The changing chagras: traditional ecological knowledge transformations in the Colombian Amazon

Abstract

Shifting agriculture systems in the Colombian Amazon, locally known as chagras, have been traditionally managed by indigenous peoples following their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). However, different socioeconomic drivers of change are affecting indigenous chagra TEK, resulting in changes in practices and land-use patterns. This study examines TEK transformations from 1970 to 2016 and their relation to rainforest management in the Ticuna indigenous resguardo of El Vergel (Leticia Municipality, Amazonas Department). It employs an ethnographic case study design that articulates quantitative data on land-use variables related to chagras and qualitative ethnographic data describing dimensions of TEK and its perceived transformations, including knowledge of the environment, practices and management systems, social institutions, and worldviews. Our findings reveal that TEK transformations entail changes in land-use, including size of production area, temporality of land-use, and cultivated diversity. This study contributes to a reinterpretation of TEK transformations and emphasizes the importance of the chagra as an adaptive system. The TEK transformations related to chagras imply a constant reattunement of relations that bind people and their environments. Rather than being frozen in an ethnographic past, people have responded to social and economic drivers to meet their current needs and aspirations. Likewise, understanding TEK transformations and their relation to changes in land-use practices provides relevant insights about social-ecological dynamics in the Amazon rainforest to navigate change and provide the basis for a discussion of how to enrich management decisions to move toward sustainability in tropical forests.

Traditional forest-related knowledge and agrobiodiversity preservation: the case of the chagras in the Indigenous Reserve of Monochoa (Colombia)

“…Large scale deforestation can cause a multiplicity of problems, especially in relation to the alteration of the water cycle and the alteration of the soil capacity to capture and absorb rainwater as well as the consequent erosion and changes in water supplies and characteristics that is fundamental for the water used in the bigger cities of the area where the majority of people live (Corte Suprema de Justicia 2018). Despite environmental problems, large-scale deforestation deeply affects social and cultural capital (van Vliet et al 2012(van Vliet et al , 2013, in which indigenous peoples have been particularly affected because of their close relationship with their local environment (Fonseca-Cepeda et al 2019).…”

The role of soil in the contribution of food and feed

“…Land-intensification derived from political and socio-economic pressures has resulted in shorter fallow periods and reduced the resilience of successional ecosystems and their soil potential to contribute to food and feed provisions [113]. Land-intensification has resulted in a transformation of traditional indigenous soil management practices in some regions [114,115]. Fire-free alternatives that improve soil quality have been proposed, such as slash and mulch [116], mixed crop-livestock systems [117] and ash and compost addition [118].…”

¿Por qué se pierde la agrobiodiversidad?: caso de la chagra inga en la Amazonía colombiana

“…El pueblo Ticuna en el departamento del Amazonas vive actualmente situaciones similares: los alimentos que en su mayoría provenían de la chagra han sido reemplazados por alimentos procesados que se compran en mercados, cambiando asi la dieta de la población (Fonseca Cepeda et al, 2019). Pueblos indígenas del Amazonas presenten situaciones similares respecto al cambio en las dietas (Palacio y Nieto, 2013;Piperata, Ivanova, Da-gloria, Veiga, Polsky, Spence andMurrieta, 2011, Skeltis, 2019;Welch, Ferreira, Santos, Gugelmin, Werneck and Coimbra, 2009), y a nivel mundial se presentan tendencias similares (Kuhnlein, Erasmus, Spigelski and Burlingame, 2013).…”

“…Comercialización de productos de la chagra: "si hubiera un producto que reemplace la coca…" reemplace la coca, que tenga comercio, que si uno lo sacó se lo compren, así no sea tan caro pero que lo pueda sostener... uno dejaría la coca" (Entrevista con mujer de la comunidad San Miguel). Aunque los estudios amazónicos demuestran la importancia de la chagra en la economía de los hogares indígenas (Trujillo, 2008), al igual que el pueblo Inga, en otras comunidades hay una tendencia a sembrar y priorizar productos que puedan ser comercializados (Acosta, 2011;Fonseca Cepeda et al, 2019) generando una presión sobre las especies que no son atractivas comercialmente (De La Cruz, Bello, Acosta, Estrada Lugo y Montoya, 2016), aunque forman parte de las gastronomía ancestral y tengan un valor nutricional alto, estos factores económicos, sumados a todos los descritos en las anteriores secciones, afectan la sostenibilidad de la chagra como un sistema agrobiodiverso.…”