OBJECTIVES
1. To identify and classify different types of shifting cultivation
2. To examine traditional systems of shifting cultivation
3. To compare traditional shifting cultivation with contemporary “pioneer farming” or “shifted” cultivation
4. To assess the environmental impacts of shifting cultivation
Types and Regions of Traditional Agriculture
Shifting cultivation today is located within the tropics
Difference between shifting cultivation and permanent agriculture?A fallow period ‐ when land is not being used for a period of timeA fallow period ‐ when land is not being used for a period of time
What is your image of shifting cultivation?
Slash and burn
Shifting cultivation in the tropical rainforest inShifting cultivation in the tropical rainforest in Laos, South‐East Asia
Shifting Cultivation in the Caribbean?
GuyanaArawaks and other AmerindianArawaks and other Amerindian groups still live in rainforest
Going to church in the i f trainforest
Amerindian village in rainforest
now an ecotourism attraction
Belize
Mayan Farmers use slash and burn methods (milpa) in the forests of the Maya Mountains
Corn has been planted after a forest burn
Amazon rainforest under shifting cultivation
Forest is starting to be fragmented and reduced in size
Fields are at different stages of the land rotation cycle
A bush fallowing landscape in West Africag p(original forest has long gone)
Soil fertility returns to previous level when fallow period is long
But as fallow period gets shorter, soil fertility does not recover to previous level before land is cultivated again
So in long run soilSo, in long run, soil fertility declines so crop yields decline
Shifting Cultivation in Guatemala, ,Central America
Forest canopy protects against soil erosion by intercepting rain and dissipating its impactintercepting rain and dissipating its impact
Clearing trees and vegetation exposes top soil to torrential rainfall
Large‐scale landscapes of d f t tideforestation
Caused by “shifted” cultivators in MadagascarMadagascar
Grigg D B (1974) Agricultural Systems of the World Cambridge: CambridgeGrigg, D. B. (1974) Agricultural Systems of the World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp57‐74.
Mannion, A.M. (1995) Agriculture and Environmental Change: Temporal andMannion, A.M. (1995) Agriculture and Environmental Change: Temporal and Spatial Dimensions, Chichester, U.K.: John Wiley & Sons, pp117‐130.
Use a search engine for information on “shifted” cultivators or pioneer g pfarmers
Articles can be downloaded from websitesArticles can be downloaded from websites◦ e.g. www.odi.org.uk David Brown & Kathrin Schreckenberg“Shifting Cultivators as agents of deforestation: assessing the evidence”