Transformation of shifting cultivation: Extent, driving forces and impacts on livelihoods in Tanzania

Kilawe, Charles Joseph; Mertz, Ole; Silayo, Dos Santos; Birch‐Thomsen, Torben; Maliondo, S. M. S.

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.03.002

Cited by 32 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These results are at odds with findings from other regions of continental Africa, where shifting cultivation systems are in decline (Kilawe, Mertz, Silayo, Birch-Thomsen, & Maliondo, 2018), or from other world regions, where until recently this system has played a central role in local livelihood strategies and land cover dynamics, as in both mainland and maritime South-East Asia (Mertz et al, 2009;van Vliet et al, 2012). Rather, in our landscapes, shifting cultivation coexists with increasing intensity of agriculture -a situation found in other contexts as well (Cramb et al, 2009;Grogan, Birch-Thomsen, & Lyimo, 2013).…”

Section: Land Use Transitions: Prevalence Of Shifting Cultivation Amicontrasting

confidence: 63%

Effects of protected area establishment and cash crop price dynamics on land use transitions 1990–2017 in north-eastern Madagascar

Llopis

Harimalala

Bär

et al. 2019

Journal of Land Use Science

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We applied a participatory mapping approach supported by very high-resolution satellite imagery to reconstruct spatially explicit, year-to-year land use transitions in two highly biodiverse, data-scarce forest frontier landscapes in northeastern Madagascar. We explored these transitions in the light of major continuous trends and discrete events highlighted by local farmers as influencing their land use decisions. Our results suggest that the process of establishing protected areas first reinforced ongoing deforestation, but later led to a significant reduction of forest loss rates. Recent cash crop booms appear to have induced agricultural intensification processes in our study landscapes, while also putting additional pressure on forests, as people may be encouraged to clear forest for cash crop cultivation. These findings are crucial to understanding rapid land use change processes in forest frontier contexts in the humid tropics, and especially to informing natural resource governance and development initiatives in complex mosaic landscapes.

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Section: Land Use Transitions: Prevalence Of Shifting Cultivation Amicontrasting

confidence: 63%

Effects of protected area establishment and cash crop price dynamics on land use transitions 1990–2017 in north-eastern Madagascar

Llopis

Harimalala

Bär

et al. 2019

Journal of Land Use Science

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“…In miombo woodland, people maintain several types of livelihood (e.g., slash-and-burn cultivation, fishing, and hunting) in their efforts to withstand ecological, social, economic, and political changes (Oyama and Takamura 2001;Kakeya et al 2007;Oyama and Kondo 2007;Grogan et al 2013;Hara 2017;Kilawe et al 2018). This study elucidated the ecological classifications applied by farmers to miombo woodland and examined the different conditions of slash-and-burn fields among different ethnic groups.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coexistence of multiple ethnic groups practicing different slash-and-burn cultivation systems adapted to field conditions in miombo woodlands in northwestern Zambia

Hara

2020

Tropics

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This study is focused on farmers maintenance of slash-and-burn cultivation in northwestern Zambia s miombo woodlands and elucidates their ecological knowledge and process of clearing slash-and-burn fields. It also examines farmers coexistence in a multi-ethnic community in the context of the locations and ecological classification of fields cultivated by firstcomers and immigrants. The study area was S Ward in northwestern Zambia. It is written as S ward not to be specified the location. Northwestern Zambia is home to five ethnic groups: the Kaonde, who are considered the region s firstcomers, and the Lunda, Luvale, Chokwe, and Luchazi, who are relative newcomers to S Ward. The number of villages in S Ward increased from 11 Kaonde villages in 1960 to 23 villages in 2000, of which nine were built by non-Kaonde immigrants. The population of S Ward increased with the influx of immigrants. Accordingly, the total area of cultivated land in S Ward in 2014 was 12-times higher than in 1968. Farmers in these five ethnic groups categorized the surrounding ecological environment according to landforms, soils, and vegetation, and classified the ecology as marsh or woodland. Woodland was identified as one of two types based on the accumulated soil: the outer edge of the marsh has gray soil, whereas the upland region is characterized by red soil. According to the farmers, the gray soil was soft and rich in nutrients, whereas red soil contained little sand and hardened when dried. Farmers in S Ward recognized that the gray soil in the woodland was more suitable for cultivation. The Kaonde s cultivated fields were located at the outer edge of the marsh, as the Kaonde have lived in the area for several generations, so newcomers were forced to clear the uplands, which had remained unoccupied by the Kaonde farmers. The Kaonde and immigrants coexist in S Ward by cultivating different ecological areas and practicing different slash-and-burn cultivation systems.

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“…Additionally, there remains considerable scope for yield optimization within the system. Equitable yields in short-fallow systems have been achieved through ploughing and mulching burnt biomass into the soil (Kilawe et al 2018). Similar lowcost techniques have already been implemented successfully in localised communities in Northeast India (Shimrah et al 2015, Nath et al 2016.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Economically viable forest restoration in shifting cultivation landscapes

Morton

Borah

Edwards

2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Shifting cultivation is a predominant land use across the tropics, feeding hundreds of millions of marginalised people, causing significant deforestation, and encompassing a combined area of land ten-fold greater than that used for oil palm and rubber. A key question is whether carbon-based payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes can cost-effectively bring novel restoration and carbon-sensitive management practices to shifting agriculture. Using economic models that uniquely consider the substantial area of fallow land needed to support a single cultivated plot, we calculated the break-even carbon prices required for PES to match the opportunity cost of intervention in shifting agriculture. We do so in the North-east Indian biodiversity hotspot, where 35.4% of land is managed under shifting agriculture. We found net revenues of US$829.53-2581.95 per 30 ha when fallow area is included, which are an order of magnitude lower than previous estimates. Abandoning shifting agriculture entirely is highly feasible with break-even prices as low as US$1.33 t −1 CO 2 , but may conflict with food security. The oldest fallow plots could be fully restored for US$0.89 t −1 CO 2 and the expansion of shifting agriculture into primary forest halted for US$0.51 t −1 CO 2 , whereas abandoning short-fallow systems would cost US$12.60 t −1 CO 2 . A precautionary reanalysis accounting for extreme economic uncertainty and leakage costs suggests that all interventions, excluding abandoning short-fallow systems, remain economically viable with prices less than US$4.00 t −1 CO 2 . Even with poorly formed voluntary carbon markets, shifting agriculture represents a critical opportunity for low-cost forest restoration whilst diversifying income streams of marginalised communities across a vast area.

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Transformation of shifting cultivation: Extent, driving forces and impacts on livelihoods in Tanzania

Cited by 32 publications

References 42 publications

Effects of protected area establishment and cash crop price dynamics on land use transitions 1990–2017 in north-eastern Madagascar

Effects of protected area establishment and cash crop price dynamics on land use transitions 1990–2017 in north-eastern Madagascar

Coexistence of multiple ethnic groups practicing different slash-and-burn cultivation systems adapted to field conditions in miombo woodlands in northwestern Zambia

Economically viable forest restoration in shifting cultivation landscapes

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