Intensification and Disintensification in Pacific Agriculture

Brookfield, Harold

doi:10.1111/apv.131003

Cited by 251 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…That is, they are less "elastic" in Brookfield's (1972) sense. Here, population growth, in the absence of other options, would result in shorter fallow periods, increased weed growth, soil degradation, declining yields, lower return to labour, and hence the demise of swidden.…”

Section: Demographic Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Swidden Transformations and Rural Livelihoods in Southeast Asia

et al. 2009

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This paper explores the major interactions between the transformation of swidden farming and the pursuit of rural livelihoods in the uplands of Southeast Asia. The paper draws on selected literature, workshop reflections, and six case studies to describe the causal processes and livelihood consequences of swidden change. Householdlevel livelihood responses have included both the intensification and 'dis-intensification' of swidden land-use, the insertion of cash crops, the redeployment of household labour, and the taking on of broader (often non-rural) livelihood aspirations and strategies. At the community level there have been emerging institutional arrangements for management of land and forests, and varying degrees of participation in or resistance to government schemes and programs. Swidden change has led to the loss and also the reassertion, realignment, and redefinition of cultures and identities, with important implications for access to resources. The impacts of these changes have been varied. Cash crops have often improved livelihoods but complete specialisation for the market increases vulnerability. Thus swidden can still provide an important safety net in the face of market fluctuations. Improved access to markets and social provision of education and health care have mostly improved the welfare of previously isolated groups. However, growing differences within and between communities in the course of swidden transformations can leave some groups marginalized and worse off. These processes of differentiation can be accentuated by heavy-handed state interventions based on swidden stereotypes. Nevertheless, communities have not passively accepted these pressures and have mobilized to protect their livelihood assets and strategies. Thus swidden farmers are not resisting appropriate and supportive forms of development. They are adopting new practices and engaging with markets, but in many situations swidden is still important to their livelihood strategies, providing resilience in the face of turbulent change. Active involvement of local people is essential in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development and conservation programs in swidden lands. Positive market incentives and supportive government policies are better than standardised, top-down directives.

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Section: Demographic Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Swidden Transformations and Rural Livelihoods in Southeast Asia

et al. 2009

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“…From the essence of intensive land use, intensification is a process of using labor, capital or technical investment to increase the yield per unit area. In this connection, Brookfield (1972) defined agricultural intensification as, 'in relation to constant land, the substitution of labor, capital or technology for land, in any combination, so as to obtain higher long-term production from the same area.' A study of factor substitution in terms of input intensity can reflect the changing direction of land use.…”

Section: The Division Of the Intensity Internal Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Structural change of agricultural land use intensity and its regional disparity in China

Chen

Tian

et al. 2009

J. Geogr. Sci.

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Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper divided the intensity of cultivated land use into labor intensity and capital intensity, and then analyzed their temporal and spatial change at both national and provincial levels between 1980 and 2006. The results showed that: (1) At the national level, labor intensity on food produce decreased from 398.5 day/ha in 1980 to 130.25 day/ha in 2006; and a continuous decrease with a steep decline between 1980 and 1986, a slower decline from 1987 to 1996, and another steep decline from 1997 to 2006. On the contrary, capital intensity shows an increasing trend since 1980. As to the internal composition of capital intensity, the proportion of seed, chemical fertilizer and pesticide input decreased from 90.36% to 73.44% and the proportion of machinery increased from 9.64% to 26.56%. The less emphasis on yield-increasing input and more emphasis on labor-saving input are the main reasons for a slow increase of yield per unit area after 1996. (2) At the provincial level, the developed areas have lower labor intensity and higher capital intensity. The less developed ones have higher labor intensity but lower capital intensity. From the viewpoint of the internal composition of capital intensity, labor-saving input accounts for more proportion in the developed areas than that of other areas. The main reason is that in these developed areas, labor input has become a constraint factor in food production as more and more labors engaged in off-farm work. Farmers increase the labor-saving input for higher labor productivity. However, in the less developed areas, the major constraint is the shortage of capital; food production is still depending on labor and yield-increasing inputs.

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“…Moreover, the majority of Tagbanua households in each wealth ranking have access to assets that are better suited for swidden than intensified agriculture. As a result, many farmers have maintained both paddy farming and swidden, and without sufficient savings to sustain irrigated paddy rice, have returned to cultivate swidden for subsistence needs, paralleling Brookfield's (1972) notion of ''disintensification.'' When asked about the viability of paddy farming, one Tagbanua farmer, Adolfo Yara, stated that, 21 I don't have enough equipment, because the equipment belongs to the owner of the paddy farm.…”

Section: Socio-economic Values: the Move To Intensifymentioning

confidence: 99%

The shifting ground of swidden agriculture on Palawan Island, the Philippines

Dressler

Pulhin

2009

Agric Hum Values

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Recent literature describing the process and pathways of the agrarian transition in Southeast Asia suggests that the rise of agricultural intensification and the growth of commodity markets will lead to the demise of swidden agriculture. This paper offers a longitudinal overview of the conditions that drive the agrarian transition amongst indigenous swidden cultivators and migrant paddy farmers in central Palawan Island, the Philippines. In line with regional agrarian change, we describe how a history of conservation policies has criminalized and pressured swidden farmers to adopt more intensive ''modern'' agricultural practices. We examine how indigenous swidden cultivators adjust their practice in response to recent changes in policies, security of harvests, and socio-cultural values vis-à-vis intensification. Rather than suggest that this transition will lead to the demise of swidden, results reveal that farmers instead negotiate a shifting ground in which they lean on and value swidden as a means of negotiating agrarian change.

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Intensification and Disintensification in Pacific Agriculture

Cited by 251 publications

References 2 publications

Swidden Transformations and Rural Livelihoods in Southeast Asia

Swidden Transformations and Rural Livelihoods in Southeast Asia

Structural change of agricultural land use intensity and its regional disparity in China

The shifting ground of swidden agriculture on Palawan Island, the Philippines

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