biomass for mineral fertility and the soil structure, there is pest control.
The density of harmful insects and weeds in a slash-and-burn field decreases rapidly depending on how long the fallow period lasted before clearing Van Keer The author established that the constraints concerning yield are, in order of importance, the number of successive crop years, climatic hazards, the topographical position of the plot, 13 weeds and predators 14 Van Keer In Laos, farmers draw up a comparable list Roder et al.
Samlang farmers rank drought—once every three years—as the main problem, followed by parasitizing of roots, and rodents. On the contrary, each family is constantly adapting its actions based on the natural climate and socio-economic manpower, tools, markets, consumer needs, etc.
Cotton and tobacco have practically vanished from the fields since the arrival on the local market of low-cost manufactured products from China at the end of the s. On the other hand, some villages have developed maize or white rice farming as a raw material for the distillation and trade of alcoholic spirits in Phongsaly.
Furthermore, every hour spent walking during the rainy season is lost for weeding. Added to the marginal production gain that fallow periods over ten years procure Van Keer , the constraint of distance explains why villagers choose not to include in rotations the forest land within the village domain that is farthest away from the village.
Out of the 24 forest villages in the study zone see Fig. The biodiversity is also observed on a large scale, with nearly sticky rice varieties identified for shifting cultivation in Northern Laos Roder et al.
For example, the sowing density will depend on the slope, with tubers being preferentially planted in large heaps of ashes or maize in the wettest part. On a larger scale, this well thought-out choice concerning land use can be observed in the development of terraced paddy fields in the scarce irrigable zones or in the choice of shady, damp plots that are not too high in altitude for growing cardamom Ducourtieux et al.
When the village clears several zones, in particular if there are two consecutive years of crops, each family first allocates its workforce to the plot considered potentially the most fertile. It is usually the plot cleared that same year, but the choice is not systematic: seed quantities vary from one year and one plot to the next.
Furthermore, the initial distribution of labour can evolve over the year, depending on the problems encountered. If a plot is substantially damaged—drought, rodents—the family will lower the amount of work there and transfer labour to other plots to limit the risks of a drop in production. There are other rescue strategies, such as sowing a plot again where growth is deficient due to lack of rain in April-May, or, when problems arise too late, sesame is sown as a main crop to replace rice.
The dynamic and evolving allocation of the workforce and the diversification of activities are the two phases of the farmer strategy used for limiting risks and maximising family income. Resources that are rare—workforce—or fragile—soil, forest, water, biodiversity—are managed differentially so as to be integrated in a sustainable way into the rational strategy of each category of farmers.
Furthermore, the wide range of products in a self-consumption economy contributes to the balance of family nutrition. They optimise the use of resources with practices that are based on neither chance nor inflexible norm, but on their know-how, deriving from the experience acquired from one generation to the next.
This precise and detailed use of resources leads to a globally forested landscape, dotted with small areas of crops. In a 80xkm area, no less than four agrarian systems coexist with just as many different slash-and-burn systems for less than 4, peasant families in 85 villages.
The relatively homogenous natural setting cannot explain this wide range of practices. This manner of exploiting the forest environment is not exclusive to the Phounoy ethnic group. One of the Akka villages in the zone, as well as Phounoy and Ho villages in other sectors left bank of the Nam Ou river , are associated with the same system. Yet they are Laoseng or Lu villages and not Phounoy Alexandre et al. The differences between social classes are very pronounced, with an extraction of surplus value based on unequal exchange of rice and work.
Although only Ho farmers practice that type of agriculture, not all the Ho villages on the left bank of the Nam Ou make use of the environment in that way. Rice is still grown in association with other crops on slash-and-burn fields, but the fallow period is now much shorter years , clearing is family-oriented and not grouped together on the village level, with plot allotment being limited to the length of the crop.
Poppy farming plays an important role in family livelihood, although it is regressing; this entails a change in the work calendar, with clearing in March instead of December, the period for sowing poppy. In the other northern villages, the system has changed Baudran In those Ho villages in the north-western part of the district, 28 farming on burnt fields has practically disappeared.
Paddy farming, requiring less labour during the period when poppy is sown, has allowed families to extend the narcotic crop Baudran Contrary to generally accepted ideas UNDCP , shifting cultivation limits opium production more than paddy farming, due to the conflicting schedule for the workforce at the time of clearing which corresponds to the poppy-sowing period.
In nearly half the villages, families do either shifting cultivation on Imperata grassy fallow, if they have buffalo for traction, or slash-and-burn on ligneous fallow when production means are strictly manual Baudran It is possible to compare the farming and land practices of the Ho tribes in the north or on the left bank of the Nam Ou and the Phounoy tribes in the south-west. The diversity observed in the farming systems in the Phongsaly District does not match the ethnolinguistic zoning: therefore, the ethnic group is not a decisive criteria of farming diversity typology in the region.
Differences in market access depending on those distances induce substantial differences among the villages, as well as a more pronounced social differentiation in the villages nearby Laffort Location is a key criteria in typology, but is not sufficient to explain the differences observed among the remote villages.
For example, on the left bank of the Nam Ou, the specificities of farming on Imperata fallow in Ho villages can be understood through the historical migration to zones in altitude, by that population with a previously constituted technical corpus in the rice farming plains of southern China bubalin traction and associated farm tools. The Jumma tribes have developed this farming system to suit the rugged, hilly landscape in which they live.
The Jhum system was an effective, sustainable system that provided for the needs of the Jumma tribes for generations. But the Jumma have been squeezed into an increasingly small area, first by the submergence of land when the Karnafuli River was dammed, then by the influx of thousands of Bengali settlers who have been encouraged by the government to settle in the Hill Tracts. They are forced to shorten their fallow periods and so their yields from the land are decreasing, leading to both food shortages and economic hardship.
An argument against swidden agriculture is that it does not yield sufficiently to feed a burgeoning population. But the quality and diversity of the nutrition that is extracted from swidden plots is typically higher than from intensive agricultural systems. Many of the areas where swidden agriculture is practiced are unsuitable for permanent cultivation because the soils are too poor.
By moving their plots from year to year, tribal communities have developed ways of ensuring a diverse and sustainable supply of food, rather than high, but short-term, yields. As swidden is pushed out, new agricultural and biofuel-farming systems go in, which are typically far less biodiverse, alien to local people and beyond their control, and far less able to support local communities — either in terms of current livelihoods, or nutrition or future sustainability.
Learn more about:. Dongria Kondh Jummas Wanniyala-Aetto. Sign up now for updates and actions. Donate Survival's shop. More Our work. More Press. More Who we are. More 5 minutes to spare? More The Americas. English change. This system ensures universal access to land and resources in an egalitarian and equitable manner.
How can we overcome the challenges facing the revitalization of shifting cultivation? We need to change the narrative surrounding shifting cultivation to one that promotes its strengths. This will require intense, dedicated engagement between development agencies, governments, academia, and indigenous peoples to showcase good practices and formulate strategies for the revitalization of shifting cultivation. Knowledgeable researchers and practitioners need to be included for objective, informed views.
These engagements should also lay the groundwork for policy reforms. What steps should be taken by development agencies and governments over the long term to improve the sustainability of shifting cultivation? The transformation of all food systems requires constant investments in research, and shifting cultivation is no different in that regard.
Agricultural research into shifting cultivation should ideally focus on improving productivity per unit area and labour returns per unit, with a focus on the specific needs of short-cycled versus long-cycled shifting cultivation. The various crops used in shifting cultivation should also be researched, especially for the purposes of improving productivity, diversifying products and adding value. Development agencies have an important role to play in advocating for governments to increase investments in shifting cultivation, and in nudging research institutes to focus more attention on it.
They are also crucial for bringing together other development agencies, international financial institutions, and governments to help change the perceptions of shifting cultivation and champion the need to restructure development programme approaches to manage change. In your view, how can publications like your resource book contribute to managing the sustainable transformation of shifting cultivation?
This lack of awareness is the root cause of the present state of affairs.
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