The Diversity and Dynamics of Shifting Cultivation: Myths, Realities, and Policy Implications LorI Ann Thrupp, Susanna Hecht and John Browder wIth Owen J Lynch, Nablha Megateh and WIlham O'Bnen WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE September 1997 Carollyne Hutter Acting Pubhcatlons DIrector Hyacinth Bllhngs ProductIOn Manager Cover photograph courtesy of Harold C Conkhn (RICe, mazze, mamoc, pigeon pea, and banana plants surround two Hanunoo shiftmg cultIVators as they weed their extensively mtercropped hlllside swldden for a second time on Mmdoro Island m the Ph,llppmes) Each World Resources Instltute Report represents a tImely, scholarly treatment ofa subject of pubhc concern WRI takes responslblhty for choosing the study tOPICS and guaranteemg ItS authors and researchers freedom of mqurry It also SOhCltS and responds to the guIdance of adVlsory panels and expert reVlewers Unless othefWlse stated, however, all the interpretatIOn and findings set forth in WRI pubhcatIOns are those of the authors Copynght © 1997 World Resources InstItute All nghts reserved ISBN 1-56973-230-2 LIbrary of Congress Catalog Card No 97-80524 Pnnted in the Umted States of Amenca on Recycled Paper The Dlverslty and Dynannes of Sluftmg Cultivation Myths, Reahties, and Pohey Impheahons 111 Contents Acknowledgments v IntroductIOn 1 I The BasIcs of Shlftmg CultivatIOn Systems What, Where, Who 3 Meanmg of Shtftmg CultlvatIon 3 Extent of Shtftmg Cultivation 3 Mam Features of Shtftmg CultlvatIOn 4 Dynanucs of Shtftmg CultivatIOn 7 n Myths and ReahtIes 9 PerceptIOns of Agncultural Development Stages 9 Dlverslty of Shtftmg CultivatIOn 11 Subslstence and CommerClal Farmlng ActlVltles 15 ProductIVlty Levels 17 EnVlronmental Impacts and Resource Use 18 Levels of Productive Technologles and Agroecologlcal Knowledge 21 Tenure and Property Systems 25 InterventIOns of Governments, Agencles and Pohcles 25 ill ConclusIOns ReconcIlmg Pohcy with RealIty 33 References 37 The Diversity and Dynanues of ShIftmg Culnvanon Myths, Reahtles, and Pohey Impheatlons v Acknowledgments Tills report IS a product of collaboratIve work support and mterest We appreCIate the valuable between World Resources Institute staff reVlews and suggestIons by Harold Conkhn, members and close collaborators--all concerned MIchael Dove, Jams Alcorn, Chnstme Padoch, about sillftmg cultIvatIon and socIal dynamICS of Harold Brookfield, and Sam FUJlsaka on an land use change The research was ImtIated as a earher verSIon of tills paper We are also grateful part ofWRI's work With the InternatIonal for the comments and mput proVided by WRI Center for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF), staff, mcludmg Walter ReId, Thomas Fox, NIgel and other orgamzatlOns mvolved m the Sizer, Peter Velt, Paige Brown, Paul Faeth, and "AlternatIves to Slash and Bum" (ASB) Jake Brunner Thanks also go to Seth Imtlatlve supported largely by the Global Beckerman for edltmg, to Roberto Colque for EnVlronment Faclhty through the Umted Nations program aSSIstance and desktoppmg, and to Development Programme, and coordmated by Hyacmth Bdhngs and Valene Schwartz for ICRAF We are grateful to ICRAF and ASB for production assistance The Authors The DIversity and Dynarmes of Sluftmg Cultlvatlon Myths Reabtles and Pobey Impheatlons Introduction Shtftmg cultlvatlOn IS the most complex and perceIved to be more modem, sustamable and multIfaceted form of agnculture m the world Its sedentary forms of agnculture Contemporary htghly dIverse land use systems have been cntlcs and the medIa often call It "slash and evolvmg smce as early as 10,000 BC m a WIde bum" agnculture--a peJoratlve term that range of dIstmct SOCIOeCOnOmIC and ecologIcal perpetuates mIsperceptlons about shtftmg condItlons, from montane to lowland cultIvators ecosystems, and from tropIcal forests to grasslands (Spencer, 1966) Shtftmg cultIvatlon Thts publIcatlon htghlIghts the multlfaceted, encompasses croppmg systems such as dynamIC charactenstlcs of shtftmg cultlvatlOn hortIculture and annual croppIng, perenrual tree and IdentIfies SOCIOeCOnOmIC and polIcy factors crops, arumal husbandry, and management of that affect shtftmg cultIvators It challenges forests and fallows m sequentIal or rotatIonal prevrulmg mIsconceptlons by htghlIghtmg the cycles, It IS currently practIced m a WIde vanety dIverSIty, myths, and realItles of shtftmg of forms by 500 mIlhon to one bIllIon people cultIvatlOn The concludmg sectIon summanzes around the world reasons for supportmg agroecoiogical pnncipies and lIvelIhood secunty and aVOldmg listoncal Shtftmg cultlvatlOn has been a subject of mIstakes It also draws on mSIghts based on debate and mterventlOn smce the colomal era, field research and makes recommendatIons for and It has often been subject to pubhc polIcy change as well as other opportumtles for mIscOnceptIons and stereotypIng Many In the supportIng sustamable and eqUItable land use, enVIronment and development commumty have mcludmg partICIpatory commumty-based cntIcized shtftmg cultlvatlon as a pnmItlve, approaches for mtegratmg local knowledge m backwards, destructlve, or wasteful form of research and development agnculture, and as a mere precursor to what are The DlVersity and Dynarmcs of Shrllmg Cultivation Myths ReahtIes and Pohcy ImphcatIons 3 I. The Basics of Shifting Cultivation Systems: What, Where, Who Meanmg of Shlftmg CultivatIOn Extent of Shlftmg Cultivation Shtftmg cultlVatlOn consIsts of many dIverse The total land area affected by shtftmg land use actIvItIes and IS, therefore, dIfficult to cultIvatIon IS difficult to assess because the define Broadly speakmg, the term refers to any practIce mcludes many land use actIVItIes A temporal and spatIally cychcal agncultural reasonable estImate of the global area IS 2 9 system that mvolves cleanng ofland-usually bIlhon hectares (StIles, 1994) Hauck (1974) with the assIstance of fire-followed by phases and Sanchez (1976) estimate that vanous types of cultIvatIon and fallow penods Most shtftmg of shtftmg cultlVatlOn are practiced on about 30 cultivatIon systems blend agnculture WIth percent of the world's explOItable soil Dove huntmg, fishtng, gathenng, and resource-use (1985) suggests that roughly one half of the land systems m multI-ruche strategIes that make area m the tropICS IS modIfied by shtftmg econOffilC and SOCIal sense m many settmgs cultIvatlOn TypIcally, shtftmg cultIvators mcorporate perenmal crops such as fruit, medlcmal, nut, and Shtftmg cultIvatlOn was common m the resm trees Some shtftmg cultIvatIon systems temperate zones of the MedIterranean and are actually forms of agroforestry systems Northern Europe untIl the 19th century, as well (Ramtree, 1986, Dove, 1985, Peluso,1992, as m the southwestern and northeastern pme Denevan and Padoch, 1988, Alcorn, 1990a, woodlands of North Amenca until the 19408 1990b, Brookfield and Padoch, 1994) (Dove, 1983, Brookfield, 1996, Warner, 1991) Currently, It occurs almost exclUSIvely m the The colloqUlal term "slash-and-burn tropIcs of AfrIca, ASIa, and Latm Amenca agnculture" refers to the method of cleanng and Figure 1 shows the mam areas m whtch shtftmg prepanng land, common among shtftmg cultIvatlOn systems are practIced today Other cultIvators Tills term, however, has pejorative agnculturalland use systems are practIced In connotatlOns and IS aVOlded m tills report The these areas, but sillftmg agnculture IS the term "sWldden farmmg" IS preferred by prevalent system anthropologIsts as a neutral concept, It IS drawn from the Old Enghsh word swldden, meamng ShIftmg cultIvatIon IS found m a vanety of burned cleanng (Conkhn, 1957, Peters and topographtes, rangIng from steeply sloped htlly Neuenschwander, 1988) SWldden farmtng as a areas to flat lands and low-lYIng valleys (Sarkar, term does not adequately capture the dynaffilc 1982) LIkeWIse, It IS found In diverse quahty and stages of sluftmg cultIvatIOn, ecosystems that range from troplcal mOIst however forests to dry troPiCal forests and savannas, grasslands, and even seasonal floodplams (See 4 The Dlverslty and Dynannes of Shlftmg Cultivation Myths ReahtIes, and Pohey hnpheatIons Chapter II) Land uses denved from shIftmg cultIvatIon These shiftmg cultIvators belong to cultlvatlOU often blend With or are mtstaken for at least 3,000 dIfferent ethmc groups (Stiles, natural forest Some forest formatIons, as m the 1994) Babassu forests m northeastern Brazil, are the results of resource management by sluftmg Mam Features of Shlftmg Cultivation cultIvators (Bahck et ai, 1991) Many forests m Kahmantan, IndonesIa, are dotted With forest Smftmg cultIvatIOn IS cychcal, and ItS cycles and frUIt gardens planted over tIme by smftmg encompass an array of land use actIVItIes The cultIvators (padoch and Peters, 1993) The total speCIfic stages and features of each cultIvatlOn number of people engaged m some form of cycle vary and are sometImes dIfficult to smftmg cultIvatIon system has been only loosely dlstmguish In woodland and montane forms of estImated Three hundred mtlhon (Russell, smftmg cultIvatIOn, for example, the cycle IS 1988) and five hundred mtlhon (Lanly, 1985) are often compnsed of SIX stages sIte-selectIon and conservatIve estImates frequently cIted, but some cleanng, burmng, plantmg, weedmg and have argued that more than 400 mtlhon people m protectmg, harvestmg, and successIOn In other ASIa alone are forest dependent and that a forms, the stages do not follow such a clear maJonty of them engage m sluftmg agnculture pattern Grapmc portrayals of sluftmg (Lynch, 1992b) It IS probably not unreahstic to cultIvatIon nsk overslmphficatIOn of ItS