Changes
in shifting cultivati
cultivation
631
in
in Africa
FAO
FORESTRY
PAPER
50
Forestry Department
FOOD
AND
AND
AGRICULlURE
AGRICULTURE
ORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATION
OF THE
UNITED NATIONS
NATIONS
1984
Rome, 1984
Corrigendurn
Corrigendum
7:
Page
Page 7:
Ivory Coast:
Coast:
Ivory
for 0.48 read
read 4.8;
4.8;
10: Central
Zaire:
Central Zaire:
Page 10:
Line 3:
3:
32: Line
Page 32:
insert 17
17 under
under "Typical
"Typical value
value for
for R";
R";
insert
"fields" read "yields";
for "fields"
"yields";
2:
36: A.
Page 36:
A. Line
Line 2:
for 15 000 read 1 500.
500.
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© FAO
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FAO 1984
1984
iii
FOREWORD
In recent
recent years shifting cultivation
cultivation has
has received
received grm'ling
growing attention
attention from
from FAO
FAO
governing
governing and advisory
advisory bodies.
bodies. The
study the biological,
biological,
The Organization has been asked to study
social,
aspects of this
social, economic and cultural aspects
this food
food production
production system
system and
and to
to dral'l
draw up
up
multidisciplinaryprogrammes
programmes and
and guidelines
guidelines for
for improving
impr ovingits
its productivity.
productivity.
multidisciplinary
context of this
Within the context
this mandate
mandate from
from our
our member
member countries
countries the
the FAO
FAO Forestry
Forestry
Department carried
to shifting
carried out
out in
in 1982-83
1982- 83 a comprehensive study
study of "alternatives
"alternatives to
cultivation in the use
use of
of forest
forest land".
land". This work
t....ork was
was coordinated
coordinated by
by aa working
working group
group
l<hich
which included officers of the Agriculture and the Economic
Economic and
and Social
Social Policy
Departments
Departments of
of FAO,
l~AO , as
as well
vlell as
as aa sociologist
sociologist from
from the
the Overseas
Overseas Development
Development Institute,
Institut e,
U.K.
(Dr. C.
C. Oxby).
Oxby).
U.K. (Dr.
The
present study
, which is
confined to
The aim of the present
study,
is confined
to those
those zones
zones of
of Africa
Africa
receiving
extent and
receiving 11 000 mm or
or more
more of
of annual
annual precipitation,
precipitation, is to assess the extent
distribution of
developof shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation in Africa
Africa and
and to document and evaluate
evaluate developments
from recent
recent demographic
demographic and
and other
other land
land pressures.
pressures. The study also
ments resulting
resulting from
draws,
draws, inter alia,
~, upon
upon the
the findings
findings of seven
seven case
case studies carried out
out specifically
for that
1 adagascar , Senegal
a
for
that purpose in Ghana,
Ghana, Ivory Coast,
Coast, r.Madagascar,
Senegal,t Sierra Leone
Leone and
and Tanzani
Tanzania
(two studies).
(tl<O
production system
system has been practised
practised successfully and safely
safe l y for
This food production
for
centuries as it was
was fully
fully adapted
adapted to
to the
the specific
specific climatic
climatic and
and edaphic
edaphic conditions
conditions
prevailing in each
each forest
forest region.
region. HOt
. . ever, because of
of increasing
increasing population
population pressure
pressur e
However,
this is no longer
longer the case
case in
in most
most areas of
of tropical
tropical Africa.
Africa. Spontaneous or
or planned
planned
changes
forest trees play a beneficial role
changes take
take place in which forestry and forest
role and
and can
can in
in
way contribute
contribute to
to the
the socioeconomic
socioeconomic development
development of
of rural
rural communities
communi t i es concerned.
concerned.
this way
II fervently hope that
aspects of shifting cultivation
that this revie>l
review of certain aspects
cultivation in
in
Africa and the improvements suggested will not only add to the growing
grOl;ing volume
volume of our
our
on , and better understanding
knowledge on,
understanding of,
of, shifting
shifting clutivation,
cultivation, but
but will
will also
also concon
transformation into
into aa more
more positive
positive and
and productive
productive cropping
croppi ng system
tribute to its transformation
surr
which could
coul d be
be practised
practised in
in full
full harmony
harmony with
I;i th
. ngs
gs and the needs
needs of
which
human occupants.
occupants.
their human
G eral
and
ad of the Forestry Department
-
v-
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OONTENTS
Page
1.
2.
FOREWORD
i
INTRODUCTION
11
ASPECTS OF
OF SHIFTING
SHIFTING CULTIVATION
CULTIVATION IN
IN AFRICA
GENERAL ASPECTS
2
2
1.1 Definition
shifting cultivation
cultivation
Definition of shifting
22
1.2 Situation in
in tropical Africa
66
1.3
use of
of fire
fire
1.3 The use
9
9
CULTIVATION AND UNPLANNED GRANGE
CHANGE
SHIFTING CULTIVATION
14
14
Introduction
changing conditions
conditions
2.2 Adjusting
Adjusting to changing
15
2.1
2.3
2.3
3.
Failing to
to adjust:
adjust: deteriorating
deteriorating farming
farming
Failing
conditions
condi
tions and yields
2.4 The last
2.4
last resort:
resort: migration
migration
16
16
18
18
SHIFTING GULTIVATION
CULTIVATION AND PLANNED CHANGE
20
20
3.1
3.1
21
21
Improvements to shifting cultivation
3.1.1
3.1.1
Regulating the
the fallow
fallow period:
period: the
the "couloir"
"couloi!,,'
Regulating
or corridor system
21
21
3.1.2
Planting trees
trees and
and grasses
grasses in
in the fallow
fallow in
in
3.1.2 Planting
order to regenerate soil fertility in a shorter
period of
of time
21
21
3.1.3
Making better
better use
use of
of cleared
cleared vegetation:
vegetation:
3.1.3 Making
Conversion Technique
The Subri Conversion
3.2
3.2
Alternatives to shifting
shifting cultivation
cult'ivation
24
24
25
25
3.2.1
3.2.1
Cultivation of food crops in the early years
of a Forestry Department plantation:
plantation: "individual
taungya"
3.2.2
Paid Labour:
Labour: "departmental
"departmental taungya"
3.2.2 Paid
ta-una"
25
25
3.2.3 Permanent
Permanent cultivation
cultivation of
of annual
annual crops:
crops: Lowland
Lowland rice
rice
3.2.3
29
29
28
28
3.2.4
Agroforestry: Alley
Alley cropping
cropping and
and multistorey
multistorey
3.2.4 Agroforestry:
intercropping
4.
CONCLUSIONS AND GUIDELINES
OONCLUSIONS
APPENDIX:
APPEMIX:
of interventions,
interventions, alphabetically
alphabetically by
by country
country
List of
BIBLIOGRAPHY
29
29
32
32
35
35
54
54
- vi
vi -
LIST OF
OF TABLES
TABLES
LIST
Tab le
1:
1:
Estimated area of forest fallows
fallol<s at
at end
end 1980
1980
Estimated
Tabl
Tablee
2:
2:
length of
of the
the crop
crop and
and fallow
fallol< periods
periods under
under
The length
shifting cultivation
cultivation
shifting
10
10
Table
Table
3:
Characteristics of
of some
some examples
examples of
of shifting
shifting and
and
short-fallo;;
cul ti vation
shortfallow cultivation
11
11
Table
44::
Subri Conversion
Conversion Technique:
Technique: output and value of
of
Subri
product on
on aa site
site for
for 11 ha
ha of a 100
100 ha programme
product
25
25
66
LIST OF
OF FIGURES
FIGURES AND
AND GRAPHS
GRAPHS
Figure 1:
1:
Figure
Types of
of land
land cultivation
cultivat ion
Figure 2:
2:
Figure
between the
the length
length of
of fallow
fal l ow and
and soil
soil
The relation between
productivity in
in shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation
productivity
Figure 33::
Figure
Graph of
of land
land available
available for
for fallow
fallO\; farming
farming in
in thi-ee
tb.ree
Graph
19
districts
nearWestern
Ikale,
~iestern
Niger~at with increase
districts near Ikale,
Nigeria,
with increase
inpopulation
population
over time
in
over time
Figure 44::
Figure
"c ouloir " or corridor system of re
gulating
The "couloir"
regulating
cultivation and fallow
fallow periods
periods
23
Figure 5:
Figure
HYpothetical
It-wthetioal pathway
pathway for
for sustained-yield
sustainedyield intensificintensific
31
farming systems
systems
ation in tropical farming
33
17
17
31
-- 11 --
INTRODUCTION
first part of the report
concerns the
The first
report concerns
the definition of shifting cultivation
cultivation and
and
distribution in
in Africa.
Africa. Shifting cultivation,
its distribution
cultivation, defined
defined as
as long fallow
fallow agriculture
agriculture as
as
permanent agriculture,
agriculture, is
longer as
opposed to short fallow and permanent
is no
no longer
as common
common in
in Africa as
as
formerly. Moreover,
Moreover, it is usually combined >Tith
forms of agriculture
with other forms
agriculture so
so that
that aa
given household
household exploits
exploits some
some fields
fields by shifting cultivation,
given
cultivation, usually
usually those
those with
with food
food
crops,
other fields
fields by
by using
using other
other practices.
practices.
crops, and other
VIi.
th gro\<ing
With
growing population
population densities
densities and
and increasing
increasing land
land pressure
pressure there
there is
is not
not enough
enough
land to leave a long period of fallow and farmers
farmers are
automatically
changing
from
long
are
from
fallow cultivation
fallO\;
cultivation to
to short
short fallow
fallO\; and
and permanent
permanent cultivation
cultivation on
on all
all or
or part
part of
of their
their
fields,
although they may
may resist
such change
change until
ast moment
fields, although
resist such
until the
the llast
moment because
because of
of the
the lower
lower
labour requirements of
of long
long fallow
fallow agriculture.
agriculture.
These spontaneous modifications
modifications of
of
shifting cultivation
cultivation are
are dealt
dealt with
with in
in aa second
second part
part of
of the
the report.
report.
The third part
part of the report deals with planned change,
change, which falls
falls into
into two
two
categories:
cultivation, and this
categpries: one
one is to
to improve shifting cultivation,
this is
is illustrated
illustrated by
by attempts
attempts
certain soil-enriching
soil-enriching trees in
in the fallow,
fallow, and to make a better use of the
to plant certain
the
cleared vegetation by exploiting the timber
timber rather
rather than burning it,
it, the
the latter
latter being
being
practice. But
the normal practice.
But the
the main form of planned change is
is to
to discourage
discourage shifting
cultivation and propose alternatives.
alt ernat ives. The alternatives
alternat ives considered are:
are:
the various forms
forms of "taungya",
"t aWlgya" , or cultivation of food crops in the
the early
years of a Forestry
Forestry Department
Department tree
tree plantation
plantation in
in gazetted
gazetted forest
forest reserves;
reserves;
these have often met with farmer reluctance because they only give
give temporary
access to
to land;
land;
lowland
torhere there
there is
is adequate
adequate suitable
suitable land;
land;
lowland rice
rice is
is a viable alternative where
the planting of perennial agricultural crops may represent
represent an attractive
attractive
strategy for
wait until the trees
for wealthier farmers who can afford to wait
trees become
become
productive;
this may
may not
not be
be so
so attractive
attractive to
to the
the smaller
smaller farmer;
farmer;
productive; however, this
finally, various forms
forms of
of agroforestry
agroforestry not
not yet practised
practised in
in Africa
Africa are con- finally,
sidered;
as these are only in the early
ear ly stages of implementation
sidered; however,
however, as
information on
on acceptability
acceptability to
to farmers.
farmers.
there is little information
are presented
presented in
in aa final
final section.
section.
The main conclusions and recommendations are
is made throughout to an
an Appendix
Appendix where
where projects
projects carried
carried out
out in
in areas
areas of
Reference is
fallow agriculture are listed,
country, with
,nth brief local and project
listed, alphabetically by country,
project
details.
The generous assistance of
of the following
following institutions
institutions and
and their staff
staff is
gratefully acknowledged:
Overseas Development Institute,
Institute, London,
London, U.K.
U.K. (Dr.
(Dr. C.
C. OXby);
Oxby);
- Overseas
of Forestry, Wageningen
Wageningen Agricultural
Agricultural University,
University,
Department of
Netherlands (Dr.
(Dr. K.F.
,aersum and
and his
his colleagues)
colleagues)
K.F. Wiersum
Institut de
et de cultures
cultures vivrières,
vivri~res,
Institut
de recherches d'agronomie tropicale et
Paris,
(M.M. Borget and
and his colleagues)
colleagues)
Paris, France (M.M.
Silviculture Research Station, Forest Division, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
(Dr.
(Dr. A.G.
A.G. J.lugasha
Mugasha and his colleagues)
colleagues)
Forest Products Research
Research Institute,
Institute, Kumasi,
Kumasi, Ghana
Ghana (Dr.
(Dr. J.
J. Brookman
Brookman Amissah).
Amissah).
2 -2
1.
1.
CIElm!AL
SHIFTma CULTIVATION m
GENERAL ASPIDTS
ASPECTS OF SHIFTING
IN AFRICA
AFRICA
1.1
1.1
Definition of shifting cultivation
The term
term shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation is
is aa difficult
difficult one
one to
to define
define since
since it
is used by
it is
different people
people in
in different
different contexts
contexts in
in widely
widely differing
differing ways.
ways. During
the FAO/SIDA
During the
FAO/SIDA
Regional Seminar
Seminar on
On Shifting
Shifting Cultivation
Cultivation and
and Soil
Soil Conservation
Conservation in
in Afrioa,
Regional
Africa, held in
in
Ibadan, Nigeria,
Nigeria, in
Ibadan,
in July
July 1973 (see
(see FAO/SIDA 1978
1978 and
and UnesoojUNEP/FAO
1978) there
there was
was
Unesco/uNEP/FAO 1978)
a working
working group
group on
on terminology;
terminology; to
indioation of
of the
the range
range of
of usages
usages of
of the
the
a
to give
give an
an indication
report of this working
term shifting cultivation, the following is a quote from the report
group:
group:
"The
characteristios of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation are
are that
that an
an area
area of
of
"The essential
essential characteristics
forest
forest is cleared,
cleared, usually rather inoompletely,
incompletely, the debris
debris is
is burnt,
burnt, and
and
the land
land cultivated
cultivated for a few years -- usually less
le88 than five -- and then
revert to forest
before being
being
allowed to revert
forest or other secondary vegetation before
cleared and used
used again. The
oleared
The system
system varies
varies in
in detail
detail from
from place
plaoe to
to place.
plaoe.
Consequently many names are
are used
used for
for it.
it. Nye and Greenland
Greenland (1960)
(1960) and
and many
many
others use
shifting cultivation
cultivation as a general term embracing many
use the term shifting
many
variations of
of natural fallow
fallow cultivation
cultivation systems.
systems. Conklin (1957) discusses
discusses
the revived term swidden
swidden farming,
farming, and proposes its use for
for the
the more general
general
descriptions of shifting
shifting cultivation,
leaving this last
last expression for
cultivation, leaving
for the
the
speoifio types of
of agricultural
agricultural practices.
practioes. Ten
Ten variables
variables are
are proposed
proposed
more specific
to distinguish
distinguish different
different types
types of
of swidden
swidden farming
farming according
according to
to agronomic
agronomic
to
and
Spencer (1966) liste
and cultural
cultural practices.
praotioes. Spenoer
lists numerous
numerous terms
terms related
related to
to
shifting cultivation,
cultivation, mostly
mostly from
from South,-East
South-East Asia and
and proposes
proposes 19
19 basic
basic
qualitative elements including
inoluding suoh
such factors as eoologioal
ecological adaptation,
adaptation, labour
labour
efficiency, erosion control,
efficienoy,
control, etc.
etc. Wattere
Watters (1971)
(1971) includes
includes in
in the
the definidefinition of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation the
the use
use of
of primitive)
primitiy, tools
tools and
and the
the subsistence
subsistence
1/
eoonoll\Y
econopy usually
usually assooiated
associated with its practice." !I
It is not
definition; merely to
not the purpose of this study to dwell on problems of definition;
to
warn readers
readers of
of the
the variety
variety of
of definitions
definitions in
in use.
use. In case of confusion,
confUsion, it is
warn
probably helpful
helpful to
to put
put the
the term
term shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation to
to one
one side
side and
and to
to concentrate
conoentrate on
on
probably
and easily
easily identifiable
identifiable factors
factors which
whioh most
most authors
authors would
would agree to be
the more tangible and
crucial in the identification of shifting cultivation versus other forms of land
cruoial
cultivation,
in the
the distinction
distinction between
between different
different types
~pes of
of shifting
shifting cultivation.
cultivation.
cultivation, and in
SUoh factors
factors are
are (see
(see Figure
Figure 1):
1):
Such
1/
11
a)
Cultivation is interrupted
interrupted by
by a period
period of
of natural fallow;
fallow; it
it is
is not
permanent (or
(or continuous).
oontinuous).
permanent
b)
The duration
duration of
of the
the fallow
fallow period
period and
and the
the cultivation
cultivation period
period may
may vary,
vary,
The
as well as the ratio between these two
two periods
periOds (we shall see below
below how
how R,
the intensity
intensi~ of
of the
the rotation,
rotation, is
is calculated
calculated from
from this
this information).
information).
the
Shifting cultivation
cultivation is
is characterized
charaoterized by
by long
long periods
periods of
of fallow
fallow and
and in
in
Shifting
is in
in opposition
opposition to short
short fallow
fallow cultivation.
cultivation.
this respect is
c)
s)
A
wide variety
variety of
of vegetation
vegetation may
may grow
grow in
in the
the fallows,
fallows, from
from forest
forest to
to
A wide
grasses.
The former
former is
is characteristic
characteristio of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation and
and the
the
grasses. The
latter,
latter, of short fallow cultivation.
(Unesco/UNEP/FAO 1978:467-8).
Bush
Y For definition
dsfinition of
of RR see
see text.
text.
Forest
TYPE 10F
Savanna
Savanna
Grass
Grass
Bush
Bush
TYPE OF FALLOW
FALLOW VEGETATION
VEGETATION
< <
Savanna
(33 R
66)Y
(33<
R <66)1/
(RR < 33)1/
33)Y
fallow cultivation
ou.ltivation
Natural fallow
Short fallow
cultivation
(Crop +
Leys)
+ Leys)
(R
(R >66)Y
>66)
- - - -- -
Long fallow or
or
shifting cultivation
Leys
Lays
- - - -- - --1 _.. I -
ou.1tivation
Permanent cultivation
-
Land cultivation
ou.ltivation
Figure 1: Types
Types of
of land
land. cultivation
ou.1hvation (after
(after Unesco/UNEP/FAO
Unesco/UNEP/FAO 1978:468
1918:468 and
and Ruthenberg
Ruthenberg 1980:16)
1980 :16)
Grass
""
4
-4-
d)
The fallow
fallow period
period may
may be
be long
long enough
enough to
to restore
restore soil
soil fertility,
fertility, or
or in
in some
cases not long
long enough.
enough. In the latter case,
period may be
case, the fallow period
labelled "accelerated"
"accelerated" (Unesco/UNEP/FAO
(Unesco/UNEP/FAO 1978:468);
1978,468); but
but Olofson
Olofson (1982:13)
(1982:13)
points out that
pOints
that in
in this
this case
case the
the fallow
fallow period
period is
is not
not so
so much
much "accelerated"
"accelerated"
as "interrupted". The minimum fallow period for
fertility
for restoring soil
Boil fertility
is variable
variable and depends on a variety
is
variety of
of factors,
factors, including
including rainfall,
rainfall, soil
soil
type,
slope, vegetation type,
type, slope,
type, intensity of previous oultivation,
cultivation, type
type of
of
crops previously grown,
grown, type of
of crops
crops to
to be grown,
grown, method
method of
of clearing,
olearing, use
use
of fertilizer, and
and so
so on.
on.
e)
The population
population density
density associated
assooiated with
with shifting
shifting cultivation is relatively
low,
enough land
land to
to leave
leave aa proportion
proportion of
of it
it to
to
low, in order for there to be enough
fallow.
fallow.
f)
In
In the
the case of long fallow periods characteristic
characteristic of
of shifting
shifting cultivation,
cultivat ion,
housing may be semi-permanent,
homes in
in
semi-permanent, or farmers may have permanent homes
villages and temporary homes by the fields.
Shorter fallow
fallow periods
periOds on
on the
the
fields. Shorter
hand are associated
associated with
with permanent
permanent housing.
housing.
other hand
This list
list may, of course,
ccurse, be extended
e:rlended according
acoording to
to the
the interests
interests of
of the
the enquirer:
enquirer:
the forester will go into
into further
further details
details about
about the
the woody
woody vegetation;
vegetation; the
the soil
Boil scientist,
scientist,
about the soil types;
agriculturalist, about
about
types; the agriculturalist,
about the crop rotations;
rotations; and the
the sooiosocioeconomist, on
on labour requirements. However, answers
economist,
answers to
to the
the above
above questions
questions will
will already
already
provide a good basis
one is
is dealing
dealing with
with shifting
shifting
basie upon which to decide whether or not one
cultivation.
aultivation.
It
It is
is difficult
difficult to make
make aa rigid distinction between
between shifting cultivation
cultivation and
and other
other
agriculture, because there are no sharp dividing lines between them;
them; only
only
types of agriculture,
gradations. There is,
is, however,
however, aa general agreement that the relationship between the
length of
period and
and the length
length of
of the
the cultivation
cultivation period
period is
is crucial.
crucial. Allan
of the fallow period
writes about
about the land-use factor,
factor, which is most
most conveniently expressed as the number
number of
of
Itgarden
a. "garden
"garden area"
area" being
being the
the area
a.rea in
in cultivation
oultivation at
at any
any one
one time.
time.
"garden areas"
areas" required,
required, a
"For example,
example, in
in the
the case of aa soil
soil capable of
of maintaining
maintaining its fertility
fertility under
under alternate
alternate
crop and fallow periods of
of equal
equal duration
duration only
only two
two garden
garden areas
areas will
will be
be required,
required, while,
while,
at the other extreme,
e:rlreme, on a very poor soil allOwing
at
allowing of only two years cultivation followed
followed
by a full period of woodland regeneration the requirement
requirement may be
be no
no less
less than
than sixteen
si:rleen
garden areas.
areas. The
The land7-use
land-use factor
one type
type and
and 16
16 for
for the
the other".
other".
factor is
is two
two for
for the
the one
way,, C
C being
(Allan
1965:30). The land7,-use
land-use factor,
factor,L,L,can
canbe
be expressed
expressed in
in the
the follOwing
following .......
(Allan 1965:30).
the length of the cultivation period and F the length of the fallow period:
period:
L
C
e+F
=--c
-
The examples given in the quotation by Allan above, can
can be expressed
expressed as follows:
follows:
3 +
+ 3
3
2
3
2
L ==3""""3
LL =
_ 2 + 30
30 ._ 16
16
22
ofthe.
(1980:15), an
on the other
other hand,
hand, uses the
the concept
concept of
of the
the irrtenisity
intensity of
the
Ruthenberg (1980:15),
between crop
crop cultivation
cultivation and
and fallowing
fallowing within the
which is the relationship between
total length of one cycle
cycle of
of land
land utilization:
utilization:
rotation, R
R,
rotation,
"Following the suggestion
suggest ion of Joosten (1962),
(1962), we define the symbol
symbol RR as the
number of years of cultivation multiplied by 100 and divided by the length
The length
length of
of the
the cycle
cycle is
is the sum of
of the
the cycle
cycle of
of land
land utilization.!!
utilization& The
of
of fallow years. The
the number of years of arable farming plus the number of
characteristic RR indicates the
the proportion of
of the
the area
area under
under cultivation
cultivation in
in
characteristic
If, for instance,
relation to the
the total
total area
area available
available for
for arable
arable farming.
farming. If,
instance,
relation
holding is
is cultivated,
cultivated, the
40 per cent of the available arable land in one holding
R is 40.
R
40.
!!
We
We have
have thus:
thus: RR =- ~
-r100
5
-5-
long as fallow farming has an extensive character,
character, in which many
As long
many fallow
years follow
follow aa short
short period
period of
of cultivation,
cultivation, RR remains
remains very
very small.
smU. If for
for
example,
example, 18
18 fallow years succeed
succeed 22 years
years of
of cultivation,
cultivation, as
as is
is frequently
frequently
in the
the rainforest,
rainforest, RR amounts
amounts to
to 10.
10. This extensive
extensive type of fallow
the case in
deSignated shifting cultivation,
cultivation, because the
farming is generally designated
the chifting
ehifting
of fields within a broad area of wild vegetation usually results
results in the
the
gradual relocation
relocation of
of the
the farming
farming population.
population. On the other hand,
hand, it
it should
not be forgotten that there are a number of regions where
where stationary
populations practise shifting
shifting cultivation.
cultivation.
populationsoractise
The larger
larger RR becomes,
becomes, the
the higher
higher is
is the
the percentage of the area cultivated
The
annually in relation to the total area available for arable farming,
farming, and
the more stationary
stationary the
the character
character of
of the
the farming
farming becomes.
becomes. When cultivation
is extended so far at the expense of fallowing that
that the characteristio
characteristic R
R
reaches or exceeds
exceeds the
the value
value 33,
33, then
then we
we can
can hardly
hardly speak
speak of
of aa shifting
shifting of
of
the fields
fields any
any more.
more. A
the
A level of intensity of land utilization has been
achieved that Terra
semi-permanent cultiPerra and Nye and Greenland deSignate
designate semi-permanent
and that
that Faucher
Faucher designates
deSignates stationary
stationary cultivation
cultivation with fallowing.
fallowing.
vation, and
A
A characteristic
charaoteristic RR value
value of
of 50
50 is
is obtained,
obtained, for example,
example, if 77 fallow years
7 years of
of cultivation.
cultivation. This book
book (Ruthenberg's)
(Ruthenberg's) uses the term
succeed 7
"fallow
"fallow system".
system". When the RR value exceeds 66,
66, and the soil is cultivated
even more often,
often, then permanent farming is being
nearly every year or aven
practised. Permanent
Permanent farming
farming may again
again be
be conveniently
conveniently classified
classified aocording
aooording
practised.
to the
the degree
degree of
of multiple
multiple cropping.
oropping. An RR value
value of
of 150
150 would
would indicate
indicate that
that
to
50 per cent
cent of the area is oarrying
50
carrying two crops aa year,
year, and aa value
value of
of 300
300
would indicate that three crops a year are being grown." (Ruthenberg 1980:15-16).
Ruthenberg's RR factor
factor may
may be
be expressed
expressed in
in the
the following
follOwing way
W8lf (C represents the
the
Ruthenberg's
cropping period
period in
in years, and
and FF the
the fallow
fallow period):
period):
C x 100
R=Cx1.00
R 0+
C+F
F
The examples
examples given
given in
in the
the quotations
quotations by
by Ruthenberg
Ruthenberg above
above may
may be
be expressed
expressedas:
as:
R
= 22 xx 100
100 _- 10
10
R =
2+18
2 + 18
7 x 100
R
c 7 x 100 •
50
Ro:
o:50
77 +
7
+ 7
The first example
example would
wculd be classified
classified by
by Ruthenberg
Ruthenberg as
as aa shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation system;
system;
the second,
second, as
as aa fallow
fallow system.
system.
It is
is tempting
tempting to adopt Ruthenberg's classifioation
classifioation on
on account
acoount of
of his
his wide kno_
It
knowledge of farming systems and clear analysis of them.
them. However, the present author draws
attention to
to two
two problems.
problems. One is the danger
danger of
of putting
putting too
too much
much weight
weight on
on the
the actual
actual
attention
duration of the fallow and cultivation periOds,
periods, since these may depend on a variety of
of
faotors, as we have seen
Been in d)
d) above.
factors,
is a certain
oertain ambiguity
ambiguity in
in aa terminology
terminology which
which divides
divides "natural
"natural fallow
Another is
systems"
systems", since the latter are fallow
systems" into "fallow systems"
systems" and "shifting systems",
fallow
systems
par excellence.
excellence. 'f'h:Ls
Pbis ambiguity can
can be explained
explained by the note to the quotation
gYstems2ar
by Ruthenberg above in which
which he explains
explains that
that he
he was
was encouraged
enoouraged to introduce
introduce the term
systems" to replace the term "semi-permanent farming"
the first
first
"fallow systems"
farming" which
whioh was used in the
edition of his
his book.
book. The earlier
earlier opposition
opposition between
bstween "semi-permanent"
"semi-permanent" and
and "shifting"
"shifting"
seems more logioal
"fallow" and
and "shifting"
"shifting" systems.
systems.
logical than the present one between "fallow"
In the final event,
event, everyone has to make the decision
deoision about which
whioh terminology suitIJ
suits
his purposes best.
best. The most acceptable
acoeptable definition
dsfinition of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation appears
appears to be
that recommended by the FAOjuniversity
Workshop on
on Shifting
Shifting Cultivation
CUltivation held
held
FAO/University of
of Ibadan
Madan Workshop
July 1982:
in July
'~he workshop reoommended
of an operational
operational definition of
mPhe
recommended the adoption of
shifting cultivation to refer to a system
system in
in which
whioh relatively short
- 6-
periods of
of continuous
continuous cultivation
cultivation are
are followed
followed by
by relatively
relatively lonR
long periods
periods
of
of fallow."
fallow."
(FAO/Ur
1982, Recommendations,
Recommendations, p.
p. 2).
2).
(FAO/UI 1982,
And,
And, consequently,
consequently, the use of the term "long
"loll/\' fallow wiculture"
agriculture" as equivalent
equivalent to
to
shifting cultivation.
cultivation.
shifting
1.2
1.2
Situation in tropical Afrioa
Africa
question of
of out-of-date information,
inf01'lll&tion, FAO Study
Stu~ (1984:7)
(1984: 7) drama
draws attention
On the question
to the
the well-known
nll-known map
map by
by W.B.
W.B. 1C0rgan,
whioh is
is still frequently
frequently reproduced,
to
Morgan, which
reproduced, and whioh
which
shows shifting
shifting aultivation
cultivation and
and bush
bush fallow
fallow over
over most
most of
of west,
west, central
central and
and east
east Africa.
Afrioa.
shows
This map was based on ethnographic
ethnographio and agricultural
agrioultural data whioh
had, in "'""'Y
Thie
which had,
many oases,
cases, been
been
oollected
oollected very
very much
lID10h earlier
earlier than
than the
the publication
publioation date
date of
of 1969;
1969; although
although it
it is
is aa useful
useful
statement, it
it should
should not
not be
be used
used as
as aa guide
guide for
for present
present policy.
policy.
historical statement,
There is
is aa tendency
tendenoy to
to ascribe
ascribe all
all types
types of
of subsistence
subsistenoe cropping
oropping in
in Africa to
There
shifting aultivation.
oultivation. This was
was true
true in
in the
the past
past but
but population
population pressure
pressure has
has brought
brought
shifting
about a
a reduction
reduotion of
of fellows
fallows in
in various plaoes
suoh an extent
extent that
about
places to such
that the agriculture
agriculture
can no longer
longer be
be classified
olassified as
as shifting
shifting cultivation
oultivation in
in the
the meaning
meaning ueed
used in
in this
this
systems can
study.
st~.
In the report for Africa of
of the
the FAO/UNEP
FAOjuNEP Tropical
Tropical Forest
Forest Resources
Resources Assessment
Assessment
following estimates
estimates of
of forest
forest fallow
fallow areas are
are given.
given. Although
Although they
they provide
provide
Project, the following
an idea
idea of
of the importance
importance of
of shifting
shifting aultivation
cultivation in
in Afrioa,
some caution
oaution must
an
Africa, some
must be
exercised to take into
into account
account several
several difficulties
difficulties among
among which
whioh the
the following
following must
must be
be
exercised
mentioned.
mentioned:
the minimal
minimal rainfall
rainfall corresponding
corresponding to
to open
open tree
tree formatione
formations (wooded
(wooded and
and tree
1000 IDIII
mm(sa.y
(say 800
800 mm)
which is
is the
savannas) is
is generally
generally somewhat
somewhat lower
lower than
than 1000
mm) which
theminimum
minimum
savannas)
rainfall considered in this study;
rainfall
stu~;
estimated in many
"'""'Y cases
oases by
by interpretation
interpretation of aerial
the forest fallow areas were estimated
aerial
photographs and satellite imagery
imagery on
on which
whioh the
the RR value
value is
is not
not measurable;
measurable;
interpretation of remote sensing data does not
not always distinguish easily between
between
forest fallow areas
areas and areas of similar appearanoe
appearance such &s
as d&graded
degraded forests
forests long
long abanabanforest
doned
doned by
by agriculture,
agriculture, or,
or, in some oases
cases perennial
perennial cash crops such as
as ooffee
coffee plantations
plantations
(for this
this latter case
oase Bee
see Lassailly-Jacob,
Laseail1y-Jacob, 1983:19);
1983:19);
Table 1:
1: Estimated
stimated areas
areas of
of forest
forest fellows
fallows as
as at
at end
end 1980
1 80
in thousand
thousand ha)
ha
(in
FAO/UNEP, 1981
after FAO/UNEP,
Country
Total area
Total
10412
2
Km
Wood,y
Woody fallows
Closed
formations
_.000
000 ha
Open
JOrmations
tbrmations
.000
000 ha
Total
fallowa
fallows
,000 ha
%
of country
oountry
800
800
0.6
200
200
200
200
19.2
19.2
2 500
2500
2
500
2500
2.1
2.1
3
000
3000
750
11 750
33 000
1 750
750
274 200
4500
4 500
44500
5400
2.4
2.4
8.9
16.4
16.4
Northern savanna
savanna
region
236 322
322
14 236
14
12 750
750
12 750
3.0
Chad
Gambia
Jfali
Mali
Niger
Senegal
Upper Vo1ta
Volta
284 000
11 284000
10 400
10400
1 204
000
204000
1 267 000
196 722
- 77 -
..
Country
Country
Total
Total area
area
Km2
Km2
-
620
112 620
238
238 538
538
245 857
857
245
36 125
125
322
463
322 463
96 320
320
923 768
923
768
73
73 326
326
56 800
800
Benin
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea.-BiaBau
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory
Coast
Ivory Coast
Liberia
Nigeria
Nigeria
Si
erra Leone
Sierra
Togo
Wood,y
OilS
Woody fall
fallows
Closed
Open
Closed
Open
formations formations
,000
000 ha
000 ha
,000
55500
500
7 750
750
33860
860
250
3 750
750
2 680
680
1 300
300
390
390
6 930
930
40
4900
4 900
415
1 200
200
3 757
757
9 180
180
22900
900
560
15 330
15
330
5 540
540
12 650
650
77
6 500
6500
1 600
600
170
8 400
8400
e
%
le
Total
Total
fa110118
fallows
,000 ha
of country
33.4
38.5
11.8
15.5
0.48
57.5
13.6
58.3
4 275
275
1 450
450
25.5
West Africa
West
22015
015 817
817
34 037
037
21
21 605
605
55
642
55 642
27.6
Angola
Angola
11 246 700
700
475
442
475 442
850
4 850
4900
4 900
7400
7 400
1 200
200
12 250
250
6 100
100
9.8
12.8
300
300
3 800
3800
6.6
3.2
44.8
5.6
7.8
Cameroon
I
Central AfricaJ
African
622 984
republic
984
republio
Congo
342 000
342000
26 000
Equatorial Guinea
Guinea 26000
Gabon
Gabon
267
267 670
670
Zaire
2 344
344 885
885
1 100
100
11 165
1 500
1500
77800
800
10 600
600
4100
4 100
1 100
100
1
1 165
165
11500
500
18 400
400
Central Airi
ca
Africa
5 325
325 681
681
21 615
23 000
23000
44 615
615
8.4
Burundi
27 834
27
11 221 895
895
580 367
367
590 992
992
118 580
580
783 030
030
26 338
338
637
539
637 539
2 505
505 813
813
942345
942 345
196 840
840
752 612
612
389 367
367
14
300
10
10 000
10000
24
55
3 500
500
550
0.8
8.4
1.0
-
-
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Kenya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mozambique
Rli8llda
Rwanda
So
....lia
Somalia
Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
East Africa and
East
1
Madagascar
Madagascar
I
Y undetermined.
undetermined.
8 496 392
500
25
--
600
100
-900
-
5994
5 994
-12 700
700
40
50
11 000
11
4000
4 000
1 600
600
6 700
700
2.1
Y
46 650
650
10 300
300
605
33500
500
5.9 .
-
-
1.7
2.5
0.001
13
13 ZOO
200
65
50
11 600
600
44100
100
1 600
1600
7 600
600
4.6
4.4
8.1
10.1
--
52 644
644
j
6.2
- 88 -
---__--COlmtry
Country
wo<id¥
Woody fallows
fellows
Total area
KJu2
fallows
fellows
,000 ha
%
oountry
of country
_
-
_
824 293
293
-
330
330
330
0.004
0.004
1 399 285
285
.
330
330
0.002
Botswana.
Botswana
574 992
Namibia
Tropical South
Africa
Total
Total
Op811
Closed
Clo
•• 4
Open
formatiGllll
formations fOI'llll<tions
formations
.000
.00 0 'ha
ha _
000 ha
ha
000
-
-
-
-
Tropical Africa 21 473 497
61 646
61
646
165 981
981
104
335
7.7
104 335
................... ..........
• __
•• __
................
............
..........
......-------~Dca_.=._
a • • • • • _lZm _ _
_c __ . . . . . . . . . . . .__ . . .IZ• • ~. ._
• • • _~.
.c~==
~=.
Another important
important point is
i~ that whare
where shifting cultivation does exist
exist acoording
according to
to
tha proposed definition,
definition, it
it is now nearly .l~
always practised alongside other
the
forms of
of
other forms
that aa given househ~l~
household prBOti
aultivation*, so
cultivation*,
so that
•• s shifting
ihifting aultivation
oultivstion on
on some
some fields
fields
practises
and other more permanent forms
forme of
of cultivation
cultivation On
on other
other fields.
fields. Thus
Thus the
the use
use of
of tempotempohomesteads, whioh
which IDIIIY
may ba
be neo.ssary
rary housing and shifting of homesteads,
in some
SOme cases
cases of
of sole
sole
necessary in
reliance on shifting cultivation,
aultivation, is
is now not
not oo~n,
common, since
since farmers
farmers would
would not
not leave
leave the
the
relianoe
site of their permanent fields. This
was brought
br,ought to
to the
the fore
fore at
at the
the FAO/University
FAO/University
This fact
fact was
of
Shifting Cultivation:
Cult~~tton:
of Ibadan Workshop on Shifting
"It
"It was generally agreed that
that ths
the olQjJsipal
classieal form
form of shifting cultivation
involving relocation of homestead$
homesteads is no
no longer aa oommon
common practioe
practice in
in
oontemporary
'
contemporary African agriculture."
(110/UI
(FAO/UI 1982:1)
1982: 1)
This misleading
misleading idea
idea of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
oultivation being
being practised
practised by
by some
some people,
people,
whereas other forms of cultivation are practised
praotiaed qy
people, has been enoouraged
by other people,
encouraged
academic classifications
by academio
olassifications of farming systems,
It;Y1'tems, which
whioh tend to separate them
them more
more than
than
usually
usually happens
happens in
in reality.
reality. For example,
e:mmple, Ruthenberg's otherwise excellent
exoellent book on
farming systems in thetropios
ohapters on shifting cultivation systems,
systems,
thetropics has separate chapters
fallow systems,
systems, ley and dairy systems,
systeIIUI, eystems
systems with perennial crops,
orops, systems with
permanent upland cultivation,
cultivation, systems
syst.,.s with arable irrigation farming,
farming, and so on.
on . It
It is
is
thus easy to forget
forget that
that any given housekold
housa~ld may
~ practise
praotise at the same time several of
of
these
these different
different "systems".
"systems". For this
thie reason
raason FAO
FAO (1984)
(1984) argues
argues that
that shifting
shifting cultivation
oultivation
fla<\ged farming "system",
"systelll", but rather as aa farming
should not now be treated as aa full fledged
farming
subsystems, including
inoluding shifting cultiva"subsystem". Thus several different agricultural subsystems,
oonstitute a single
single farming system.
syst~.
tion, constitute
reservations, we oan
can now consider the aotual
actual distribution of shifting
shifting
Given these reservations,
aultivation. The FAO study
cultivation.
study mentioned
mentioned above
above states:
state ..
"Permanent
"Permanent agriculture
agriculture is
ie now the norm in all the highland areas of Ethiopia
Kenya, and in Uganda, Rwanda,
.1.1rundi, many parts of Tanzania,
and Kenya,
Rwanda, ""rundi,
Tanzania, and
Malawi. In Tanzania, "villagization"
IvUlagization" has
hasreduced
reducedfallow
fallowlengths
lengtheand
and
encouMalawi.
ericen-»
semi-permanent cultivation...
raged a transition to semi-pe~ent
oultivation... In Zambia, the
the bulk
bulk
of the population concentrated ...
long the line of the rail,
rail, moved over to
along
to
permanent oultivation
aultivation during the la,lIt
1044.30
permanent
30 years.
~aarll.
Shifting aultivation
cultivation in
in both
both
Shifting
the last
last two countries
oountries is
is aow
now found
found only
only in
in a~ few
few sparsely
sparsely settled
settled areas...
areas •••
*
* In all of the recent cases of shifting
shifting cultivation
culti,.ation in
in Africa
Afrioa located
located in
in the context
oontext
of the present
present research,
research, there
there were
were no
no exaaplea
emplea ofatiti~ net
not being
being combined
combined with
with other
other
of cultivation.
cultivation. This was alscathe
also ' the , case
ossa for
for FAO
FAO study,
study, 1984.
1984. Even
Even the
the Bemba
Bemba of
of
forms of
northeastern Zambia in the 1930s,
1930s, who practised
practised an archetypal
arohetypal form
form of
of shifting cultivation
vation called
oalled "citemene",
"oitemene", also
also had
had permanent
permanent river
river bed
bed gardens
gardens (Richards,
(Riohards, 1939:311).
-99
In the Zaire basin, population
population is
is very
very sparse.
sparse. There
is some
some evidence
evidence that
that
There is
in recent
people have
have been
been concentrating
conoentrating round
round the
the towns,
towns, where
where more
more
recent years people
agriculture is
is being
being practised.
practised. Cameroon
Cameroon contains
contains much
muoh mountain
mountain
permanent agriculture
country under permanent cultivation.
The southern
scuthern part
part of
of West
West African
African countries
countries are
are relatively
relatively densely
densely populated.
populated.
The
Tree crops
orops are
are dominant
dominant on
on small
small holdings
holdings or
or plantations.
plantations. Arable
Arable food
food farming
farming
is often a secondary
secondary activity.
activity. •...
•• In
In south eastern Nigeria
Nigeria there
there is &
a
populated region
region where
where small,
small, permanently
permanently cultivated
cultivated compound
oompound farms
farms
densely populated
Production from outlying,
autlying, inadequately fallowed
fallowed
are the dominant
dominant type.
type. Produotion
fields is
iB of
of secandary
secondary interest.
interest. Farming
Farming itself
itself is
iB often
often subsidiary
aubsidiary to
to nonnonfarm occupations.
Africa one also finda
finds concentrations of rural
rural population
population around
around
Within West
West Afrioa
annually cultivated
cultivated riverine
riverine or
or swamp
swamp land.
land. These permanent
permanent fields
fields may
mayor
annually
or
~
supplemented by
by shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation on
on the
the uplands.
uplands. Examples
E%8mpleB
may not be supplemented
can be found in
in Sierra
Sierra Leone
Leone and
and Ghana.
Ghana.
However, beyond
beyond the
the coastal
coastal belt
belt lies
lies the
the "middle
"middle belt"
belt" of
of West
West Africa,
Afrioa,
where population is
is sparser.
sparser. Here shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation remains
remains aa major
major
ttechnique...
eohni que. •• In the drier zone north of the
the middle
middle belt
belt concentric
concentric ring
ring
cultivation is
is now
now the
the norm....
norm ••••
farming or permanent cultivation
Thus, the
the main
main humid
humid area
area where
where shifting
shifting aultivation
cultivation remains
remains the dominant
dominant
form of farming is the middle belt
belt of West
West Africa,
Africa, between the ooastal
coastal tree
tree
belt
and the
the more
more permanently
permanently farmed
farmed northern
northern plains.
plains. It
It is
is also
also still
still
belt and
found in sparsely populated areas of Tanzania,
faund
Tanzania, Zambia and northern Mozambique
Mozambique
and in
in the
the empty
empty area
area of
of the
the Zaire basin."
and
(FAO
1984:7 and
and 9)
9)
(FAO 1984:7
and 33 list
list some
some examples
examples of
of shifting
shifting and
and short
short fallow agriculture in
Tables 22 and
tropical Africa. Table
Table 22 is
is based
based on
on pre-1961
pre-1961 data,
data, and
and examples
e~mples are divided into the
different rainfall
rainfall and
and vegetation
vegetation zones.
zones. Table 3 is based on more reoent
recent data,
data, oollected
collected
different
from a number of
of sources.
scurces. In addition to the crops
orops cultivated
oultivated under
under shifting
shifting cultivacultiv.....
continuous
tion or short
short fallow aultivation,
cultivation, it lists the main crops grown in oontinuous
aultivation,
cultivation, in
in the context
oontext of
of the
the same
same farming
farming system.
system. At one end of the scale in
in
3, the examples from Sierra Leone show a low R
R value,
value, indicating
the small
small
table 3,
indioating the
proportion of land
land cultivated
cultivated in
in relation
relation to
to the
the total
total available
available land.
land. At the other
extreme are
are the final two examples,
examples, which
whioh have
have relatively
relatively high
high RR values
values of
of 50
50 and
and so
so
repreBent examples
examples of
of short
Bhort fallow
fallow cultivation,
cultivation, not
not shifting
Bhifting cultivation.
cultivation. Given
represent
point of an R
R value of 33,
both tables
tables
Ruthenberg's cut-off point
33, some of the cases listed in both
2 and
examples of
of borderline
borderline shifting
shifting cultivation/short
cultivation/Bhort fallow
fallow cultivation,
cultivation,
and 3 are in fact
fact examples
or straight
straight short
short fallow
fallow aultivation.
cultivation. Some of these examples
examples will
will be
be used
used to
to illustrate
illustrate
or
points made in latter
latter sections.
sections.
Use of fire
1.3
1.3 The use
Under shifting
shifting aultivation,
cultivation, fire
fire is
is commonly
oommonly used
used as
as aa way
~ of
of clearing
clearing vegetation
in a labour-saving
labour-saving way, and at the same
same time
time enriching
enriohing the
the soil
soil with
with ashes.
ashes. This method
has been critioised as wasteful and has led to cauntless
oountless measures
meaaures to ban
ban burning
burning in
different parts of the world,
world, from
from early
early times
times until
until this
this day.
day. For instance article
artiole 105
of the
the Legal
Legal Code
Code issued
iaaued in
in 1881
1881 by
by the
the Merina
MerinaQueen
QUeenRanavalona,
Ranavalona,Madagascar,
Madagascar,Estates:
states:
for3t par le feu
fau dans le
le but d'y 6tablir des ohamps
"On ne peut d6fricher la forêt
champs
de riz,
riz, de
de mala
aut res cultures;
cultures; les
les parties
parties ant6rieurement
ant6rieurement
de
male OIl
au tcutes
toutes autres
d6frioh6es etet brel6es,
br016es, seules,
saules, peuvent
peuventêtre
3treaultivfies;
cultiv6es; si des personnee
personnes
Wrichties
exietants,
op~rent de nouveaux d6frichemente
d6frichements par le feu aa
cu ftendent
6tendent oeux
ceux d6jA existants,
optrent
elle8 seront
seront mises aux
8U% fere
fers pendant cinq
cinq ans."
ana."
elles
(Quoted
(gl.xotedininUhart,
Ubart, 1962:108).
1962:108).
Rain
(II1II
(mm per year)
forest
manioc
rice, maize,
maize,
manioo
manioc
1800
1800
2-3
It
It
10-15
77
4-7
It
* Short fallow farming in aur
our terminology
terminology
*
abaut
about 1000
1000
Zambia
1300
1300
1300
1300
1300
about 1100
about 1100
1100
1000-1300
1200
about
about
abaut
about
about
Ivory Coast
Uganda
Northern Ghana
Ifal.i
Mali
SAVANNA ZONE
SAVAlIIlIIA
Ileaha,
Ilesha, Nigeria
Nigeria
Central Uganda
Uganda
Ivory Coast
Coast
Zambia
2-3
22
3
3-4
3-4
1
1
1
2-3
2-3
9
1
1
to 25
25
up to
6-10
2t
7-10
12-15
12-15
6-7
6-7
8
3
3
6-12
4-6
<2
2
2
6
6
n.
f*
/
1
~
52*
.iQ*
50*
~
J.Q
22
4-5
granite.
granite.
tertiary
nitrogen
Pallid sandy soils
"Chipya" forest soil
Soil derived from
sand; evidence of
sand;
deficiency.
Soil derived
derived from
from
Refers to
to "outside
"outside fields"
fielde"
Loam derived from tertiary
sande and clays:
clqs: stumps
stumps of
of
sands
fallow carefully
carefUlly preserved.
preserved,
Very loose sandy
sandy soil.
soil.
Remarks
Source: Nye
Nye and Greenland 1961:128 (Also ~oted
quoted in Ruthenberg 1980:32-3)
1980:32-3)
Source:
Imperata
I!!!I!erata
Andropogoneae
Andropogoneae
Andropogoneae
short
short bunoh
bunch
grass
miorabo
miombo
woodland
22
thicket
elephant grass 3
elephant grass 3
6-12
thicket
18
l!!
25.
~
18
l!!
21
Z!
:J!;mioal
TYPical,
value
for R
3
3
2-2k
2-2t
Period in years
Period
Normal
Excessive
Crop
Fallow Crop
Crop Fallow
Crop Fallow
Fallow
KOIST
MOIST SEMI-DE9Imrus
SEMI-DECIDUOUS ID
AND DRY FOREST
FOREST ZONE
ZONE (ino1uding
(including humid zone
zone of
of derived Bavanna)
savanna)
moist semi6-12
maize,
2-4
1500-2000
West Africa
Africa
1500-2000
deoiduous
deciduous
manioo
manioc
forest
mainly
grass, mainly
1400
elusine,
West Nile, Uganda
Setaria spp.
2-3
8-15
sorghum,
33
simsim,
maize
eimsim, ma.ize
2
thicket
about 1300
AbsolO1ta, Nigeria
Abeokuta,
Central Zaire
Zaire
Anthonotha
Bpp.
Anthonotha spp.
yams, maize,
mize,
about 2300
2300
manioc
(b) Alqi
Alayi
Acioa barteri
~
Fallow
vegetation/
eci lB
seecies
8I!
about 2300
2300
yams, maize,
Crops
Nigeria
Umuslia
(a) UlN&bia
IIOIST
FOREST ZONE
MOIST EmRGREEN
hnUGREEN FOREST
Place
Table 2 :: The
The length
length of
of the
the 'crop
crop and
and fallow
fallow periode
periods under
under shifting
shifting oultivation
cultivatim (based
(based on 1961 eource).
source).
I
b
~
vat
ion
vation
culticult i-
shifting
shifting
lIostly
Mostly
T;rpe of
of
Type
i:ultiCultivation
vat ion
£2.
1750
2000
83
1900
1900
4500
4500
to
2000
2000
1500-
20-40
20-40
lower
higher
54
54
)
)
Upland rice,
rice, maize
oassava (swamp
(swamp
cassava
rice, cloves,
cloves,
coffee)
coffee)
upland
upland rice
rioe
(swamp
rice,
(swamp rice,
plots)
garden plots)
garden
upland
upland rice,
rioe,
oa.ssava,
aassava, maize
maize
(perennial
(perennial crops)
crops)
groundnut s,
yams, groundnuts,
rice
rioe (coffee,
(coffee,
cotton)
cotton)
Main crops
crops under
under
Main
shifting
Shifti"f culticultivat ion (and
and main
vation
ot her crops
crops under
under
other
other forms
fonns of
of
cultivation)
cu1tivatiotl
22
1-3
2
2
2-3
2-3
Average
cultivation
cultivation
period in
in
period
years
(
(
3-6
5-20
5-20
4-20
8-12
3-6
66
Average
Average
fallow
period
period
in years
)
)
~--
- -
--
)
} Oxby
Oxby 1983
1983
and Boerboom
Boerboom
1980
Ruthenberg
Ruthenberg
Van San-ten
Santen
Van
1974 in
App1eton
1982
Appleton 1982
Carter 1982
Lassailly-Jacob
Lassailly-Jacob
1983
33, short
short fallow fanning
farming
25-40
2.-22
2::,g2
9-33
~
14-20
25-40
EAQ
25-33
~
R
Source of
;a1ue
value
data
(approx7147;oximate)
(1977 to 1983
1983 sources)
* Following
FollOWing Ruthenberg,
Ruthenberg, shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation is
is characterized
characterized by
by an
an RR value of
of less
less than
of between
between 22
~ and 66.
*
MADAGASCAR
IWlAGASCAR
AndaBibe,
East
Andasibe, East
ellcarpment, high
escarpment,
forest zone
zone
MADAGASCAR
Tsaramainandro,
East coast, no
nO
high forest
forest left
left
high
LIBERIA
LIBERU
centrall Bang
central:Bong
oountry
country
LIBERIA
NW and
and SE
SE high
high
FW
forest zones
forest
"ones
LIBERU
LIBERIA
populated
coastal,
populated coastal,
central and
and upland
upland
savanna
zone of
of 101
NW
savanna zone
IVORY COAST
Central:
Central:
Besumi ragion
region
Location
Population Rainfall
(azmua1
(annual
dens~
dentper
average
per
in mm)
lID)
in
Table 33 :: Characteristics of some examples of shiftinE
shifting and short-fallow cultivation*
cultivation*
Table
.....
.....
vation
vation
aultieulti-
fallow
Short
Short
vation
cultieulti-
shifting
shifting
Most1y
Ilost~
TANZANIA
TANZAI!IIA
Morogoro District
Distriot
(1400m
(1400m altitude)
altitude)
southern
southern
provinoes
provinces
BENIN
BENDr
northeast
ZAMBIA
ZAlIBIA
TANZANIA
Southern, Kilombero
Southern,
valley
valley (altitude)
(altitude)
SIERRA LEONE
LEXlNE
adjacent part of
northern and
southern prOVinces
provinces
LEONE
SIERRA LEXlNE
Eastern Province
Eastern
LEONE
SIERRA LEXlNE
Southern,
Southern, Koyambe
Moyambe
District
Ikale
Ondo
State
Ondo State
NIGERIA
l!IIaERIA
Kabba, Kwara
Kwara
Kabba,
State
State
l!IIaERIA
NIGERIA
(Table 3 continued)
continued)
22
22
150
150
n.a.
20-23
2~23
4~loo
40-100
50
50
16-32
16-32
230
5~
50-
n.a.
n.&.
1500
1500
1000l~
1500
1200
1000lOO~
120012001400
25003000
25003000
2000
1125
1125
cassava, maize,
maize,
cocoyams, paddy,
padd.Y,
(coffee, bananas,
(ooffee,
pineapples)
pineapples)
yam (oil
yam
(oil palm)
palm)
maize, cassava,
cassava,
maize,
mai
ze, beans
Upland rice,
Upland
rioe,
maize, cassava
maize,
oassava
Upland rice
Upland
(swamp rice,
rice,
tobacco)
tobacoo)
Upland
Upland rice
cassava
(swamp rice,
rice,
(swamp
coffee,
cocoa)
coffee, cocoa)
cassava
(swamp rice)
rice)
(swamp
Upland rice
oil
palm)
oil palm)
and
maize, yam and
maize,
cassava (cocoa,
cassava.
(cocoa,
yams (perennial
(perennial
crops)
2-5
3
3
2
2
3-5
1-2
1-2
1-2
1-2
1-2
22
4-5
4-5
..,.,.
3
3
33
7
7
10-20
5-8
5-8
7-8
99
5-10
5-10
15-17
15-17
6-12
6-12
26-29
26-29
5Q
.52
5Q
.52
g22
21
.~
12
11
II
id
M
id
15-29
~
~
L
22
22
M
LI
1980,
1980, 1981,
1981,
-_ .
in
in FAO
FAO 1984
1984
Moi,
MOi,
Anandajayasekeram
Anandajayasekeram
FAO/African
Development Bank
Bank
Development
1982
Lawton
Lawton 1982
1982
Vieweg and
Vieweg
Wilma
Wilms 1978
1978
1982
1982
FAO/World Bank
FAO/World
Land
Land Resource
Resource
Survey
Survey 1980 in
in
Sierra Leone
Leone
ease study
swd.Y
case
Johnny 1979
1979
in FAO
FAO
1984
1977
P. Richards
P.
Atteh 1980
Atteh
in
in FAO 1984
I
,
....
I\)
-13-
Of course,
is blamed
blamed all the more
more in
in areas
areas of
of wood
wood shortage,
shortage, as
as was
was the
the
course, burning is
case around
around Antananarivo, the
the capital
capital of
of the
the Merina
Merina Kingdom
Kingdom at
at that
that time.
time. On
On the
the whole,
whole,
anti-burning measures have met
met with little suocess,
success, espeoial~
especially if
if th~
they are
are introduced
introduced
in the absence of any
aay alternative method of
of clearing vegetation
vegetation in
in aa labour-saving
labour-saving ~
way
and enriching the soil.
soil.
Laasailly-Jacob
(1982:e8) explains
explains the
the position
position of
of farmers
farmers in
in the
the Ivory
Ivory Coast:
Coast:
Lassailly-Jacob (1982:88)
"Sans brans,
brQlis, la terre ne pourrait étre
etre mise en
en valeur;
valeurj les
leB branches,
branohes, troncs
troncs
et d6bris
le recra
recrQ forestier
forestier serait
serait si
si
et
ddbris seraient trop nombreux et
et glnantsj
Onants; le
de plus,
plus, sans
sans bralis,
brQlis,
vivace qu'il concurrencerait
concurrencerait les
les esp~ces
espbces cultiv6esj
cultives; de
la min€>ralisation
mati~res organiques
organiques serait
serait trop
trop lente."
lente."
minftalisation des matibres
She argues that what is
is needed
needed is
is advice
advice to
to farmers
farmers on
on how
how to
to use
use fire
fire and
and control
control it
it
more efficiently,
effiCiently, rather than fire
fire prevention.
In order not
not to misunderstand the
the farmers'
farmers' position
position on
on fire,
fire, several
several points
points should
should
be borne
borne in
in mind:
mind:
Beneficial aspects
aspects of
of burning:
burning: farmers
farmers would
would be
be likely
like~ to
to reject
reject the
the view
view that
that
burning is
is but a waste of vegetation,
vegetation, because they recognize the value of ash as
burning
fertilizer,
direct link between the
fertilizer, and usually make aa direct
the amount
amount of vegetation
vegetation burned
burned and
and
the degree to which the ashes enrich the soil.
soil. Most of
of the fertility derives from
burning
burning the leaves
leaves as opposed
opposed to the stem,
stem, especially when it comes to food crops which
require instant
instant fertilityj
fertility; the stems may take some time to deoompose
decompose and are
are therefore
therefore
important for longer
longer term
term growth
growth as with
with trees.
more important
leaohing effect
effect from the burning of vegetation considerably
considerab~ increases
Moreover, the leaching
to plants of nutrients in the soil,
according to Schmidt
Schmidt (1973:65).
the availability to
soil, acoording
And fire may
may play
play an important
important role in
in removing
removing foci
fooi of fungal diseases and noxious
And
insects (Levingston,
way of
of
(Levingston, 1983).
1983). Also, burning of slash is generally a less arduous ~
clearing
olearing wood,y
woody vegetation
vegetation than cutting
cutting and
and extracting
extracting it:
it: unless a good
good deal of time is
spent
spent on
on further
further clearing and
and weeding,
weeding, therefore,
therefore, not
not burning
burning wuld
would restrict
restrict the
the choioe
choice
orops which
whioh can
can avercome
overoome the
the competition
competition of
of other
other plants
plants and
and mature
mature successfully.
euooessful~.
of crops
olearing forest
forest regrowth
regrowth than
than high
high forest:
forest: farmers may avoid
Farmers often prefer clearing
ohoioe of clearing
olearing regrowth because of the
clearing high forest
forest when th~
they have the choice
the high
high
Liberia, younger
labour requirements of the former (see
(see Ivory
Ivory Coast
Coast case
oase study).
stud,y). In Liberia,
vegetation of 6 to 10 years is preferred especially
espeoial~ if young men are not available to
to do
the clearing work which is then left to women (Carter
(Carter 1982:69). Consequent~
Consequently less
valuable timber is being "wasted" than some may believe. Likewise in northeastern
sinoe marw
many of
of the
the able-bodied
able-bodied young
young men
men are
are away
a~ from
from the
the village
village working
working on the
Zambia, since
copperbelt, it
it is often not practical to clear the larger trees,
trees, and plots whioh
copperbelt,
which have
have
only
on~ been left
left to fallow for a short time may be preferred
preferred in order
order to facilitate
clearing (Lawton
(Lawton 1982:293).
1982:293).
usual~ protect
proteot useful
usefUl species
speoies from
from fire:
fire: it
it is
is sometimes
sometimes believed
believed that
Farmers usually
On the contrary,
farmers are unable to manage fire successfully.
euccesefUl~.
oontrary, there
there is
is every
every evievigeneral~ able to control
control fire if they
they want to and
and often take
dence that farmers are generally
adequate precautions such
euch as the clearing
clearing of
of firebreaks,
firebreaks, or
or leaving
leaving the cleared vegeta.vegetation to dry out before burning BO
so that it burns more
IIIOre rapidly
rapi~ than the surrounding
eurrounding
vegetation. In this way useful species
speCies are often
often protected from the damaging effects
fire.
of fire.
In cases where demand
demand for wood
wood and
and other
other forest products is
is high
high and
and Where
where
communications,
communications, transport
transport and markets are acoessible,
accessible, farmers commonly
co~ extract
extract forest
forest
products before burning.
burning. For example, in
in the
the region
region of
of Andasibe, Madagascar,
Madagascar, high
cleared, but before burning, the
the larger
larger trees
trees are
are cut
cut into
into lengths
lengths for
forest is being cleared,
rail~
i8 made into charcoal
oharcoal for sale in the towns.
railway sleepers,
sleepers, end
and much of the wood is
towns.
- 14 -14-
Fire is
is used
used by
by farmers
farmers for
for purposes
purposes not connected
conneoted with
with shifting
shifting cultivation;
cultivation; it
Fire
it is
by people
people other
other than
than farmers:
farmers: thus
thus Baoule
Baoule immigrants
immigrants moving
moving into
into the
the forested
forested
also used by
areas of southwest
southwest Ivory
Ivory Coast
Coast from
from the
the savanna
savanna areas
areas to
to the
the north,
north, in
in their
their search
search for
for
to clear for perennial crop
land to
crop plantations,
plantations, make
make aa greater
greater use
use of
of fire
fire than
than the
the local
local
farmers who practise
practise shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation (see
(see Ivory
Ivory Coast
Coast case
case study).
study). In the
the wooded
savannas fire may be used by hunters,
to destroy
destroy
hunters, to trap animals and by herders,
herders, to
well-estaparasi tes and
and encourage
encourage the
the regrowth
regrowth of
of new
new grass.
grass. Forest fire is also aa well-est
......
parasites
blished form of
of protest
protest or
or expression
expression of
of discontent.
disoontent.
example of
of the
the mistaken blaming of shifting
shifting cultivators for the unoontrolled
An example
destruotion of
of forest
forest by
by fire
fire is
is provided
provided by
by the
the recent
recent Mozambique
Mozambique project
project assisted
assisted by
by
destruction
FAO called
called "Slash-burning
"Slash-burning prevention".
prevention". The following
follOwing quotation
quotation is
is taken
taken from
from aa project
project
FAO
progress report:
report:
progress
•••
"slash-burning" is
is misleading
misleading and
and this
this may
may be
be due
due
... "the constant reference to "slash-burning"
to difficulties in
in translation.
translation. ...
• •• An
An important
important finding,
finding, based on fairly
through three
three provinces
provinces said
said to
to be
be representative,
representative, is
is that
that
extensive travel through
cultivafire from slash-burning (in this context,
context, synonymous with "shifting cultiv
......
tion") is not the
tion")
the main
main cause
cause of
of uncontrolled
uncontrolled fire."
fire."
This was subsequently
subsequently confirmed
confirmed to me
me by
by the departing project director (Mather,
(Mather, 1983).
1983).
2.
2.
SHIPPING CUlJI'IVATION
CULTIVATION AND UNPLAlmED*
UNPLANNED* CHANGE
SHIFrING
2.1
2.1
Introduction
2.1.1
2.1.1 Social change in Africa over the
the last
last few
few deoades
decades has
has been
been characterized
characterized by
by the
the
following: increasing
increasing population
population densities;
densities; the expansion
expansion of
of areas
areas under cultivation
following:
caused partly by increasing population densities
densities but
but mainly
mainly by
by the
the introduction
introduction and
and
expansion
expansion of cash oropping;
cropping; the
the consequent
consequent inoreasingly
increasingly difficult
difficult acoess
access to
to land;
land; and
and
regional, national
national and intern
internathe increasing
inoreasing participation
partioipation of small
small communities
oommunities in regional,
......
tional markets.
Changes in
in agricultural
agricultural techniques
teohniques can
can be
be understood
understood in
in this
this framework:
framework: what one
last few decades is a rapid intensification
intensifioation (compared
(oompared to
has been witnessing over the last
to
in many
many other
other parts
parts of
of the
the world);
world); agricultural techniques have been adaptadap1>developments in
fast (though in some places not quite
quite fast enough)
enough) to the changing
ohanging circumstances,
oircumstanoes, in
ing fast
in
inoreasingly difficult access
aooess to land.
particular the increasingly
2.1.2 Car
Carrying capacity of shifting cultivation
cultivation
_ac
Shifting cultivation is oharaoterized
characterized by long periods of fallow
fallow and
and therefore
therefore
requires a large
large amount
amount of
of land
land per
per family,
family, most
most of
of this
this resting
resting fallow
fallow at
at any
any one
one time.
time.
It is simply not
shifting cultivation
cultivation when population
It
not possible to praotise shifting
population densitiss
densities
rise and there is not enough
enough land
land to
to leave
leave aa satisfactory
satisfaotory period
period of
of fallow.
fallow. However,
just how high is the population density whioh
just
which can be supported by shifting cultivation
cultivation
is a matter of
of some
some debate.
debate. Ruthenberg (1980:62) calculates that no more than 56
56 persons
per square
square kilomatre
oan be
be supported
supported by
by shifting
shifting cultivation,
cultivation, assuming
assuming an
an even
even use of
of
per
kilometre can
land, three
land,
three crop years
years and 15 fallow years,
years, 6 moves per cycle and 0.3 ha of orops
°rope per
per
person.
Table 3 demonstrates a certain correlation
oorrelation between shifting
shifting cultivation and low
population density.
density. The example
e%BDlple of Benin,
Benin, with a relatively
relatively high
high RR value of 50,
population
50, is
aooordingly associated
assooiated with a relatively
relatively high
high population density
denSity of
of 150 persons/km2.
persons/km 2•
accordingly
On the other hand,
hand, the example of
of Tanzania, with
with the same
same RR value
value of
of 50, is associated
low population density of 22
22 persons/km2:
persons/km 2: this can
can readily
readily be explained
explained by the
with a low
* Unplanned
Unplanned in
in the
the sense
sense of
of "not
"not planned
planned by
by the
the government",
government", or
or "spontaneous".
"spontaneous".
*
~--~--
I--~-
--1515 -
fact that
is not
fact
thatmuch
III1ch of
of this
thismountain
mountain area is
not cultivable
cultivable or
or inhabited.
inhabited. In
cases the
In other
other cases
the
presence
of towns
presence of
towns may
may distort
distort the
the population
population density
density figures
figures (see
(see for
for example
example the
the case
case of
of
Ikale in
is therefore
in Nigeria). It
therefore important
important to
distinguish between
between absolute
absolute population
population
It is
to distinguish
density and population density
density in
in relation
relation to
to cultivable areas.
areas. When
When discussing
discussing the
the
carrying
capacity of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation it
it is
is the
the latter
latter figure
figure which
which is
crucial, but
but
oarrying oapacity
iB crucial,
often difficult to obtain.
Lassailly-Jacob,
in a detailed
detailed survey
survey of
of land
land use
use in
in Beoumi,
Beoumi, central
oentral Ivory
Ivory Coast,
Coast,
Lassailly-Jacob, in
estimates that
land area
area is
is used
used for
for traditional
traditional food
food crop
crop production
production
that only 60% of the land
(shifting cultivation, see table 33 for detaiis);
detai~s); that
that the
the population
population density
density in
in relation
relation
area is
is as high
high as 83 inhabitants/km
inhabitants/km;; and that the theoretical
theoretical maximum number
to this area
number
of persons
who could
oould live
live off
off shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation in
in this
this area
area without
without destroying
destroying the
the
of
persons who
environmental balance is
is as
as much
much as
as 123
123 inhabitants/km20
inhabitants/km 2• Her
challenge the
the
Her results
results challenge
common assumption that the
the Beoumd
Becumi area
area is
is over-populated
over-populated and
and more
more generally
generally demonstrate
demonstrate
that
support aa relatively high population
that shifting cultivation can support
population density
density and
and should
should not
not
as "d6voreur
"d6voreur d'espace"
d'espaoe" (Lassailly-Jacob
(Lassailly-.Jacob 1983:13).
1983:13).
be regarded as
2.2
Adjusting to changing conditions
The system
system of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation called "citimene",
"citimene"l as
as practised by
by the
the Bemba
Bemba
people of
of northeastern Zambia in
in the
the 1930s
1930s (Richards,
(Ri chards, 1939),
1939 , relied on aa fallow
fallow period
period
of about
about 30
30 years
years and
and weks
~s practised
of extremely
extremely low
low population
population density:
density:
of
practised in an area of
3-4 inhabitants to 11 km`.
km. Nowadays,
Nowadays, of
of course,
course, this
this is
is no
no longer
longer possible,
possible, and
and rather
rather
different techniques are now
now practised
praotised in
in the
the same
same area.
area. There
There are
are many
many possible
possible
reactions to such changing circumstances
oiraumstances in the rural areas.
One of
of the
radical is
is
areas. One
the most
most radical
rural
oonditions no
longer exist
exist to
such aa good
rural exodus:
exodus: the
the conditions
no longer
to produce
produce such
good harvest
harvest with
with traditraditional
of cultivation,
cultivation, and
and there
there are
are paid
paid jobs
jobs available
available in
in the
the towns.
towns. Thus
tional methods
methods of
Thus over
over
left their farms,
farms, temporarily or permanently,
permanently, to
the decades many Zambian farmers left
to become
become
in the copperbelt
copperbelt region.
region.
miners in
Another reaction
reaction is
is to
to adapt
adapt the
the agricultural techniques
techniques to
to the changing circumsciraumBtances. Faced with land
land shortage,
shortage, crop rotation practices
practioes are adapted (see for example
Vermeer, 1970)
1910) in relation to Tiv farmers in Nigeria and Lassailly-Jacob,
Lassailly-Jacob, 1983,
1983, in
Ivory Coast),
Coast), and the intensity
intenSity of cultivation is inoreased
relation to Baoule farmers in Ivory
increased
period. Thus
by extending the cultivation period and/or decreasing
deoreasing the fallow period.
Thus Lawton
Lawton
(1982:293) gives
gives recent
recent evidence
evidenoe from
from another
another part
part of
of northeastern
northeaetern Zambia:
Zambia: he
he states
states that
that
(1982:293)
some cases,
oases, whereas the tradi7-year-old growth of "miombo" woodland is being cut in some
tional period of regeneration was about 25 years.
strategy, however,
however, is
is only
only rational
rational up to
to aa certain
oertain point,
point, beyond which any
This strategy,
in fallow
fallow period
period would
would result
result in
in soil
soil degradation
degradation and
and decreasing
decreaSing yields.
further decreases in
yields.
At this stage,
stage, a more
more radical change
change has
has to
to be
be made
made from
from fallow
fallow agriculture
agriculture to permanent
agriculture
Typically, the farmer introduces this change at
at first
first only on
on
agriculture for
for example.
example. Typically,
some of his plots,
plots, whilst leaving the rest under fallow farming.
farming. Boserup
Boserup gives
gives the
the
short fallow
fallow farmers
farmers in
in aa situation
situation of
of growing
growing population
population density
density and
and increa,increaexample of short
sing land
land pressure:
pressure:
"A growing rural
rural population does not
not produce additional food by increaSing
increasing
land is
is ploughed
ploughed or
or by
by the
the weeding
weeding of
of fields under
the number of times the land
cultivation which
which were
were hitherto left
left unweeded. Instead
Instead of
of
short-fallow cultivation
such ohanges,
output, short-fallow
changes, which would not add much to total output,
likely to take to annual cropping
oropping on
on aa part of
of their
their land.
land.
cultivators are likely
This transition
transition in
in its
its turn
turn may
~ call
oall for
for the
the introduction
introduction of
of better
better
This
ploughing,
ploughing, irrigation and
and weeding
weeding -- or
or the
the shortening
shortening of
of fallow
fallow may
~ have
have
as its necessary
neoessary concomitant the production of
of fodder
fodder crops
orops for the
animals.
In other words,
words, the additional labour is likely to be used
used as
In
radioal change
change of
of the
the system
system of
of oultivation
cultivation in
in
a means to undertake a radical
area, while
while no change
change is
is made
made in
in other
other parts
parts of
of the area."
part of the area,
(Boserup
(Boserup 1965:26)
1965:26)
The plots
plots which
which undergo
undergo this
this change
change to
to permanent
permanent agriculture
agriculture first
first are
are usually
usually
The
those nearest the house
house site;
site; animal,
animal, vegetable
vegetable and
and general
general household
household refuse
refUse are
are used
around the
the house,
house, where
where all
all sorts
sorts of
of vegetables,
vegetables, root
root crops
crops and
to fertilize gardens around
fruit trees are
are grown.
grown. And, together
together with
with more
more permanent
permanent forms
forms of
of cultivation
cultivation go more
forms of
of housing.
housing.
permanent forms
- 16
16 -
2.3
2.3
Failing
Failing to
to adjust:
adjust: deterioratinE
deteriorating farming conditions and yields
The main purpose of
of the
the fallow
fallow period
period in
in shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation is
is simultaneously
simultaneously to
to
improve soil fertility and the soil's capacity of resistanoe
resistance to
to erosion (Jean
(Jean 1975,
Technique Forestier
Forestier Tropical,
Tropical, Paris).
Paris). There is evidence that the length
quoting Centre Technique
of fallow period can be decreased to a certain extent
without seriously compromising
compromising
extent without
these
these functions:
functions:
"Des recherches
recherches ~ la station exp6rimentale de Yangambi au coeur de
de la
la
forgt pres
près de Kisangani,
Kisangani, montrent
montrent que plus de la moiti6
moitig des
des substanoes
substances
for3t
s'accumulent (dans
(dans le
le sol)
sol) durant
durant les
les
nutritives les plus importantes s'aocumulent
19 ans."
cinq premieres
premières ann6es d'une
d'une jachère
jachere de
de 18
18 ~ 19
ans." (Jean
(Jean 1975:35
Miraole 1967).
quoting Miracle
length of
of time
time obviously
obviously depends on
on a variety of factors,
factors, such
suoh as
The actual length
as soil
soil
type,
and intensity
intensity of
of previous
previous cultivation
cultivation of
of the
the area.
area. Another
Another factor
faotor
type, vegetation type, and
is weed control:
cultivation implies
implies the
the
control: in wetter climates,
climates, to prolong the period of oultivation
need to apply
apply more
more sophisticated
sophisticated weed
weed management techniques
t echniques or to spend
spend more time on this
need
However, it ie
fallow
work.
is clear that beyond a certain point further decreases in fallow
work. However,
length and/or further increases in
in cultivation
cultivation length
length prevent
prevent the
the fallow
fallow from
from accomplishaccomplishbalanced exploitation
exploitation becomes
beoomes "soil
"soil mining",
ing its functions. Shifting cultivation,
cultivation, from balanced
as illustrated
illustrated in
in Figure 2.
2.
Given the increasing
consistent
increasing cultivation
cultivation period
period and/or decreasing fallow period consistent
with increasing
increasing land
land pressure,
pressure, at a certain
certain stage
stage yields can only be maintained or
with
increased by the use
use of
of fertilizer.
fertilizer. This principle
principle is
is the
the basis
basis of
of Jean's
Jean's (1975:12)
(1975:12)
division of cultivation
cultivation techniques
techniques into
into three
three types:
types:
1.
2.
3.
temporary
temporary cultivation
cultivation with
with fallow;
fallow;
semi-permanent
cultivation with
with fallow
fallow and
and fertilizer;
fertilizer;
semipermanent cultivation
permanent cultivation
cultivation with
with fertilizer.
fertilizer.
It can
can readily
readily be seen
seen that
that the transition from
from 11 to 22 and 3
3 depends upon aocess
It
access to
to
fertilizer. If chemical
ohemical fertilizers are too expensive or not available;
available; if animals
animals are
are
so that
that manure
manure is
is unavailable; if
i f the
the use
use of
of "green
"green manure" is
is found to be too
not kept so
intensive, and so on,
on, then there is a likelihood
likelihood that increasing land pressure
labour intensive,
will result in
in soil
soil degradation.
degradation.
farming
If yields continue to decline under these circumstances,
oircumstances, members of the farming
households may look for paid jobs
jobs to contribute to family income;
income; or some or all
all of
of the
the
family members may migrate
migrat e to another area where land pressure
presuure is not
not so great.
great. It
has
It has
been a subject
subject of
of much
much discussion
discussion why
why farmers resist
resist change
change until the
the process
process of
been
have, often irreversibly,
irreversibly, set
set in. Why
~ can
oan they
decreasing yields and soil degradation have,
not change
change before
before this
this process
process begins,
begins, it
it is
is often
often asked.
asked. Several
Several suggestions
suggestions are
are put
put
not
here, some
some of
of which
which may apply
apply to
to some
some areas
areas and
and not
not to others:
others:
forward here,
a)
It has been demonstrated
demonstrated that the
the more
more intensive
intensive the
the agricultural
agricultural technique,
technique,
It
mechanization, the worse the returns to labour (Boserup
excluding meohanization/
(Boserup 1965.32-3
1965:32-3
and other
other authors
authors since).
since). Thns
Thus a change from upland rice under shifting
CUltivation
oultivation gsnerally
cultivation to swamp rice under permanent cultivation
generally represents
represents
an increased labour requirement
requirement (see Sierra Leone case study).
study).
b)
In cases of soil
soil degradation it
it is often disoovered
discovered that the farmers
farmers conoerned
concerned
have
security of
of land
land tenure;
tenure; in
in other
other words,
words, they
they will
will not
have no
no long-term
longterm security
necessarily benefit from soil conservation measures: their landlords
landlords will.
will.
c)
Switching to a new agricultural technique represents a risk which
which may be
unacceptable to farmers who only just
just manage to satisfy
satisfy their
their subsistence
subsistence
farmers will wait
wait until others have tried and
requirements. Such farmers
succeeded before they themselves
themselves try.
try.
-- ------r .... -
17
- 17 -
Figure
Figure 2:
2:
The relation between length of fallow and soil
soil productivity
in
in shifting
shifting cultivation.
cultivation.
(Source: Ruthenberg 1980:62 from Guillemin 1956).
(Source
:
(a)
- - - - - -.J-...,.------'"'
Ny -
Unnecessary
ecessar
Cultivation 1~---'-~RegenE.'ration
(
>Regeneration years
years
I I
1
1
)
Follow
Fallow years
<
1«-1----.----c------,-~~
I
1
I
1
1
i
1
I
I
1
A
(b)
Cultivation Follow
years
Fallow years
I I
A
I
1
i
I1
•
1
(c)
Fall
at in
in soil
soil
productivity
Cultivation Fallow years
o
0
=.
I
5
10
15
20
25
30
3S
35
40
•
4S years
45
"The yield of the soil drops with the number of
of cultivation
cultivation years and
Md recovers
reoovers
in the fallow period.
period. In (a)
(a) the fallow period lasts longer than the regenerain
tion of the soil requires.
requires. R
is low
low (11).
(11). This is
is shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation with
R is
production reserves. The situation in (b)
(b) corresponds to that of shifting
cultivation
production reserves
reserves (R=29).
(R=29). The fallow
fallow period
period is,
is, however,
however,
aultivation without
without production
enough to
to restore
restore soil fertility to its original level.
(c) shows what
long enough
level. (c)
happens as the fallow is shortened
shortened (R=46).
(R=46). The fallow
fallow is
is no
no longer
longer sufficient
suffioient
to restore soil productivity and the yields per
per hectare
hectare fall,
fall, though
though since
sinoe the
shortening of
greater part of
of the
the total
total area is
of the
the fallow
fallow period means that a greater
is
cultivated, the fall in
in yields
yields per
per hectare
hectare may
may well
well be
be accompanied
accompanied by
by a
a rising
rising
cultivated,
total production. However, the result is
is aa continuous
oontinuous degrading
degradi~ procese."
prooess."
(Ruthenberg 1980:62)
-- 18
18 --
d)
Switching to a new agricultural technique
technique may
may require
require capital
capital investments
investments
which the small
small farmer
farmer cannot
cannot afford,
afford, or
or which
which are
are difficult
difficult to
to obtain
obtain
locally (fertilizer,
(fertilizer, improved
improved seeds,
seeds, etc.).
etc.).
e)
Making the new
new agricultural
agricultural technique
teohnique profitable
profitable to
to the
the small
small farmers
farmers may
may
depend on
on easy
easy access
access to
to markets,
markets, and
and access
access to
to transport.
transport. In some
some areas
areas
depend
such conditions may
~ not exist.
To illustrate this process,
process, P.
P. Richards describes the deteriorating
deteriorating conditions
conditions in
in
which farmers in
in the Ikale
Ikale region of Southwestern Nigeria have been farming,
farming, in
in particuparticular the decreasing land
land available
available per
per farmer
farmer over
over the
the years.
years. Figure
Figure 33 shows
shows that
that this
this
important in the case of
of two of the Ikale Districts,
trend is particularly important
Districts, Orisunmeta
and Idapomarun, which
at the rate
rate of
which between
between 1952 and 1963
1963 experienced
experienced population growth at
7.41 and 6.98 percent respectively (rather than the
the 2.5 or 3.0
3.0 percent
percent characteristic
characteristic of
of
other parts
parts of
of Africa
Africa over
over that
that period).
period).
other
'~he
"The conclusion is that
that although shifting cultivation
aaltivation may
may survive
survive in
in Idapometa
Idapometa
some years to come, something of a crisis in man-land relations
district for some
relations is
is
developing in
in both
both Idapomarun
Idapomarun and
and Orisunmeta
Orisunmeta districts.
districts. Pressure on land
land has
developing
already led
but there can
led to far-reaching changes in the agricultural economy,
econo~, but
for.
be little doubt
doubt that further change is called for.
There are four probable
prohable directions in which such changes may occur.
occur. First,
First,
evolution towards permanent
permanent cultivation of annual
annual crops must
must almost
almost certainly
certainly
take place, perhaps via a "compound
"oompound land"
land" farming system as practised in parts
of eastern Nigeria. In this respect it is
is of interest to
to note
note that
that some
eome of
of
the best yams are to be seen growing right in
in the heart of settlements,
settlements,
immediately araund
around the
the houses.
houses. These domestic "gardens",
"gardens", especially
especially prominent
prominent
in the farm-oamps
farm-camps and smaller villages,
villages, are in most
most cases deliberately
manured and
and farmers
farmers are
ere aware
aware of
of the
the nature
nature and
and significance
significance of
of the yields
manured
they get from
from such
such sites.
sites.
Secondly,
Secondly, there is likely to be continued increase in the acreage planted to
to
tree crops,
crops, especially
especially oil-palm.
oil-palm. This is an understandable if not
not entirely
satisfactory development
development since tree-crop plantations provide an assured cash
income, are much less prodigal of land,
income,
land, and once established require less
less
labour to maintain than annual-crop farms.
farms.
Thirdly the number of farmers engaged
engaged in
in part-time
part-time trade and
and manufacturing
labour will continue
continue to grow. The
The three
three government
governmentand in plantation labour
sponsored oil-palm estates at Ilutitun,
Ilutitun, Igbotako and Ikoya,
Ikoya, will continue
to attract local
local labour,
labour, while the associated
associated oil-palm
oil-palm mill
mill in
in Okitipupa
Okitipupa
will provide
provide an
an additional
additional incentive
incentive for
for the
the development
development of
of peasant
peasant oil
oil-palm
palm plantations. Finally,
Finally, the pressure of
of people on
on land
land remaining
remaining unabsorbed by these three kinds of
of changes
changes will
will continue
continue to seek
seek an
an outlet
outlet
in that
force,
that long-established standby of an underoccupied rural labour force,
migration -- especially
especially migration
migration to
to the
the major
major urban
urban areas."
areas."
(Richards 1977:78-9)
2.4
The last
last resort:
resort: migration
The
Apart from rural-urban
rural-urban migrations, which
which are
ere aa constant
constant feature
feature of
of areas
areas of
of land
land
shortage,
equally important
important type of
of migration: that of
shortage, there is a less obvious but equally
farmers from areas of
of higher
higher population
population density
density into
into neighbouring
neighbouring rural
rural areas
areas of
of lower
lower
population
population density.
density. Such migrations vary according to the distance travelled and the
e:dent
practised in
in the homeland
homeland differs
differs from that
that practised
extent to which the agriculture practised
in the new
new lands.
lands. In some cases such migrations represent an
an attempt to find farming
conditione comparable
oomparable with
with what was
was found
found in
in the
the past
past in
in the
the homeland.
homeland.
conditions
~
;;..,
H
e1
...,<:l
~
'"
~
&l
H
z
:2 .
2
3
0'
>---
. "".. ....
1930
'"
6
'"'"
11
H·'.....
1940
dapo
I
e/
un
41
1950
1950
o
um
,*
OriBurunet
a
Orisunmeta
AP
I
, aRrl
I
-.........,:::::
'In7f'l
1
I
1011111
-mquimil
1nt::1"I
1960
-"NI
,
1 0Q()
1Nk-)
-
o-,
c\,
oN
Graph of
of land
land available
available for
for fallow
fallow farming in three
three districts
districts near
near
Ikale. Western Nigeria,
Nigeria, with increase of population over time
Ikale,
Idapo eta
:
0/./4Ir ,
Figure 3
1"111'U'8
I
?(){)()
--
40,
pop
(80%)
6.25ha.(90%)
6. 25ha.( 9Cl';i)
8.35ha.(60fl
8. 35ha. {6Cl';i)
12.5ha.
12. 5ha.
16.7ha.
16.7ha. (601.)
(6Cl';i)
during which the system
system
m~
e consi
dered to
to have
have
may bbe
considered
passed out
out of
of equilibrium
equilibrium
passed
o°mid-year
mid-ye ar for
for the
the period
period
'"
~
I
1
20--- 20
In situations of change,
change, it
it would
would therefore
therefore be
be inaccurate
inaccurate to
to think
think that
that farming
farming
systems were adapted
adapted only
only in
in the
the direction
direction of
of intensification
intensification of
of agriculture.
agriculture. They
They
usually are, and this
this is
is consistent
consistent with the prevailing trends towards
towards increasing
population density
density and
and increasingly
increasingly difficult
difficult access
aooess to
to land.
land. But
is by
population
But this
this is
by no
no means
meane
case: where
where people move from an area of higher population density to
always the case:
to one
one of
of
lower population density and easier access
access to
to land,
land, this
this may
may be
be aocompanied
accompanied by
by an
an
extensification
extensifioation of
of agriculture.
agriculture. Boserup (1965:63) gives
gives as
as an
an example
example the
the European
European
(espeoially
(especially German and
and Italian)
Italian) colonizers
colonizers in
in south
south Brazil,
Brazil, who
who descended
desoended in
in the
the technoteohnological scale rather than ascended,
ascended, when they
they met
met with rather
rather different
different oonditions
conditions in
in
logical
country they
they came
came to
to from
from the
the one
one they
they left.
left.
the country
Likewise Richards (1939:289) says that
cut how
how long
long the
that it
it was
wae difficult to find out
Bemba of Zambia had followed their practice
practioe of shifting cultivation,
cultivation, "oitemene"
, involving
"citemene",
only an
an axe
axe to
to cut
cut down
down branches,
branches, and
and why they
they differed
differed from
from kindred
kindred peoples
peoples in
i n this
t his
only
respect. Some
Some of
of her
her informan-te
informants told
learned it
it when
when they
they arrived
arrived
respect.
told her
her that
that they
they only learned
in this
this particular
particular locality;
locality; before
before that
that they
they were
were in
in an
an adjacent
adjaoent territory,
territory, Lubaland,
Lubaland,
in
and the Bemba "hoed like the other people" when they were still there.
there.
A
ezample of
of extensification
extensification of
of agriculture through migration is
A more recent example
provided by seasonal
seasonal migrants in
in the
the east
east of Nigeria,
Nigeria, who travel from areas of
of high
population density
density in
in Iboland
Iboland (e.g.
(e.g. Udoka Court
Court area of
of the
the Awka Upland
Upland and Ezeagu
Ezeagu
County of Udi
Plateau) to adjacent areas of lower population density (e.g.
(e.g . Nikeland
Udi Plateau)
north of Enugu),
Enugu), anything from about 20 to 100 km away (Grossman
(Grossman 1974:205). According
According
author, at least
least one third of the population of northern Iboland is affected by
to this author,
of migration. Most
conSisting on average
this form of
Most migrants live in camps consisting
average of
of 30 hcusehouseholds. They
They spend
spend 66 to
to 9 months in
in the
the camps,
camps, but
but retain
retain their
their permanent
permanent home
home bases,
bases,
paying periodic
periOdic home visits whose frequency
fre~ency depends on the distance between farm and
village.
out yearly
yearly leases
leases with the local
local land
land owners (payment
(payment somevillage. The migrants take out
times in kind in the remoter areas,
areas, but usually in cash)
cash) which are usually renewed on
on
expiry. The migrants
migrants farm
farm food
food crops
crops exclusively
exclusively (especially
(especially yams
yams in
in the
the first
first year,
year,
expiry.
followed by cassava in the second,
second, then a bush fallow for 3 to
to 66 years)
years) and the exclusion
exclusion
agreements; or else
else the
the
of economic trees is almost invariably specified in the tenancy agreements;
landlords permit
nership reverts
reverts to them after
landlords
permit planting
planting of
of trees
trees but
but insist
ineist that
that Ow
ownership
expiry of
of the
the lease.
lease.
Another example
example of
of migration from areas of higher
higher to lower
lower population densities
deneities is
the important migration route into the humid forest
West Africa from the subforest zones of West
subhumid and
and sahelian
sahelian zones
zones to
to the
the north.
north. Until recently
recently the
the southern
southern forest
forest zones
zones were
were
humid
inhabited mainly by low densities of farmers
farmers practising shifting cultivation.
cultivation. Many of
of
these forest
oonstructed by logging
logging companies in connection
connection
forest have been opened up by roads constructed
with the
the selective
selective harvesting
harvesting of
of timber.
timber. Rapid
Rapid changes
changes in
in land
land use were
were observed
observed during
Ghana, when much
the 1940s, 1950s
1950s and 1960s in Ghana,
much of the
the forest
forest in
in the
the south
south of
of the
the country
country
the
was turned over to the aultivation
cultivation of cocoa.
cocoa. (For
(For a description
description of
of this
this process
process from
from
the samll-holder's
samll-holder's point of
of view, see
see Hill
Hill 1963). AA similar
s i milar process occurred in
neighbouring rvory
Ivory Coast
Coast with
with both
both large-scale
large-scale and
and smallholder
smallholder plantations
plantations ofof coffee,
coffee,
neighbouring
cocoa and oil palm. In addition to the local
local farmers,
farmers, large
large numbers
numbers of
of other
other people
people
were attracted to these areas by the
the availability
availability of
of unskilled
unskilled paid
paid jobs
jobs with
with the timber
companies and on the state
state plantations.
plantations. In accordance with
with the
the patterns
patterns of
of labour
labour
migration in
in West
West Africa,
Africa, these
these labourers
labourers mostly
mostly came
came from
from the
the north:
north: in
in the
the case
case of
southwest Ivory
Ivory Coast,
Coast, from
from the
the savanna
savanna zones
zones just
just north
north of
of the
the forest
forest (especially
(especially
southwest
Baoule people from the
the region
region of
of Bouaké)
BouakA) and
and from
from further
further north,
north, even
even as
as far
far as
as the
Sahel (especially Mossi people from Upper Volta).
Such migrations and changes in land use patterns have of course
Suoh
ccurse had profound
conse~ences on the local farmers.
consequences
farmers. Following the example of large-scale private and
state perennial cash
cash crop
crop plantations
plantations in
in which
which they
they provided
provided much
much of
of the
the labour
labour force,
force,
many of
of them
them have
have turned
turned to
to permanent
permanent cultivation
cultivation of
of perennial
perennial cash
cash crops
crops in
in addition
addition
many
to their
their subsistence
subsistence farming.
farming. This suggests
suggests that the
the lack
lack of
of roads
roads and access to
an important
important factor
factor in
in determining
determining the
the local
local people's
people's way
way of
of life
life as
as
markets was an
subsistenoe farmers;
changed and they had access to
subsistence
farmers; and that as soon as conditions changed
to
markets, they switched
switched to a way
Way of
of life
life which
which was
was more
more profitable
profitable to
to them.
them.
markets,
-- 21
21 -
The migrant farmers have sometimes been confused
confused with
with the
the local
local farmers
farmers and
and mismisleadingly called shifting cultivators.* In fact,
fact , a eubstantital
substantital difference in
in land
land use
patterns
patterns can
can be
be observed
observed between
between the
the local
local farmers
farmers and
and the
the immigrant
immigrant farmers.
farmers. Rouw
(1979; this work
work is
is eummarized
summarized in
in the
the rvory
Ivory Coast
Coast case
case study)
stu~) compared
oompared the
the cultivation
cultivation
of Oubi
Oubi local
local farmers and Baoule immigrant
immigrant farmers
practices of
farmers in the
the southwest
southwest of
of Ivory
Coast.
Coast. She found differences in food crops
crops grown: the
the Baoule
Baoule grow
grow mainly
mainly yams,
yams, the
the
Oubi mainly
mainly hill
hill rice.
rice. She found differences
differences in
in cultivation
cultivation techniques:
techniques: the
the Baoule
Baoula have
have
greater use
use of
of fire
fire in
in land
land preparation
preparation than
than the
the Oubi;
Oubi; the Baoule,
Bacule, coming
coming from
from
a greater
savannah areas,
areas, are not
not used to
to the
the axe,
axe, but
but cut
cut trees
trees with
with aa machette
machette and
and prepare
prepare yam
yam
mounds with
with aa hoe;
hoe; whereas the Oubi use the forest farmer's traditional
traditional tool,
tool, the
the axe.
axe.
But most
most strikingly,
the land
land which is cleared by the Baoule farmers
But
strikingly, the
the great
great majority
majority of the
subsequently planted
planted with
with coffee
coffee or
or cocoa.
cocoa. They do
do not use fellows
fallows for
for the
the regeneregeneis subsequently
ration of
of soil
soil fertility.
fertility. They practise permanent,
permanent, not
not shifting,
shifting, cultivation
cultivation with
with food
food
crops in the early
early years of
of plantation
plantation establishment.
establishment. The local farmers,
farmers, on the
the other
hand, continue practising
practising shifting cultivation of food crops on some of their land with
hand,
of one
one to two years'
years' cultivation
cultivation followed by three to four years
an average of
years fallow
period; and
and on
on other
other parts of their land
land they have
have switched to the permanent
period;
permanent cultivation
crops with
with food
food crops
crops during
during the
the first
first year
year of
of plantation
plantation establishment.
establishment.
of tree crops
One consequence of this change
change in
in land
land use
use from
from shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation to
to perennial
perennial
cash crops is
is that
land is cleared for
that the
the more forest
forest land
for plantations,
plantations, the
the less
less is
is available
available
for agriculture (this
(this also is one of the problems
problems encountered
encoUntered when establishing forest
forest
plantations by
by the
the "taungya"
"taungya" system,
system, and
and caused
caused aa lot
lot of
of farmers
farmers to
to resent
resent the
the system).
system).
Plantations
The local
local farmers
farmers are
are likely
likely to
to suffer
suffer most
most in
in the
the long
long run,
run, since
since when
when their land
land runs
The
out,
have nowhere
nowhere to
to go.
go. Whereas the Baoule immigrants firstly usually
out, they have
ueually retain
in their
their area
area of
of origin,
origin, some
some of
of whom
whom will
will be
be farming
farming food
food crops
crops there;
there;
links with family in
secondly,
easier to
secondly, they have moved at
at least
least once and will probably find it
it easier
to more
more again
again
than the local
local farmers,
farmers, many of whom
whom have
have no experience
experience of other areas.
areas. Thus land for
food crop cultivation is becoming scarce in some areas of SW Ivory Coast
Coast which have
have
experienced a rush of tree crop
crop plantation.
plantation. To
To quote
quote the title of
of a recent
recent publication
publioation
eame subject
subject and the same area (Ruf
(Ruf 1982); "I!a
est finie.
finie. Oh
Oil. planter
on the same
"Ma forat
forAt est
l'igname?".
l' igname?". Land scarcity
scarcity has
has brought
brought on
on conflicts
oonflicts between
between local
local and
and immigrant
immigrant farmers,
farmers,
which are at the root of arson attacks whereby
whereby cocoa
ooooa and coffee plantations are
maliCiously burned
burned (Fraternit6
(Fraterni U l!atin
Ivory Coast
Coaat newspaper article
artio1e of 18 l!arch
1983,
maliciously
Matin Ivory
March 19831
p. 10).
10).
3.
3.
SHIFTING CULTIVATION AND PLANNED CHANGE
It would be quite wrong to think that shifting cultivation in all its forms was an
that bush fallow systems can
unsatisfactory form
form of
of land
land use. Okigbo (1981:41) states that
unsatisfactory
be stable,
stable, ecologically
ecologically sound
sound and
and efficient
efficient farming
farming and
and land
land use
use system;
system; and
and Nye
Nye and
and
be
that until now
now we have failed to evolve a superior
superior method of
Greenland (1960) argue that
staple food
food cultivation
cultivation in
in the
the tropics.
tropios. It
It should be stressed that
that problems
problems of land
staple
scarcity, population
population pressure,
pressure, soil
soil degradation
degradation and
and decreasing
decreasing yields
yields are
are associated
aasociated
scarcity,
not
much with shifting cultivation
cultivation but more
more with
with short
short fallow cultivation
cultivation in areas
not so such
where conditions
conditions have
have changed
changed so
eo
where shifting cultivation was once practised, but where
that it
it is
is no
no longer
longer possible
possible to
to leave
leave aa long
long fallow
fallow period,
period, and
and where
where the
the fertilizer
fertilizer
and other
other inputs
inputs needed
needed for
for aa more
more intensive
intensive land
land use
use are
are too
too expensive
expensive or
or not
not available.
available.
and
*
* If the term shifting cultivation has
has been
been mistakenly
mistakenly applied
applied to these
these migrants it is
they plant
plant food
food crops
crops in
in the
the early
early years
years of
of plantation
plantation establishment.
establishment. The
because they
is inappropriate
inappropriate because
because food
food crops
crops are
are only
only tolerated
tolerated as
as long
long as
as they
they do
do not
not
term is
rival the perennial agricultural crop species,
species, and
and the latter
latter is
is not grown
grown in
in order
regenerate soil
soil fertility for
for food
food crop
orop production.
produotion.
to regenerate
22-- 22
planning effort
Priority planning
effort should
should therefore
therefore be
be addressed
addressed to
to these
these "crisis"
"orisis" areas
areas of
of
short
where it
it is
is still
still possible
possible to
to restore
restore soil
soil
short fallow cultivation; not to areas where
fertility and forest
sufficiently long periods
periods of
of fallow.
fallow. One type
type of
of
fertility
forest vegetation by sufficiently
planning effort
effort concerns
concerns the
the improvement
improvement of
of fallow
fallow cultivation;
cultivation; the
the other
other concerns
concerns its
its
planning
replaoement by
by other
other forms
forms of
of cultivstion.
oultivation. These
These will
will be
be treated
treated in
in turn.
turn. In both
replacement
osses
of treee
trees (forest
(forest or
or agricultural
agricultural crop)
orop) is
is of
of utmost
utmost importance.
importanoe. This is
is
cases the
the role
role of
because it is widely recognized
reoognized that planted trees,
trees, in the same way as
as trees
trees whioh
which
grow naturally
naturally in
in the
the fallow,
fallow, can
can play
play aa crucial
orucial role
role in
in controlling
oontrolling erosion,
erosion,
grow
suppressing and
and eliminating
eliminating herbaceous
herbaoeous and
and woody
woody weeds
weeds and
and in
in restoring
restoring soil
soil fertility
fertility
suppressing
(Grinnell 1975:21). Alternatives to
to fallow
fallow cultivation
cultivation which
whioh have
have involved
involved complete
complete
(Grinnell
land olearance
de stumping and
and aa change
ohange to
to other
other forms
forms of
of agriculture
agriculture without
without
clearance inoluding
including destumping
trees,
for example
example annual
annual crops,
orops, have
have often
often not
not been
been successful
suooessful (see
(see Senegal
Senegal case
case study).
study).
trees, for
3.1
3.1
Improvements
ammetaps
to shifting
shifting cultivation
3.1.1 Rernlating
fallow period:
period: the "couloir"
"oouloir" or oorridor
Sllstem
3.1.1
Regulating the fallow
corridor system
Jurion and Hanry
(in FAO
FAO 1956)
1956) describe
desoribe the
the efforts
efforts practised
practised
Henry (1967) and Tondeur (in
in the
the then
then Belgian
Belgian Congo
Congo to regulate
regulate shifting
shifting cultivation
oultivation by
by delimiting
delimiting strips
strips of
of land
land
in
whioh
were to be cleared
oleared then
then left
left fallow
fallow aooording
to an overall
overall plan for
which were
according to
for aa particular
particular
area (see
(see Figure 4). These efforts failed
failed for
for aa variety
variety of
of reasons
reasons (see
(see Ruthenberg
Ruthenberg
1980:65). On the technical
teohnical side,
side, such
such aa regular
regular division
division of
of the
the land
land meant
meant that
that it
it was
was
impossible to respect
respect the
the different
different needs,
in terms
terms of
of fallow
fallow years especially,
espeoially, of
impossible
needs, in
of
different parts of
of the land:
land: in
in other
other words,
words, some
some patches
patches of
of land
land would be ready
different
ready for
for
recultivation before
before the
the appropriate
appropriate time
time in
i n the
the cycle.
cyole. On the socio-economic
sooio-eoonomio side,
side,
recultivation
these efforts lacked
laoked farmer cooperation.
oooperation. On the contrary,
oontrary, many
many farmers
farmers were
were forced
forced
to
come to
to the
the new
new villages
villeges (called
(called "paysannats")
"paysannats") associated
associated with
with this
this scheme.
scheme. Since
Since
to come
the farmers were obliged
obliged to
to grow a
a certain
oertain amount
amount of
of cash
cash crops
crops like
like oil-palm,
oil-palm, they
control, tax collection and cash orop
saw these changes more as a method of social control,
crop
extraction, than as
as aa method
method of
of improving
improving their
their agricultural
agricultural techniques
teohniques (Baya-Vuma,
(Baya.-Vuroa, 1983).
1983).
extraction,
and_grasses
3.1.2 Planting trees and
grasses in the fallow in order to rezenerate
regenerate
eriod of time
soil fertility in a shorter period
The practice of substituting
substituting artifioially
established woody legumes for natural
artificially established
bush fallow vegetation is an old idea of proven value for edible varieties of pigeon
pea,
teohnique for other woody legumes which yield firewood
pea, but
but the potential of the technique
by-products, while at the same time contributing
soil
and other by-produot~
oontributing to the restoration
restorat i on of soil
fertility,
(Raintree 1981:115).
,
fertility, has yet
yet to be explored (Raintree
Let us
us ..
mention
heartland (Awgu Illld
and Nsukka
Nsukka
Let
""tion in passing one example,
example, from the Tbo
Ibo heartllllld
1/
plant "Acioa
barterin 2/
Divisions)
Divisions) of farmers who,
who, according
aocording to Grossman (1974:206), plant
'~barteri"
aa coppicing
ooppicing shrub but
legume, in order to shorten the fallow period.
period. Nevertheless
Nsvertheless
but not a legume,
the
and shrubs
shrubs which,
if plllllted
the pOint
point is taken
taken that
that there are many more trees and
which, if
planted in the
the
fallow,
fallow, could help to increase
inorease the speed
speed at which
whioh sufficient
suffioient soil
soil fertility is
is reestablished in order to plllllt
orop.
plant the next
next agricultural crop.
is a fast-growing,
fast-grOwing, shrub
shrub oapable
capable of
of growing
grOwing in
indense
dense stands,
stands, evergreen,
evergreen,
_1/ Acioa barteri is
useful for green firebreaks, yam
- iiB8f'ii"1
yam sticks,
stiCks, tomato
tomato stakes
stakes and
and possibly
possibly fuelwood.
fuelwood. It is
is
sometimes
sometimes planted,
planted, and
and is found from Sierra Leone to Nigeria,
Nigeria, also in Zaire
(R. Levingston,
Levingston, 1983).
(R.
-- 23 -
The "oouloir" or oorridor s:ystem of regulating aultivation
and fallow periods
Figure 4:
a.
h\.
1.
IN
Ni
%.
NN,
NA
v.. .1%. ,
NI
N
N
"anll or t1ann6e":
"route"
_.
"DAfriohement"
forest regrowth
cropping
olearing
year
road
LN.. h..
"Reeru"
"CUlture"
__..
,
N
"
.
.,
2".
.•
,.
I
6, N,XN
,,
'N
,,
I
.,1k\VNI
BOO m.
,
-..w\x.
o
-t
.
I.
,,,K
N
N
N
N
•
z
XI, \
N
\
n
•<.
k%.\\ N.
NN
,
k
~
N
1,
<
~
1
e
\ 1\
•z
-...
n
N
...
N
RECRG 2 ANS
0 o rn.
111111111
,
..
k
'
C
...
'"
Nk .
\
00m.
0
I
N\
RECRG E ANS
t
11111.1111
ROUT E
21
•z
•
•"n
•
<.
•
•z
•
..
.
RECRG 2 ANS
00m.
IIIIIIIM
A-
-8
r
- 24
24-
Raintree also
also lists
lists the
the desirable
desirable characteristics
charaoteristics of speoies
species for planting in
in
fallows,
most closely
at least
least some
fallows, followed by
by the apecies
speoies which
whioh appear to conform
oonform most
olosely to at
some
of these characteristics:
oharaoteristics:
Charaoteristioa of ideal
ideal species
Characteristica
1.
2.
3.
8.
High N-fixation capacity
oapaoity
Fast
Fast growing
Capable of restoring soil fertility and suppressing weeds
weeds in aa shorter
shorter
time than natural bush fallow
Able to provide
provide good
good erosion
erosion control
Easy to establish rapidly and economically
economically
Easy to harvest
provide significant
significant additional economic
economio incentive
inoentive
By-product yields provide
(e.g.
fibre, building
building materials,
materials, staking,
staking, etc.)
eto.)
(e.g. food,
food, forage,
forage, firewood,
firewood, fibre,
Special adaptive characteristics
oharaoteristios (e.g.
(e.g. promiscuous
promiscuous nodulation;
nodulation;
tolerance
toleranoe of
of drought,
drought, acid
acid soils,
80ils, high
high altitudes,
altitudee, cultural
cultural acceptability,
aoceptability,
history of previous local
looal use, etc.).
eto.).
Some promising woody legume speciea/genera
8pec~eBlgenera for trial
trial and evaluation
Habit
!!!ll.ll
Acaoia auriouliformis
auriculiformis
Acacia
Albizia falcataria
falcataria
Albizia
Cajanus cajan
cajan
Calliandra callothyraus
callotgyrsus
Cassia spp.
spp.
Crotolaria
juncea
Crotolaria ,juncea
Desmanthus spp.
spp.
Desmodium spp.
spp.
Desmodium
Enterolobium cyclocarpum
cyolooarpum
Leucaena leucocephala
leucooephala
Mimosa scabrella
Sesbania grandiflora
Arandiflora
oandida
Tephrosia candida
(Source:
(Souroe:
Raintree
tree
tree
tree
shrub
shrub
small tree
tree
shrub
shrub
shrub
shrub
tree
tree
shrub/tree
tree
tree
shrub
1980:115).
Although a number of projects
projeots and
and field trials are being carried
oarried out in several
several
oountries,
countries, there is as yet
yet little information on the implementation of planting in
in
fallows,
prinoiple by
b,y farmers.
farmers.
fallows, and the aooeptanoe
acceptance of the principle
et mise en valeur des 'savoka'"
'savoka'" (see
In Madagascar,
Madagascar, the project "Restauration et
(see
Appendix and
and Madagascar case
case study),
studJ'), concerns
ooncerns in
in principle
prinoiple the
the rehabilitation
rehabilitation of the
vegetation,
vegetation, called
oalled 'savoka'
'savoka' which
whioh grows during
during the
the fallow
fallow period
period after the cultivation
of hill
hill rioe
(maize, beans). The planting
planting of
of "Gravillea"
"Grevillea"
rice and other assooiated
associated crops (maize,
trees growing in the fallow for three years,
years, then being
in "savoka" was tested with the trells
cut
cut for fuelwood when the "savoka" was cleared
oleared for rice
rioe cultivation.
cultivation. Better yields
of rioe
rice were obtained than on similar lands left fallow for three years without
without
"Grevillea". (Bé,
(BA, 1983).
1983).
In Benin,
enoouraged small
small farmers to plant
In
Benin, aa government
government Programme
programme has encauraged
plant Acaoia
Acacia
auriouliformis
enrioh the soil
soil with nitrogen and humus
auriculiformis in their fallow land in order to enrich
humus
and at
quiokly (see
(see Appendix). By 1982 some
some 200
200 000
000
at the same time produoe
produce fuelwood quickly
saplings
local organizations.
they have
have
saplings had
had been
been produced for
for distribution by local
organizations. However, they
not all been planted,
have not yet appreciated
appreoiated the soil-enriching
soil-enriohing
planted, because the farmers have
plant
properties of the tree (the programme only started
started in 1980),
1980), and they prefer to plant
Teotopa
Tectona (teak)
(teak) and EUcalyptus
Zucalyptus because
beoause their atems
stems are straighter
straighter for
for poles and also
the ' leaves
leaves of
of the latter
latter are
are appreciated
appreoiated for
for their
their medicinal
medioinal qualities.
qualities.
- 25 -
A
A major problem with this scheme is that
that the
the length of the
the fallow
fallow period
period is
is
gradually being
being reduced
reduced and
and it
it is
is now
now three
three years,
years, sometimes
sometimes even
even two
two years.
years. The
The land
land
gradually
shortage is acute,
acute, and
and the
the population
population density
dsnsity increasing
increasing rapidly,
rapidly, so
so the
the trend
trend of
of
shortening fellows
fallows is continuing. Three
old Acacia
can still
still produce
produce about
about 77 m3
m3
Three year
year old
Acacia can
of fuel
wood per ha per year,
fuelwood
year, but
but if
if cut
cut before
before that
that tim~,
time, the
the full
full advantages
advantages of
of planting
planting
Acacia, in particular
particular those
those related
related to
to regeneration
regeneration of
of soil
soil fertility,
fertility, would
would not
not be
be felt.
felt.
Acacia,
On the other hand,
hand, it
it is impossible to persuade the
On
the farmers
farmers to
to leave
leave the
the land
land fallow
fallow for
for
longer since
since they need
need it
it to
to plant
plant food
food crops
crops for
for their
their own
own subsistence
subsistence needs.
needs.
long-termaim
aim of
of the
the project
project is
is that
that the
the farmers
farmers should
should transfer
transfer from a distri- _
The longterm
follow cultivation years)
years) to
to aa distribution
distribution
bution of fallow between fields (fallow years follow
of fallow within each field (some parts of the
the land are in fallow
fallow while
while others
others are
are being
being
cultivated): Aoacia
cultivated):
Acacia would be planted in rows,
rows, with food crops between them
them and
and aa rotation
rotation
organized whereby crops would be grown on soil enriohed
enriched by the
the Acacia.
Acacia. However,
However, the
the lack
of opportunities for marketing surplus produce is aa major disincentive
disincentive to
to the
the intensiintensification of agriculture
agriculture in
in this
this area
area (Tran
(Tran Van
Van Nao,
Nao, 1983). Such
SUoh agroforestry
agroforestry techniques
techniques
will be discussed
discussed fully
fully in
in aa later
later section.
section.
will
Making better
better use
use of
of cleared
cleared vegetation:
v82etation:
3.1.3 Making
The Subri
SUbri Conversion
Conversion Technique
seen, partly misleading - that burning vegetation is
The assumption - as we have seen,
wasteful is at
at the basis of a number of attempts at
at improving shifting cultivation
cultivation by
by
with other
other techniques
techniques of
of clearing.
clearing. One such attempt
attempt has been named
replacing fire with
named
the "Subri
"SUbri Conversion Technique",
t was
Technique", after the SUbri
Subri Forest
Forest Reserve in Ghana where
where iit
was
(see Appendix
Appendix and
and Ghana
Ghana case
case study).
study). It
It is a technique for clearing forest
developed (see
without
without burning and with the maximum use of the cut
cut vegetation:
vegetation: most
most of it
it is
is to
to be
be
lumber, some ae
charcoal, some as fuelwood,
extracted ae
as sawn lumber,
as charcoal,
fuelwood, and some for
for small
small local
local
industries like
like carving and
and basket
basket weaving;
weaving; and
and the
the remainder,
remainder, the
the small
small branches
branches and
and
industries
leaves,
green mulch
mulch for
for the
the agricultural
agrioultural crop.
crop.
leaves, are to be used as green
Although field trials
triale have already been carried out within the forest
forest reserve and
results made known (see Earl 1982),
1982), no effort
effort has yet
introduce the
yet been made to introduce
the
technique to farmers outside
outside the
the reserve.
reserve. Those farmers employed
employed as labourers
labourers within
the reserve,
reserve, however,
however, will have had an opportunity of observing the new practices.
practices. The
field trials indicate
indicate that income
income from the Subri
exceeds expendiSubri Conversion Technique exceeds
expenditure by about
about US!
per ha
ha before taking
taking into
into account
account food
food production
production and the
US$ 831 per
the benefits
benefits
derived by
by private
private entrepreneurs.
entrepreneurs. Table 44 indicates
indicates the
the product
product and
and its
its value
value on
on site
site
derived
per ha,
ha, and gives
give s details
details of
of arrangements
arrangements made
made with
with charcoal
charcoal entrepreneurs.
entrepreneurs.
4: Subri Conversion Technique
Table 4:
produot on site
site for 1 ha of
Output and value of product
100- ha
ha programme
programme
a 100
Product
Amount
Sawn lumber
lumber
Sawn
E/
Charcoal Y
Charcoal
FUelwood
Fuelwood
Grand Total
Total
Grand
Y
1
3 at 38%
15.3 m3
~ 15.3
m at
38%
;/ Entrepreneurs pay 4f
2
SI
4t
5.8
5.8 m3
rrf;
4.0
m3
4.0 m3
3 (piled)
50 m
m3
Unit Value
Unit
7alue
US$
~
US$/mi
655
655
600
600
17
-17
(40% of
of product)
product) to
to the
the project.
project.
(40%
6t (60%)
(60%) is
is marketed
marketed by
by themselves
themselves and
and
The remaining 6t
represents
r?presents an additional benefit to
to the
tbe economy.
econo~.
Source:
Earl 1982:23.
1982:23.
Earl
Total Value
~ojjA~
Y.I~llf2
US!
US$
3799.00
2400.00
2400.00
850.00
7049.00
7049.00
-- 26
26 --
On the other hand, the
the direct
direct costs
costs of
of the
the Technique
Teohnique are
are about
about 2.9 times those of
ordinary cut-and-burn
cut-and-burn technique
technique and
and require about 37 per cent more labour (Earl
(Earl
the ordinary
1982:23). These last two faots
1982:23).
facts probably mean that
that to the small
small farmer
farmer with
with limited
limited
capital and limited
limited labour
labour resources,
resouroes, the
the new
new technique
technique is
is not
not aa feasible
feasible proposition.
proposition.
Moreover, the
the trials
trials comparing
comparing the
the Subri
Subri Conversion Technique with the cut-and-burn
Moreover,
technique have taken into account
account forest
forest tree production,
production, but
but not
not agricultural
agricultural crop
crop
is, of course,
course, what
what the farmers
farmers are
are primarily
primarily
production (see Table 4 above),
above), which is,
interested in.
in.
interested
Finally,
Finally, since the land has been used very differently inside
inside and
and outside
outside the
the
Subri Reserve, the vegetation
vegetation to
to be
be cleared
cleared is
is also
also rather
rather different.
different. Therefore,
Therefore, results
results
forest areas inside the reserve ~
not be applicable
of trials in high forest
may not
applicable outside
outside the
the
reserve, where there is no high forest
is being cut
cut after
after
reserve,
forest left,
left, and where vegetation is
growth. For all these reasons,
reasons, one
one may
may expect
expect farmers
farmers to
to have
have aa
only a few years' growth.
cautious outlook in relation to ahy
any technique of clearing without
without burning,
burning, unless
unless of
of
profits, for example from
course the farmers themselves are to make significant profits,
from increaincreased sale of charcoal,
charcoal, timber
timber or
or food
food crops.
crops.
3.2
shifting cultivation
cultivation
Alternatives to shifting
in the early years of a Forestry Department
3.2.1 Cultivation of food crops in
Department
plantation; "individual
,plantation:
"individual taungya"
see King
King
Taungya is a word of Burmese origin (taung .~ hill,
hill, ya ~= cultivation,
cultivation, see
establishment used by
1968:6) designating a system of large-scale forest
forest plantation establishment
Forestry Departments,
Departments, in which food crops are interplanted between trees in the early
early
of plantation
plantation establishment.
establishment. Two broad types of
of 'taungya'
'taungya' are
are distinguished,
distinguished,
years of
according to the farmer's
farmer's role:
role:
a) "individual taungya" or
or "own
"own your own crop"
crop" (Olawoye
(Olawoye 1975:229)
as
1975:229) (also known as
"traditional taungya" or "private taungya")
, where the
taungya"),
the farmer
farmer plants
plants trees
trees
for use
use of
of the
the land
land for
for aa limited
limited period
period of
of time;
time;
in return for
b) "departmental taungya"
taungya" or
or "farming
"farming for
for pay"
pay" (also
(also known
known as
as "direct
"direct taungya")
taungya")
carries out jobs
jobs for the forestry department,
department, related
in which the farmer carries
to plantation establishment
establishment and
and agricultural
agricultural crop
crop production,
production, in
in return
return
for aa wage.
wage.
for
None of
of the
the documente
documents seen
seen makes
makes any
any reference
reference to
to the
the fact
fact that
that farmers
farmers may
may be
be
None
practising "individual
"individual taungya" as
as an
an alternative
alternative to,
to , or
or alongside,
alongside, shifting
shifting cultivacultivation. However,
However, examples of "individual
"individual taungya" exist
exist in
in humid
humid areas of West
West Africa
Afrioa
where shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation has
has been
been and
and still
still is
is practised
practised today
today by
by farmers
farmers on
on some
some
where
of their fields.
fields. In such cases,
cases, taungya appears to be, if
if not an alternative to
shifting cultivation,
cultivation, at
at least a parallel additional system.
accounts of
of profitability
profitability of
of taungya
taungya from
from the
the point
point of
of view of
of
There are many accounts
which practise
practise it
it to
to this
this day
day in
in order
order to
to establish
establish plantations at
Forestry Departments which
low cost
coat (see,
(see, for example,
example, the cost/benefit analysis of
of taungya proposals for Sierra
Leone in
in FAO/World
FAO/World Bank,
Bank, 1982).
1982). There are,
are, on the other
other hand,
hand, relatively few accounts
of how profitable or acceptable taungya is from the farmer's
farmer's point
pOint of view.
Under aa system
system of
of "individual
"individual taungya",
tBlll1gy8.", farmers
farmers are
are given
given access
access to
to plots
plots of
of land
land
Under
property of the Forestry
Forestry Department.
Department. In
in which the,r
they must
must plant trees which are the property
In
return they may cultivate the spaces between the trees with food crops,
crops, the produce
produce of
of
which is
is their
their own.
own. Depending
Depending on
on the
the crops
crops and
and trees
trees grown,
grown, and
and the
the Forestry
Forestry DepartDepartwhich
ment regulations,
regulations, the farmer ~
land with
with certain
certain prescribed crops
crops for
mar cultivate the land
between one
one and
and three
three years,
years, after
after which
which time
time the
the trees
trees will
will have
have grown
grown enough
enough to
to shade
shade
between
out any food
food crops.
crops. At
farmer has
has no
no choice
choice but
but to
to move
move to
to another
another area.
area.
At this point the farmer
If the Forestry Department is continuing to plant trees in
in the same
same way at this time,
time,
and .if
has looked
looked after the saplings,
saplings,
if the Department
Department is pleased with the way the farmer has
offered another plot
plot for
for use. If not,
then he may be offered
not, he will have to search for land
elsewhere.
______
---
-
.,..-r
- - - - - .........,.
- 27
21 -
As an alternative to shifting cultivation,
this is
is likely
likely to
to represent
represent aa move
cultivation, this
move from
from
greater security
security of
of land
land tenure
tenure to
to lesser
lesser security
security for
for those
those farmers
farmers accustomed
accustomed to
to
cultivation
cultivation outside
outside forest
forest reserves
reserves where
where they
they have
have permanent
permanent customary
customary rights
rights in
in land.
land.
Under "taungya"
"taungya" the
the land
land most definitely
definitely belongs to the State since it
it is part
Under
part of the
the
forest reserve. The farmer
farmer who
who is
is allooated one plot
plot after the other by the
the Forestry
Department can
can have
have aa certain
certain illusion
illusion of
of security
security of
of land
land tenure;
tenure; however,
however, in
in practice,
practice,
not continue their reforestation programmes
departments do not
programmes year
year after
after year,
year, and
and there
there
always comes a time when
when no
no more
more land
land is
is available
available for
for "taungya".
tltaungya". Also,
there may
may not
not
Also, there
be enough
it, so Borne
some
enough land
land in
in forest
forest reserve for everyone
everyone who would like access to it,
farmers have to do
do without.
Since the farmer has no long-term
long-term rights
rights to
to this
this permanent
permanent forest
forest estate,
estate, there
there
must be short-term
short-term incentives.
incentives. One of these is access
acoess to
to cultivable
cultivable land
land where
where such
such
land is scarce. Indeed,
pOinted out that the successful
successful working
working of
of
Indeed, it
it has been pointed
"taungya" is
for agriculture (see
(see King
King
is associated with a shortage of land suitable
sui table for
1968:57). Ball and
Umeh (1981:12) refine this by saying
1968:51).
and Umeh
saying that
that the
the desire
desire to
to farm
farm on
on
forest land is not
not necessarily caused merely by a shortage of agricultural
forest
agricultural land
land but
but by
by
forest land being seen as
as particularly
particularly
a shortage of fertile agricultural land -- the forest
fertile. Indeed Ball and Umeh
Umeh state
state that
that "taungya"
"taungya" has
has not
not suoceeded
succeeded where
where there
there is
is
available fertile agricultural
agricultural land.
land. The
The other
other short-term
short-term interest
interest is,
is, of
of course,
course, the
the
one to three years' agricultural
agricultural crop.
crop. But since the crop under the "taungya"
"taungya" system
is much
much reduced
reduced in
in relation
relation to
to the area cleared,
oleared, on
on account
is
account of the
the space and
and labour
labour
spent
choose this
this system
system if
if he
he
spent on the sapplings,
sapplings, it
it is clear that the farmer would only choose
could not otherwise get access to similar land.
land.
Because of these factors,
factors, it is understandable that
that the Forestry Departments
Departments have
have
smoothly administer the "taungya"
"taungya" system of reforesthad problems in their attempts to smoothly
reforestation. In Toge,
Togo, new "taungya" regulations
regulations introduced in 1958 (see
(see Appendix)
Appendix) for
rather than allowing
allowing them
them to
to be
be dispersed
dispersed as
as previously,
grouping plots rather
previously, triggered off
aa wave of protests against
system, in particular the
against the "taungya" system,
the restriction
restriction on
on which
which
crops to grow,
grow, and against
against the very principle of setting aside forest
forest reserves:
reserves: farmers
farmers
ressnted the fact that they were
were being deprived
deprived of
of forest
forest land to which they felt
resented
felt they
had inalienable customary
customary rights.
rights. There resulted a 'massive
'massive and uncontrollable
invasion of the forests
custodians, who went
forests b,y
by the traditional custodians,
went as
as far
far as
as planting
planting
forbidden crops - oil palms,
palms, coffee,
coffee, cocoa,
cocoa, etc.'
etc.' (Nadjombe 1982:11).
1982:71). In
In the
the early days
of independence, therefore, the
the "taungya"
"taung;ya tl system
system was
was suspended.
suspended.
In
reintroduoed in
in Togo
Togo with
with FAO
FAO assistance
assistance (see
(see Appendix),
Appendix),
In 1912
1972 "taungya" was reintroduced
but this time with added incentives
inoentives in
in the form of bonuses in cash and in kind.
kind. However,
However,
faced: first,
first, the farmers objected
objected to the fact
fact that it was not
two problems were faced:
rotations; and second,
second, the plantations were far from human
possible to carry out crop rotations;
settlements. Since there was no shortage of grasslands around the forest
reserves and
forest reserves
and
nearer the settlements,
settlements, the plantations were gradually deserted in favour of the less
agricultural land.
land. Once more the
the "taungya"
"taungya" system
system was
was disbanded.
disbanded. The
The next
next
fertile agricultural
experiment
experiment in Togo was in "departmental taungya"
taungya" (see below).
below).
In Nigeria,
of bonuses
bonuses were
were being
being considered
considered in
in 1981 in order to make
Nigeria, three types of
"taungya" more attractive
attractive to
to farmers:
farmers: subsidized
subsidized food
food (obtained
(obtained from
from "departmental
"departmental
taungya");
th land
land clearing,
clearing, crop
crop processing
prooessing and crop
orop storage;
storage; and cash
taungya"); assistance wi
with
However, it remains
bonuses for successfully planted
planted trees (Ball
(Ball and Umeh
Umeh 1981:9,
1981:9, 12). However,
doubtful to what extent even such
such bonuses can
can remedy
remedy the
the situation.
situation.
In
In Ghana,
Ghana, "individual
"individual taungya" was introduced in 1928, in order to satisfy the
farmers'
farmers' demand for cultivable land
land in
in areas
areas of
of land
land shortage,
shortage, and the foresters'
foresters' demand
establi shing a tree crop at reduced
reduced cost:
oost: the
the farmer
farmer bore
bore the
the cost
cost of
of the major
for establishing
item of
of expenditure
expenditure in
in plantation management:
management. site
site clearing.
clearing. According to Brookmanitem
"it cannot be said
Amissah
sai d that
that success
success was
was commensurate
cOlllDensurate with
with effort",
effort", since,
since,
(1978:4), "it
Amissah (1918:4),
small, scattered,
scattered, not
not too
too easily
easily accessible, and did
as in Togo, the early plots were small,
not constitute
oonstitute manageable
manageable plantation
plantation units.
units. Moreover, tending
tending of
of the
the tree
tree crop
crop was
was
inadequate, especially after the farmer
farmer had
had left
left the
the site.
site.
inadequate,
-- 28
28 -In 1968
Appendix), which
1968 the afforestation effort in Ghana was intensified (see Appendix),
sudden increase
increase in
in the
the amount
BIlount of land
land which was available to the "taungya"
meant aa sudden
farmer, "perhaps more than he really needed for his subsistence agriculture
agriculture or
or could
could
farmer,
as one of
of the
the prerequisites
prerequisites for
for
cope wit'a.
wit :, . Since genuine land hunger is seen by many as
cope
a successful "taungya"
"taungya" system,
system, it
it is
is easy
easy to
to visualize
visualize the
the forester's
forester's difficulty
difficulty to
to get
get
may therefore say that
that from that
that day
day the
the
the farmer
farmer his
his best
best performance.
performance. One ~
from the
forester,
forester, in these large afforestation areas,
areas, ceased to be the benefaotor
benefactor who
who dished out
out
of his
his forest estate
estate to
to the land
land hungry
hungry farmer and became very dependent
dependent on
portions of
establishment of his tree crop at
the farmer's goodwill for the establishment
at low cost."
cost." (Brookman(BrookmanAmissah 1978:4).
Amissah
The sudden
sudden increase
increase in
in land
land available
available for "taungya" created
oreated a eituation
situation in which
eome entrepreneurs
entrepreneurs found
found the
the large
large tracts
tracts suitable
suitable for
for commercial
commercial farming
farming (ibid
(ibid p.
p. 6):
6):
some
farmers, and amall
BDlall farmers were being overlooked.
overlooked. In
"taungya" was being used by big farmers,
In
order to manage a situation which was getting out
obviate
out of control,
control, in particular "to obviate
the problems posed
posed by
by over-abundance
over-abundance of
of land
land to
to the
the farmers",
farmers", the
the Forestry
Forestry Department
Department
introduced a system of "departmental taungya" in 1969.
1969 .
In Liberia an alternative way of oontrolling
controlling the
amount of land available
available to
to eaoh
each
t he amount
"taungya" farmer
in 1974
"taungya"
farmer was
was introduced
introduced by
by the
the Forestry
Forestry Development
Development Authority
Authority (FDA)
(DA) in
(see Appendix):
land preparation
preparation up
up to,
to, and
and including,
including, the
the phase
phase of
of burning
burning is
is carried
carried
(see
Appendix): land
out by the FDA,
at a nominal
fee of
of
FDA, and then farmers come
COme in and plant one rice crop at
nominal fee
fee is charged to
to oontrol
control the acre~e
acreage given to
to each household
household
US$
acre. "The fee
US$ 20 per
per acre.
and to help retain part of the cost for land preparation" (Appleton 1982:8). This
This
seen as
as part
part of
of the
the way
way between
between "individual"
"individual" and
and "departmental"
"departmental" "taungya",
"taungya",
system can be seen
with the former since the farmer retains the use of the agricultural
but has been classed with
agricultural
crop. Only 1,400 acres,
households, are reafforested
acres, capable of aocommodating
accommodating 400 households,
annually. The
The main
main benefits
benefits are
are reported
reported as
as "reduction
"reduction in
in the
the cost
cost of
of reafforestation
reafforestation
annually.
initial task of tending the plantations. Increase in the
as farmers perform the initial
production of
of upland
upland rice
rice through
through increase
increase in
in cultivated
cultivated acreage
acreage and
and improved
improved seeds".
seeds".
production
(Appleton 1982:9).
1982:9). From the farmer's point of view, this system looks more like a
(Appleton
yearly tenancy.
tenancy.
In Sierra Leone
Leone there
there are
are two
two variants
variants on
on "individual
"individualtattlgya"
tamgya" (one,
(one, unfortunaunfortunaof aa proposal,
proposal, and the other
other at an
an early
early stage
stage of implementation)
implementation)
tely, only at the stage of
which have particular implications for the farmer. The first (Appendix
(Appendix Sierra
Sierra Leone
Leone 2)
is similar to
just cited in that
that farmers
to the Liberian example just
farmers would ~
pay an annual
annual rent
rent
for
it is not
for access to
to the land (though it
not clear whether farmers would be helped in
in
clearing the
the land).
land). The difference with any other "taungya"
"taungya" systems considered
considered here is
annuals, but perennials such
euch as coffee,
coffee, cocoa
oocoa and
and
that the agricultural crops are not annuals,
cola,
Buperba plantations.
plantations.
cola, as understoreys in Terminalis
Terminalia ivorensis and Terminalia superba
Providing that
renewed, this system would provide the farmers
that the arrangement could be renewed,
farmers
with a tenancy arrangement
at least twenty years,
arrangement for at
years, or as long as the life of the
particular crop.
crop. This would
would provide
provide aa great
great deal
deal more
more security
eecurity of
of tenure
tenure than
than the one
or two years
years "squatting" arrangement under "taungya"
"taungya tl with annual food crops.
orops.
It was introduced in response to a situation where it became increasingly diffiIt
difficult for government
government to obtain additional land for forest
retain
cult
forest plantations or even to retain
the existing forest
that landowners
landowners
forest estate,
estate, because of a growing feeling in the country that
who had given up land for forest
forest reserves and protected forests generally did not
receive adequate or immediate compensation (Koroma 1982:69). The
government has
has thus
tbus
The government
been encouraged to consider the farmers'
farmers' desire for increased land security.
security.
The second variant on
on "individual
"individual taungya" (Appendix
(Appendix Sierra
Sierra Leone
Leone 3)
3) is
is a proposal
for community fuelwood plantations and community
oommunity forestry plantations, to be established
by farmers under the
the "taungya"
"taungya" system.
system. Farmers, however, would
would benefit not only from
planted in
in the
the early
early years of
of establishment,
establishment, but
but also
also from
from the forest
forest
the food crops planted
trees:
that "There should be no equivocation at any time as to which
trees: it
it is clearly stated that
sale of
of fuelwood
fUelwood or
or poles
poles arising
ariSing out
out of
of aa farmer's
farmer's operaparty would benefit from the sale
tions under the "taungya"
"taungya" system.
system.
In this
connection, the mission
mission would
would expect
expect the
the
this connection,
- 29
29-
farmers to be allowed
allowed to keep the proceeds of any harvesting
that he
he
harvesting of
of such
such material
material that
fee."
undertakes, subject
subject perhaps to
to payment
payment of a small
small license
license fee
. " (FAO/World Bank 1982
1, p.
p. 19).
Ann. 1,
It is precisely
precisely because the farmer
farmer is
is to
to profit
profit from
from the
the forest
forest trees
trees that
that the
the
It
is called
called "community
"oommunity forestry";
forestry"; and it is for the same reason that
project is
that the
the word
is inappropriate,
systems is
is that
that the
the
"taungya" 1.8
inappropriate, since
since aa charaoteristic
characteristic of "taungya" systems
farmers do not profit
profit from
from the
the forest
forest trees.
trees. Here,
Here, the
the term
term agroforestry
agroforestry would
would be
be
more appropriate:
appropriate: the farmer
farmer himself
himself is
is combining
combining the
the production
production of
of agricultural
agricultural crops
orops
and forest
trees, both
both to
to be
be managed
managed by
by him
him for
for his
his own
own profit.
profit. In this way the
the farmer
farmer
forest trees,
is highly motivated to care
oare for
just the
for both crops,
crops, not
not just
the agricultural
agricultural crops
crops as
as under
under
"individual taungya",
taungya tl , or
or neither,
neither, as
as under
under the
the system
system of
of "departmental
"departmental taungya".
taungya".
Paid Labour:
Labour: "departmental
"dtpartmental taung:ya"
taunaa"
3.2.2 Paid
"Departmental
"Departmental taungya"
taungya" is
is distinguished from "individual
"individual taungya"
taungya" by
by the
the faot
fact that
that
produoe from the agricultural crop planted in the early
early years of plantation establishproduce
establishment
ment belongs to the
the Forestry Department,
Department, which rewards
rewards the
the agrioultural
agricultural worker
worker with
with aa
From the worker'
B point
Itdepartmental taungya"
wage.
worker's
point of view,
view, therefore,
therefore, "departmental
taungya" is
is similar
similar to
to
other types of agricultural
agricultural paid labour and radically different
different from
from "individual
"individual
taungya":
latter system,
system, the farmer depends on his food crop
orop for subsistence
subsistence
taungya": under the latter
oare in
in growing it,
it, whereas under the former
and is therefore highly motivated to take care
former
system,
system, the paid labourer is only motivated to the extent
extent that
that he
he will
will continue
continue to
to
work. It
receive his wage at the end
end of his work.
surprising that Forestry
Forestry
It is therefore not surprising
Departmentsoomplain of 'lack
'laok of discipline'
discipline' among their "taungya" labourers and 'that
Departmentscomplain
that
administrative costs
oosts are
are high.
high. In Toge,
oost to the State of the food
food crop
orop producproducTogo, the cost
tion under Forestry Department supervision 'exceeds
'exoeeds acceptable
acoeptable limits'
limits' (Nadjombe
(Nadjombe 1982:7).
If and when the system of "departmental taungya" runs smoothly without
without excessive
excessive
administration problems,
problems, it
it can
oan be
be aa cheaper
cheaper way
way of
of establishing
establishing a plantation than
taungya". And this
this despite
despite the fact
faot that the Department has
has to pay for the
"individual taungya".
farmer's labour -- the main cost
cost of the operation - whereas under the previous system
the farmer himself bore most of the produotion
olearing, planting and weeding
production costs like clearing,
the saplings. Ball and Umeh (1981:8)
(1981:8) calculated the economic rate of return in the
the
establishment of teak and Gmelina arborea plantations in Nigeria under three different
different
systems in
1980. ''Departmental
"Departmental taungya" showed the highest returns
in 1975 and in 1980.
returns for both
both
species and at both
both dates, followed
followed by
by "individual
"individual taungya",
taungya", then
then by
by direct
direot planting.
planting.
But the same
sams authors state
state that the area under "departmental
"departmental taungya" in Nigeria
declined considerably between 1975 and 1980 (see
has deolined
(see Appendix), and
and this
this partly
partly because
because
reasons, not
not only at the local level,
up: for
for
of administrative reasons,
level, but also higher up:
example the system was stopped completely
oompletely in Ondo State,
State, because revenue realized on
division of
of the
the Ministry. In 1981, only
food crops usually went to the agricultural division
(1977:0
were still
still carrying
carrying on
on "departmental
"departmental taungya". Ball (1977:i)
Cross River and Ogun States were
sume up the faults of the "departmental taungya" as
as "low
"low agricultural
agricultural crop
crop yields and
sums
high supervisory
supervisory commitments."
commitments."
A further difference
differenoe between
between departmental
departmental and
and individual
individual "taungya"
"taungya" is
is that
that whereas
whereas
A
latter attracts
attraots mainly
mainly local
local farmers,
farmers, the
the former
former may
may in
in addition
addition attract
attract people
people from
the latter
other areas and even from towns,
towns, who are in search
search of
of a wage.
wage. Ball and Umeh (1981:2)
that "departmental taungya" introduced
introduced into
into Cross
Cross River State
State of
of Nigeria in 1971,
1971,
state that
IIforest labourers who may have no
no previous
previous experience
experience in
in farming".
fanning". In
is operated by "forest
In
crop yields may
may be low.
low. However, thie
this
such cases it is easy to see why the agricultural crop
brings us beyond
beyond the scope
scope of
of this
this study
study since
since for
for such
such labourers,
labourers, "taungya"
"taungya" can
can in
in no
way represent
represent an alternative to shifting cultivation.
-- 30
30-
3.2.3 Permanent cultivation of
of annual crops:
crops: Lowland rice
rice
Both the
the Sierra
Sierra Leone
Leone and
and the
the Madagascar
Madagascar case
case studies
studies give
give examples
sxamples of
of projects
projects
Both
which have
havs attempted
attempted to
to encourage
encourage the
the production
production of
of lowland
lowland rainfed
rainfed or
or irrigated
irrigated rice
rice
as aa uubstitute
substitute for
for upland
upland rice
rice cropping.
cropping.
hectare and
and
The major advantage of
of the former is
is its greater productivity per hectare
possibility of producing
producing more
more than
than one
one crop
crop per
per year.
year. A
A number
number of
of advantages
advantages and
and
disadvantages need
need to
to be
be considered
considered to
to obtain
obtain aa balanced
balanced view
view of
of what
what is
is an
an intensive
intensive
and stabilized
stabilized form
form of
of agriculture
agriculture developed
developed in
in Asia
Asia due
due to
to shortage
shortage of
of land
land available
available
for
extensive forms
forms of
of agriculture.
agriculture.
for more
more extensive
(a)
High cost of
of irrigation
irrigation in
in Africa
Africa up
up to
to the
the present
present time.
time. However,
only
However, only
a small percentage of riceland is irrigated,
irrigated, much of
of it
it is
is swampland
swampland and
and
valley bottom. Once initial preparation
preparation of
of the rice
rice field
field is
is completed,
completed,
labour costs
costs of
of maintenance
maintenance are
are relatively
relatively low
low compared
compared to
to that
that required
required
labour
for clearing
clsaring at successive
successive intervals
intervals for
for the
the bush
bush fallow-cycle.
fallow-cycle.
(b)
African farmers
farmers prefer
prefer working
working on
on upland
upland rice
rice on
on account
aooount of
of water-borne
water-borne
diseases (Bilharzia,
(Bilharzia, Malaria, Guinea
Guinea Worm).
Horm). Development
of new
new safe,
safe,
Development of
effective low-cost drugs
effeotive
drugs and
and the
the possibility
possibility of
of integrated
integrated pest
pest control
oontrol
oan
substantially improve
improve the
the health
health of
of farmers
farmers working
working under
under these
these
can uubstantially
oonditions
"(T.N. Mather,
Mather, 1983).
conditions.(T.N.
(c)
Upland rice
rioe permits mixed cropping;
oropping; a possibility not explored so far
in valley-bottom rainfed
rainfed or
or irrigated
irrigated rice
rice in
in Africa.
Africa. The practice
practice is
is
common in Asia,
however and
and could
could result
result in
in its
its introduction
introduction to
to lowland
lowland
Asia, however
rice culture.
(d)
Swamp and irrigated rioe
rice have the basio
basic advantage of continued producproductivity during periods of
of cyclical
oyclical drought
drought when
when upland
upland rice
rice °rope
crops fail.
fail.
In summary,
summary, the
the Asian
Asian example of intensive development
development of
of swampland and
and rainfed
rainfed
In
valley bottom land could provide Africa with
with aa means of attaining intensive cultivation
of aa staple crop under a stabilized
stabilized system.
system. However,
However, the possibility
possibility of
of improving
improving
use of agroforestry techniques
techniques
upland rice cultivation must not be ignored
ignored and
and the uss
appears appropriate (planted
(planted fallows,
fallows, alley cropping:
croppingl see
see 3.2.4).
Agroforestry: alley
3.2.4 Asroforestry:
allelf cropping
cropping and
and multistorey_
multistorey intercropping.
intercropping.
Agroforestry
son
Agroforestry is
is already
already practised
practised by
by many
many African
African small
small farmers
farmers (see
(see Olaf
Olafson
1982:14ff). However, there
there is
is considerable
considerable agreement
agreement among
among scientists
soientists that
that agrocould, if practised more widely, provide a solution to some of the problems
forestry could,
with fallow
fallow ~iculture
agriculture in conditions of riSing
rising population densities
densities and
and
experienced with
increasing land shortage
shortage (see
(see Vergara 1981, Raintree 1980:108); indeed
increasing
indeed this
this is
is the
the
assumption behind much of the work of the International
International Council for Research in Agro(ICRAF), Nairobi,
forestry (ICRAF),
Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya. Accordingly,
Accordingly, certain field trials have been carried
out
experimental research
research stations.
stations. For example,
example, both
both the
the International
International Institute
Institute
out in experimental
of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
(IITA) at
at Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria
Nigeria and
and ICRAF
ICRAF have
have been
bssn carrying
carrying out
out
field trials with alley cropping of
of the fast-growing woody
woody leguminous
leguminous genus Leucaena
(see
1981:44 for IITA
(see Hartmans 1981 and Okigbo 1981144
IITA and
and Raintree
Raintree 1980:116
1980:116 below
below for
for ICRAF).
ICRAF).
Unfortunately, there
there is
is as
as yet
yet little
little information
information on
on the
the acceptability
acceptability of
of these
these tech
techniques to fallow fs=ers,
farmers, since trials have
have been carried
carried out
out in
in areas of permanent
permanent
cultivation.
cultiva.tion.
Work on
on the intensification
intensification of
of agriculture
agriculture based
based on
on agroforestry
agroforestry techniques
techniques is
is
particularly promising
promiSing because it emphasizes
emphasizes the close
close relationship
relationship between
between the
the type
type
of agricultural improvement on the one
one hand
hand and
and the availability
availability of
of labour
labour and
and the
the
---~
- 31 -
Figure
5:tD:k2_zdnecrthtim
in tropical farmmjmLns
Figure 5:
aypothetical pathway for sustained-yield intensification
in tropical farming systems
~OPPing
Multistorey Intercropping
t
LABOUR
LABOUR
INI'ENSITY
INPENSITY
Alley Cropping
z
Planted Fallows
FallowB
25
25
50
50
R-Value
INTENSITY
LAND USE INTENSITY
(Source:
1980:113).
(Source: Raintree 1980:113).
75
75
100+
-- 32
32 --
intensity of
use on
on the
the other
other hand.
hand. Figure
Figure 5 presents
intensity
of land
land use
hypothetical progression
progression
presente a
a hypothetical
from planted fallows
fallows to
to intensive multistorey intercrcpping,
intercropping, suitable
suitable for
for maintaining
maintaining
or improving per
per capita
capita fields
fields on
on aa fixed
fixed land
land base
base under
under conditions
conditions of
of population
population
pressure and land
land shortage.
shortage.
a)
In the early stage of intensification, as land
land pressure
pressure converts
converts long-fallow
long-fallow
farmers into short-fallow farmers,
farmers, the use of
of appropriate
appropriate tree
tree legumes
legumes as
as
planted fallows can increase and sustain
sustain the productivity
productivity of
of the
the land
land at
at
fairly low
low labour
labour costs.
costs.
b)
in appropriately spaced
spaced rows,
rows, the
the
By initially planting the fallow trees in
stage is set
set for the next phase of
of intensification
intensification in
in which
which progressively
progreSSively
shorter rotations eventually result in
in permanent cultivation
cultivation in
in the
the alleys
alleys
between the pruned hedgerows
hedgerows of
of vigorously
vigorously coppicing
coppicing trees.
trees. The
conc ept of
of
The concept
alley cropping -- the production of
of arable crops
crops in
in the
the spaces
spaces between
between rows
rows of
of
of
the cropping
cropping
of woody legumes which are pruned periodically throughout the
season to control shading and provide green manure mulch
mulch -- is
is possibly
possibly the
the
most
moet versatile,
versatile, effective,
effective, and
and widely
widely adoptable
adoptable of
of recent
recent innovations
innovations in
in
conservation farming.
farming.
conservation
practicality of
of the
the system
system has
has been
been demonstrated
demonstrated for
for aa few
few arable
arable crops
crops
The practicality
and a number of woody legumes all of which,with ths
the exception
exception of
of Gliricidia
Gliricidia
sepium,have been listed on page 23. The characteristics
characteristics of
of these
these species
species
on page
page 23
with additional
additional stress
stress on
on ability
ability to
to coppice
coppice
also resemble those on
23 with
vigorously and yield high volumes of leaf
leaf matter under
under intensive
intensive pruning!
pruning/
pollarding as well as aa deep rooting habit
habit for
for drought
drought resistance
resistance and
and
minimal surface
surface root
root competition
competition with
with the
the arable
arable crops
crops associated
associated with
with them.
them.
The range of potential crop
crop combinations
combinations and
and management
management options
options has,
has,
however, only begun to be explored.
explored. (Raintree
(Raintree 1980:116).
1980:116).
however,
c)
In the final,
increasingly labour
labour intensive,
intensive, stages
stages of
of intensification,
intensification, the
the
final, increasingly
installed green manure 'fertilizer
'fertilizer factories'
factories' can
can be
be maintained
maintained in
in place
place
while additional upperstorey trees
trees and
and intercropping
intercropping practices
practices are
are
introduced to
to accommodate higher
higher population
population denSities,
densities, as
as the
the grandchildren
grandchildren
and great-grandchildren of
of the
the original
original settlers
settlers arrive
arrive on
on the
the scene:
scene:
multistorey intercropping.
intercropping. Multistorey
Multistorey intercropping
intercropping is
is the system
system which
which
offers the closest approximation to
to the
the characteristics
characteristics of
of the
the tropical
tropical
foresta,
at all a
a new
new idea.
idea.
forests, and is not at
It
fact a prominent
prominent feature
It is in fact
of compound gardens in densely
densely settled
settled areas
areas of
of the
the tropics.
tropics.
The
proposal
The proposal
here is to incorporate soil-improving
soil-improving economic
economic tree
tree legumes
l~es into
into the
the
upperstorey of the system,
system, and to choose species with light
light or seasonal
seasonal
canopies which permit the system
system to
to be
be extended
extended to
to field
field crops.
orops.
Here again the characteristics of species ideal for multistorey intercropping
incorporate high N-fixation capacity,
capacity, low
low establishment
establishment and
and maintenance
maintenance costs
costs and
and special
special
adaptive characteristics.
However,
However, a number
number of
of other
other essential
essential characteristics
characteristics are
are
required such as aa oapaoity
capacity for
for fast
fast growth and planting at
at dense spacing,
spacing, light
light canopy
canopy
permitting the growth of understorey crops; deep rooting habit and minimal surface root
permitting
root
competition;
competition; nutrient-rioh
nutrient-rich and readily-humified foliage;
foliage; high yields
yields of
of economic
economic
byproducts such as high-protein pods;
pods; capability
capability for easy and cost efficient
efficient harvesting
of the above products. The species suitable
suitable for multistorey intercropping
intercropping are
Acacia albida Prosópis
Prosopis . spp.,
spp., Sesbania
Sesbania grandiflora,
grandiflora, Leucaena
Leuoaena leucocephala,
leucocephala, Samanea
.!!l!!!!l!:ll
1980: n600117) •
sanan and Tamarindus
Tamarindus indica (Raintree 1980:116-117).
If
wqy the scheme of intensification here
If the motivation exists,
existe, there is no reason why
run "ahead
ttahead of
of itself"
itself" to
to generate
generate higher
higher incomes
incomes for
for industrious
industrious
envisaged cannot be run
rural families
likewise
families well
well in advance of population-pressured necessity.
necessity. The scheme likewise
admits
of great
oombination of
of elements from different
admite of
great flexibility in the combination
different "stages"
"stáges" for
for
simultaneous production
produotion of optimal
optimal product3for
produ~for particular
particular localities
localities (see
(see Raintree
Raintree 1980
1980
and 1983).
-- 33
33 --
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS AND
AND GUIDELINES
GUIDELINES
1.
terms 'shifting cultivation'
cultivation' and especially 'shifting
The terms
'shifting cultivator'
cultivator' have
have been
been
to be
be used
used in aa number of inaccurate w~s;
ways; this has had the effect
found to
effect of
of
confusing
confusing the
the variety
variety of
of agricultural
agricultural systems
systems found
found in
in forest
forest areas
areas and
and the
the
variety
people. It
variety of
of reasons
reasons for
for which
which forest
forest trees
trees may
may be
be cut
cut by
by different
different people.
It
is
hold
is not
not only
only misleading
misleading to
to group
group all
all these people together;
together; as long as we
we hold
inaccurate
inaccurate ideas
ideas about
about 'shifting
'shifting cultivators'
cultivators' we
we are
are unlikely
unlikely to
to devise
satisfactory
strategies for
for them.
them. Following
satisfactory alternative
alternative agricultural
agricultural strategies
Following FAO
FAO
convention
convention and
and such
auch respected
respected agriculturalists
agriculturalists as
as Ruthenberg,
Ruthenberg, it
it has
has been found
found
useful
long fallow agriculture,
agriculture, and
and to
to
useful to
to equate
equate shifting cultivation with long
distinguish it
fallow agriculture.
agriculture.
it from short fallow
2.
Shifting cultivation as
as defined
defined above
above is
is no
no longer
longer as
as common
common in
in Africa
Africa as
Shifting
as formerly.
formerly.
It
Short fallow
fallow agriagriIt continues
continues to
to exist
exist in areas
areas of low population density. Short
culture,
other hand,
hand, is
is common.
common.
culture, on the other
3.
Moreover,
shifting cultivation
cultivation is
is nowadays
nowadays usually
usually combined
combined by
by producers
producers with
with
Moreover, shifting
other
example short
short fallow
fallow and/or
and/or continuous
continuous
other methods
methods of cultivation,
cultivation, for example
cultivation nearer the homes.
homes. Two
Two points
points follow:
follow: first,
first, the
the houses
houses of
of farmers
farmers
who
permanent buildings
buildings and
and do
do not
not
who practise
practise shifting cultivation are usually permanent
'shift' any more. And second,
'shift'
second, shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation is
is nowadays
nowadays more
more usually
usually
a component
in a complex
complex farming
farming system
system than
than aa complete
complete farming
farming system
system in
in itself.
itself.
component in
4.
Farmers are constantly and spontaneously adapting
adapting their
their agricultural
agricultural practices
practices
to
of population density
denSity and
and land
land availability;
availability; adapting
adapting
to changing conditions of
their crop rotation
rotation practices
practices and/or
and/or switching
switching part
part of
of their
their land
land to
to aa more
more
their
int~nsive
oases, a more extensive) method
method of
of land
land cultivacultivaintensive (or,
(or, in
in appropriate cases,
tion.
tion.
5.
In some areas there may be considerable
oonsiderable constraints
constraints against
against the
the intensification
intensification
of agriculture from shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation and
and short
short fallow
fallow cultivation
cultivation to
to contioontinuous cultivation. One is the low returns to labour
labour of
of continuous
oontinuous (unmechanized)
(unmechanized)
cultivation when compared with short
short fallow
fallow and
and even
even more
more so
so with
with shifting
shifting
cultivation. Other constraints
constraints are
are the
the difficult
difficult access
access to,
to, and
and high
high prices
prices of,
of,
fertilizer and other agricultural inputs,
inputs, and
and the
the lack
lack of
of security
security of
of land
land
tenure,
tenure, which discourages
discourages investments
investments in
in such
such inputs.
inputs.
6.
In such areas,
areas, a crisis point
pOint may
m~ be
be reached,
reached, characterized
characterized by
by population
population
pressure, land shortage, soil
pressure,
soil degradation
degradation and
and decreasing
decreasing yields.
yields. Such
Such crisis
crisi s
areas may be associated with the abandoning
abandoning of
of shifting
shifting cultivation
cultivation in
in favour
favour
of short
short fallow and/or continuous
continuous cultivation,
cultivation, but
but rarely
rarely with
with the
the continuing
continuing
presence of shifting cultivation.
7.
types: firstly,
firstly, improvement
improvement of
of fallow
fallow agriculture,
agrioulture,
Interventions are of two types:
for example planted fallows,
fallows, is
is appropriate
appropriate where
where trends
trends of
of population
population density
density
of access
access to
to land
land are
are such
such that
that farmers
farmers have
have enough
enough land
land to
to
and distribution of
period on
on some
some or
or all
all of
of their
their lands
lands in
in order
order to
to
retain a sufficient fallow period
and where
where this
this situation
situation seems
seems unlikely
unlikely to
to change
ohange in
in
restore soil fertility; and
the near future.
future.
8.
it is
is becoming
becoming difficult
difficult for
for small
small farmers
farmers to
to get
get access
acoess to
to sufficient
sufficient
Where it
land in
in order
order to
to practise
practise fallow
fallow agriculture,
agriculture, then
then it
it is
is appropriate
appropriate
amounts of land
to turn to alternative methods of cultivation,
cultivation, in particular continuous
agriculture. Under
Under such
such conditions,
conditions, if
if the
the farmers
farmers have
have not
not already
already switched
switched
agriculture.
such alternative methods,
methods, it
it is
is likely
likely that
that there
there are
are serious
serious constraints.
constraints.
to auch
Every effort
effort should be made to communicate with the farmers in order to
determine what these
these constraints
constraints are.
are.
-- 34
34--
9.
Of utmost
importanoe are
are the physical
physioal constraints,
oonstraints, about
about which
which the
the farmer
farmer is
is
utmost importance
likely to have aa considerable
oonsiderable amount
amount of
of practical
praotical knowledge.
knowledge. For example
fallow agriculture
agriculture is
is often
often deliberately
deliberately practised
praotised in
in poorer
poorer soils,
SOils, which
which need
need
fallow
quite considerable inputs
inputs of
of fertilizer
fertilizer in
in order
order to
to support
support continuous
continuous
cultivation.
10.
Socio-economic constraints are also of
of major
major importance.
importance. Alternatives should
not asaume
assume that
that farmers
farmers have
have security
security of
of land
land tenure.
tenure. Rather,
Rather, this should
should be
asoertained. In some cases,
oases, it may be necessary
necessary to
to implement
implement aa degree
degree of
of local
local
ascertained.
land reform before the 'alternative'
'alternative' may
may be
be an
an attractive
attractive proposition
proposition for
for fallow
fallow
farmers. This is particularly
particularly the
the case
oase where
where planting
planting of
of trees
trees is
is concerned.
oonoerned.
farmers.
It
asoertained whether
whether the
the farmers
farmers have
have access
aooess to
to enough
enough labour
labour
It should also be ascertained
in order to adjust
adjust to
to the
the higher
higher labour
labour requirements
requirements of
of continuous
oontinuous cultivation;
oultivation;
and whether
whether they
they have
have enough
enough money
money to buy
buy the fertilizer and other
and
other inputs
inputs which
which
may
~ become
become necessary.
necessar,y.
11.
In order not to burden the farmer
farmer with the
the oost
cost of
of ohemioal
chemical fertilizer,
fertilizer, the
the use
use
of natural fertilizer should
should be
be substituted
substituted wherever
wherever possible.
possible. Apart from the
use of 'green'
'green' manure,
manure, more
more attention
attention should
should be
be devoted
devoted to
to recycling
recyoling animal
animal
manure as fertilizer and generally ooordinating
coordinating animal
animal produotion
production and
and orop
crop
farming activities.
aotivities.
12.
Off-farm aotivities
activities should always be borne in mind as alternatives
alternatives to
to fallow
fallow
crisis areas:
areas: partioular
particular attention should be devoted to
to the
the possipossifarming in orisis
diversifioation to include
inolude such activities as the small-scale exploibility of diversification
of wood
wood and
and other
other forest
forest products.
produots.
tation of
13.
The use
opposed to
to annual
annual agricultural
agricultural crops
crops should
should be
be encouraged
enoouraged
The
use of perennial as opposed
in order
order to
to exploit
exploit the
the soil
soil in
in the
the most
most stable
stable~.
In
where appropriate, in
way.
In
general the
the planting
planting of
of trees
trees is
is seen
seen to
to be
be one
one of
of the
the most
most effective
effective ways of
general
preventing soil
soil degradation.
degradation.
14.
The alternative
alternative should
should also
also take
take into
into account
aooount the
the sexual
sexual division
division of
of labour:
labour:
in
of Africa where
where fallow
fallow agriculture
agriculture is
is practised,
practised, women
women carry
carry out
out
in many
many parts of
more of the farming work than men with the exception of clearing.
clearing. In some places
they also do clearing
olearing work (see Carter and Mends-Cole 1982:62
1982:62 in
in respect
respeot of
of
Liberia); and in other plaoes
places they not only carry out
but also
also farm
farm
Liberia);
out farming work but
deoisions in their own land and even
in their own right,
right, taking management decisions
even
hired labour
labour (see
(see Spiro
Spiro 1980:19
1980:19 in respeot
Qyo State,
State, Nigeria).
employing male hired
respect of Oyo
Interventions in such cases should address women farmers as well as
as men.
men.
15.
report has
has dealt
dealt at
at great length
length with
with "taungya"
"taungya" systems.
systems. This is
is largely
This report
because,
systems, there is more information about
about farmers'
because, being older systems,
farmers' reactions
reactions
to them. The main conclusion to draw from experience with utaungya"
"taungya" is
is that
that
since
since it
it is
is primarily aa system of
of plantation establishment
establishment and sinoe
since farmers
farmers
derive no profit from the trees they plant which remain the property of the
Forestry Department,
Department, the farmers are not highly motivated to make it
it work:
work: they
are mainly interested in getting access to land for their crops.
orops. Great scope is
seen
seen in proposals
proposals for
for agroforestry
agroforestry or oommunity
community forestry in which the
the farmers
farmers
have responsibility for
for the
the trees
trees they
they plant,
plant, and
and derive
derive profit
profit from them.
have
them.
-- 35
35 --
16.
Of the many
many proposed
proposed agricultural
agricultural improvements
improvements and
and alternatives
alternatives to
to fallow
fallow
farming (better
(better seed,
seed, fertilizers,
fertilizers, minimum
minimum tillage,
tillage, green
green mulch,
mulch, mixed
mixed
cropping,
etc.) only very
very few have
have been
been tried
tried out
out in
in collaboration
collaboration with
with
cropping, etc.)
fallow farmers. The
The great
great majority have so far been field station trials
only.
eome of the practices are
are already
already carried
carried out
out by
by some
some
only. Furthermore,
Furthermore, some
fallow cultivators,
cultivators, especially
especially mixed
mixed cropping
cropping and
and minimum
minimum tillage.
tillage. Again
Again
is needed is
is more
more of
of aa dialogue
dialogue with
with farmers,
farmers, so
so that
that both
both foresters
foresters
what
what is
and agriculturalists may learn
learn from
from farmers
farmers considerable
considerable local
local experience,
experience,
and so that alternatives proposed
proposed in
in particular
particular areas
areas may
may be
be well
well adapted
adapted
to the
the particular needs of the local
local farmers.
farmers.
17.
More attention should
should be paid
paid to
to the
the particular
particular reasons
reasons why
why farmers
farmers use
use fire,
fire,
in the
the local context.
in
context. Less emphasis should
should be placed
placed on
on fire
fire prevention
prevention
programmesi
instead, farmers could
could be
be advised
advised on
on ways
ways of
of improving
improving fire
fire
programmes; instead,
management,
in mind
mind the measures
measures they
they already
already take.
take.
management, bearing in
- 36
36 --
APPENDIX
BENIN
BENIN
A.
A.
General information
Location:
Rainfall:
Population
B.
B.
three southern
southern provinces
1,000-15,000 mm annual average
density:
density: 150 persons/km2.
persons/km 2 •
CUltivation
Cultivation practices
1. Main food crops:
crops: maize,
maize, cassava,
cassave, yams, beans, grown
grown in
in the
the following
following way:
way:
avsrage
successive years
years of
of cropping
cropping (6
(6 seasons)
seasons) followed
followed by
by three
three
average of three successive
years of
of fallow
fallow (in
(in the 1960s the
the fallow
fallow period
period was
was 6-8 years
years according
according to
to
FAO/African Development
to Tran
Tran Van
Van Nao
Nao (pers.
(pers.
Development Bank 1982:37). According
According to
comm. 1983), the cultivation
cultivation period
period may
~ in
in some
some areas
areas be
be up
up to
to four
four or
or five
five
comm.
years, followed
followed by
by aa fallow
fallow period
period of
of only
only two
two to
to three
three years.
years.
years,
2. Main
Main cash
cash crops:
crops:
3. others:
Others:
C.
C.
oil
oil palm,
palm, grown on permanent plots.
fruit and vegetables grown on
fruit
on permanent
permanent plots
plots near
near villages.
villages.
Improvements and alternatives
Government
the Centre
Centre
Government programme of rural development
development and extension (with the
Régional de
de D6veloppement
D6veloppement Rural
Rural -- CARDER -- directorate)
directorate) includes
includes
d'Action R6gional
three types of action in
in forest
forest areas:
areas:
1. Teak plantations and nurseries for
small farmers
for small
farmers
2. Eucalyptus plantations for fuelwood
3. Agroforestry
Agroforestry for small
small farmers,
farmers, in
in particular,
partioular, planting fallow land
with Acacia auriculiformis,
auriculiformis, in order to enrich the soil
soil with humus
humus and
and
as well as producing fuelwoodquickly
fuelwood quickly (Worou and Tran
Tran Van
Van Nao
Nao
nitrogen as
1982:10). By
1982:10).
By 1982, some 200,000 saplings had been produced
produced for distribution by
by local
local cooperative
cooperative organizations.
organizations. Not all distributed and
planted,
preference for
for eucalyptus
eucalyptus (Tran
(Tran Van
Van Nao
Nao per.
per.
planted, due to farmer preference
comm.
comm. 1983).
-
37 -37
GHANA
A.
A.
General information
infonnation
Source: Ghana case study except
exoept where otherwise
otherwise stated.
stated.
Site of
Location: Site
of FAO
FAO project
project GHA/74/103
0I!A~74/103 "Development of Forestry
Forestry Energy
Energy
Resources": some 1,432
1,432 km2
Resources":
!cm in Tarkwa
District, southwestern
southwestern
Tarkwa Forest District,
Ghana.
41.2% of this region constitutes the Subri Forest Reserve.
Rainfall: annual
1875 mm
annual average
average 1500 mm in the east
east and 1875
mm in the west of the
the
region.
Population density:
density: 40.6 persons to the !cm
in Tarkwa
Administrative District;
Population
km22 in
Tarkwa Administrative
lower in
in
in SUbri
Subri area because of a concentration of population in
mining towns outside the area
area in
in question.
question.
B.
B.
CUltivation practices
practices
Cultivation
1. Permanent cultivation
cultivation of tree crops:
crops: cocoa (14.
65% of land available for
(14.65%
agriculture is
ie under cocoa),
cocoa), rubber,
rubber, oil
oil palm,
palm, citrus,
citrus, coconut
coconut palm.
palm. Ten
of farmers
farmers had permanent crops along with
to 15% of
with food
food crops.
crops.
2. Shifting cultivation of food crops (a greater proportion
proportion of
of arable
arable land
land
se): maize, cassava,
cassava, plantain,
plantain, cocoyam,
cocoyam, yams.
yams. Mixed cropping,
is devoted to SC):
on small mounds (except
(except maize).
maize). Cultivation period:
period: 22 years (occasionally
(occasionally
three,
three, rarely four);
four); fallow period three years (though would have
have preferred
preferred
five or more);(rarely,
mor~; (rarely, two
two and
and one
one year,
year, see
see p.
p.
C.
C.
Alternatives
A
1. Individual
Individual taungya:
taungva:
A system
system of
of individual
individual taungya
taungya was
was introduced
introduced in 1928
"The early plots given out
out were small,
small, of the order of 2-4 hecin Ghana:
Ghana: mrhe
tares per annum and usually scattered,
scattered, not
not too easily accessible
accessible and did
not constitute manageable
manageable plantation
plantation units.
units. Tending for
for the tree
tree crop,
orop,
particularly after the farmer had left the site,
site, was therefore
therefore inadequate
inadequate
and it cannot be said
said that success
succese was
was commensurate
commensurate with
with effort.
effort. The area
treated by this system,
system, as at December 1966, was 4,774 ha and some
some
15,060 ha were added between 1966 and 1973. The afforestation effort was
forest reserves
intensified in
in 1968 with an annual target
target of
of 13
13 !cm
intensified
km22 in 55 forest
of 104 km2
!cm 2 scattered
scattered over some
and stepped up in 1972 to an annual target of
forest reserves.
reserves. This meant more
more land
land to
to the
the taungya
taungya farmer."
farmer."
36 forest
(Brookman-Amissah 1978:4).
In the Subri
Subri area,
area, farmers
farmers prepare
prepare the
the site
site(Ilithout
(without burning),
burning), provide
provide pegs,
pegs,
assist with
with pegging
pegging and
and tending.
tending.
Department_al taungya:
tauniza: AA different
different system
system of
of taungya
taungya was
was introduoed
introduced in
in 1969,
2. Departmental
in
in an attempt
attempt to
to solve some of
of the
the problems caused by an over-abundance
over-abundance of
of
land available to the taungya farmer:
farmer: accordingly,
accordingly, the Forestry Department
Department
all the
the functions
functions previously
previously performed
performed by
by the
the farmer,
farmer,
was to fulfill all
including the marketing of food crops; the
the proceeds would thus
tbus offset
offset the
cost of
of establishing
establishing the
the tree
tree crop
crop (Brookman-Amissah
(Brookman-Amissah 1978:4). The wage
cost
labourer would have the
the right
right to buy aa ration of food items from the
the
Department.
- 38
38-
3.
improvement: The
The "Subri
"Suhri Conversion
Conversion Technique" is
is aa technique
technique
3. Proposed improvement:
for clearing forest
cut
forest without burning and with the maximum use of out
vegetation. Most of
of it
it is
is extracted
extracted as wood,
wood, charcoal
charcoal or material for
vegetation.
weaving; and
small-scale local industries such as carving and basket
basket weaving;
remainder, in the form of small branches and leaves,
leaves, is to be used
the remainder,
as green mulch for the
the agricultural
agricultural crop.
crop. This improvement
improvement is being
introduced in
in the context
context of
of an
an FAO-supported project,
project, "Development
"Development of
introduced
Forestry
Energy Resources
Resources in
in Ghana",
Ghana", whose long-term
long-term objectives
objectives are
are to
Forestry Energy
establish a sustained supply of wood firstly for charcoal production
for both domestic and industrial use and secondly as raw material
material for
aa pulp and paper mill (envisaged
(envisaged but no progress yet made in establishing
the industry).
39 -- 39
IVORY COAST
A.
General information
information
General
Source: The Ivory Coast case
case study.
study.
Location: southwest
southwest Ivory
Ivory Coast;
Coast; bordered in the west
west by the Liberian
Location:
frontier and in
in the east
east by
by the
the Sassandra
Sassandra River.
River.
Rainfall: annual average 1600
1600 (NE)
(NE) to 2400
2400 (SW)
(SW) mm
Rainfall:
Population density:
density: 3+/km2
3+/km 2 in
in 1976
1976 (1.4/km2
(1.4/km 2 in
in 1972).
1972).
Population
, B.
Cultivation practices
practices
Cultivation
1.
people (oubi,
(cubi. Bakw6)
Bakw~)
1. Forest people
a) Food crops especially
especially hill
hill rice
rice (also
(also manioc,
manioc, bananas).
bananas).
Cultivation period 1-2 years;
years; fallow period 3-4 years.
years.
b) Tree crops (coffee,
(coffee, cocoa)
cocoa) plus
plus food
food crops
crops in
in years
years 1,2.
1,2.
axe, do
do not
not make
make mounds.
mounds.
Use axe,
2.
2.
C.
G.
BaouU
immigrants: permanent
); no
no use
use of
of fallows.
fallows.
Baoul6 immigrants:
permanent farming
farming only
only (p.2l
(p.21);
Perennial crops
crops (coffee,
(coffee, cocoa),
cocoa), plus
plus annual
annual food
food crops
crops in
in years
years 1,2:
1,2:
yams. Also rice,
rice, manioc,
maniac, vegetables and bananas.
bananas. Make mounds, use
use hoe.
hoe.
Alternative
orops. Not necessarily
necessarily a more
more stable
stable
Cultivation of perennial agricultural crops.
form of
of landuse.
landuse. Shifting cultivation has,
has, in this area,
area, been aa staple
staple form
form of
of
low population densities were
landuse for several decades during which very low
maintained and large tracts
traots of forest
forest were left
left undisturbed.
undisturbed. The pressure on
on
forest
advent of the government-sponsored opening
forest resources started with the advent
up of
of the area for commercial
commercial exploitation,
explOitation, which
which resulted
resulted in
in the rapid
development of aa pioneer front
development
front subject
subject to intense changes
ohanges in landuse.
landuse. Although
this resulted in temporary cultivation to be "stabilized"
"stabilizedtl into
into permanent
permanent
cultivation,
result in a spatial stabilization
stabi1ization of 1anduse,
cultivation, it
it did not
not result
landuse, nor in
stabi1ization of
of the interacting
interaoting components
components of
of the
the farming
farming system
a stabilization
(see pp.
pp. 149-153
149-153 of Ivory
Ivory Coast
Coast case
case study).
study) .
(see
- 40
40 -.
-
LIBERIA
LIBERIA
A.
A.
General information
Location: forest areas nationwide.
Location:
B.
B.
Cultivation practices
1. (From Ruthenberg 1980:55-6
1.
1980:55-6 quoting van Santen 1974,
1974, relating to Bong
Country, central
central Liberia):
Liberia):
Country,
"Farm holdings
holdings include:
include:
"Farm
- upland rice (average
(average 1.6 ha:
ha: 1-3
1-3 crop
crop years followed by 4-20
fallow years);
years) ;
rice followed
followed by
by gugar
sugar cane
cane (for
(for rum,
rum, the
the
lowland cultivation: rice
major cash
cash activity);
activity); less
less frequent
frequent fallow,
fallow, mainly
mainly for
for weed
weed control;
oontrol;
permanent
(about 0.4 ha)
ha) with plantains,
permanent home plot (about
plantains, bananas,
bananas, 4-5
4-5
different fruit
fruit trees, some
some root
root crops,
crops, and
and vegetables."
vagetables."
2.
2. (From Appleton
Appleton 1982:2):
upland rice
rioe intercropped
intercropped with
with cassava,
cassava, maize, pumpkin,
pumpkin, vegetables;
vegetables;
upland
fallow period 3-6 in populated coastal areas,
areas, central and upland
savannah zone of the northwest;
northwest; and 8-12 years in the sparsely
populated high forest zones
zones of
of the
the northwest
northwest and
and southeast
southeast regions.
regions.
C.
C.
Alternative
"Agrisilviculture'
" (or in the vocabulary
vocabulary used
used in
in this
this report:
report: "taungya")
"taung;ya")
"Agrisilviculture"
incorporated into reforestation programme
programme initiated
initiated by
by the
the Forestry
Forestry Development
Development
Authority (FDA)
(FM) in 1974.
FDA Scheme slightly differs from countries where agrosilviculture is
is
"The FM
well developed.
developed. Land
Land preparation up to,
to, and
and including,
including, the phase of
of burning
well
is carried out by the
the Forestry
Forestry Development
Development Authority.
Authority. Farmers then come
come in
in
and plant
plant their
their rioe
rice crop
crop at
at aa nominal
nominal fee
fee of
of S20/acre*.
'M/acre*. This fee is charged
to control the acreage given to each household and to help retain part
part of the
the
cost for
~or land
land preparation.
preparation. The rice
rice and
and forest tree crops
crops are planted
planted
cost
Simultaneously. This
This is
is done
done so
so that
that the
the tree
tree will
wil l receive
receive an
an initial
initial boost
boost
simultaneously.
in growth from burnt
early tending
tending given by the farmers.
in
burnt vagetation
vegetation and early
farmers.
Only rice,
rice, maize
maize and
and pumpkin
pumpkin are
are allowed
allowed to
to be
be intercropped
intercropped with
with the
the forest
Only
forest
trees.
harvesting the
the rice
rice the
the agricultural
agricultural aspect
aspect of
of the
the programme
programme
trees. After harvesting
discontinues. The agricultural component is
is incidental
incidental as emphasis
emphasis is placed
on the forest
forest tree crops. The present
present agro-silviculture
agrosilviculture scheme
scheme is
is very
very
locali zed and is practised
practised on
on aa very
very moderate
moderate scale
scale as
as compared
compared to
to the
the extent
extent
localized
of the forest
forest destruction and number of households engaged in the swidden/slash
At present
acres, capable of
and burn method of cultivation.
cultivation. At
present only 1,400 acres,
accommodating 400 shifting households,
households, are on the average reforested annually
under this arrangement." (Appleton
(Appleton 1982:8-9).
*
*
Liberian dollar
dollar =~ 11 US
US dollar.
dollar.
One Liberian
-- 41
41 --
MADAGASCAR
A.
A.
information
General information
Source: The Madagascar case
case study.
study.
Location:
Location: Vavatenina, province
province of
of Toamasina.
Toamaeina.
Rainfall: 2,000 mm+
Rainfall:
2•
Population density:
density: 83/km
Population
83/km2.
B.
B.
Cultivation practices
1. Hill rice:
aultivation period followed by f·allow
rice: one to two year cultivation
fallow which
which
is
is being reduced from 66 to 3 years.
years.
farmers practise
practise this.
this.
All farmers
2. swamp
of farmers
farmers have
have at
at least
least small
small amounts
amounts of
of this.
this.
Swamp rice:
rice: majority of
3. Cash crops:
cloves, bananas,
bananas, sugar
sugar cane,
cane, pineapple.
pineapple. All farmers
farmers
crops: coffee, cloves,
grow some.
some.
Most
on their own
own rice
rice for
for about
about 3 months in
in the year;
year; for
Most farmers rely on
the rest they rely on proceeds from cash crops and from paid labour with
the few wealtby
wealthy farmers.
c.
C.
Improvement
Proposal to enrich fallows with Grevillea which would be used as fuelwood
was cleared
cleared for
for agriculture.
agriaulture. To be implemented
implemented if
if and
and when
when the fallow was
Phase II
11 of
of the
the project
project is
is approved.
approved. To date,
date, nothing
nothing has
has been
been attempted
attempted with
with
Phase
regard to enriching the fallow
fallow vegetation
vegetation which,
which, if
if the
the title
title of
of the
the project
project is
is
might have
have been
been one
one of
of the
the project's
project's main
main aims.
aims. Instead,
anything to go by, might
farmers are encouraged to turn to alternative uses of this land apart
farmers
apart from the
the
fallow cultivation
aultivation of
of hill
hill rice.
rice.
D.
Alternatives
Farmers are encouraged to plant perennial agricultural
agriaultural crops on land
previously devoted to hill
hill rice.
rice. Also to cultivate
oultivate more swamp rice in order
to depend less on hill rice;
context, irrigation schemes
schemes are being
rice; in this context,
slopes, and some terracing is under way.
some slopes
devised for
for the slopes,
way. Finally, some
are being planted with eucalyptus trees for fuelwood.
fuelwood.
- 42
42 --
N
I GE R I A
NIGERIA
A.
General
General information
Source: Ball and
and Umeh
Umeh 1981.
1981.
Source:
Location: Nine
Nine states
states in
in southern
southern Nigeria:
Nigeria: Anambra,
Anambra, Bendel,
Bendel, Benue,
Benue,
Location:
Imo, Kwara, Ogun,
Ogun, Ondo,
Ondo, Oye.
Dyo.
Cross River, Imo,
B.
Cultivation practices
No details
details on
on cultivation
cultivation practices of
of those
those who practise taungya,
taungya, who are
either licensees
licensees under
under individual
individual taungya,
taungya, or
or paid
paid workers
workers under
under departmental
departmental
taungya. But
But these are areas of fallow agriculture.
agriculture.
C.
Alternatives
1.
were 24,427
1. Individual taungya (or traditional taungya):
taungya): "In 1975 there were
taungya farmers
farmers in
in the
the southern
southern states
states of
of Nigeria.
Nigeria. It
traditional taungya
It was
was
estimated that aa further
further 19,500 people had casual employment
employment for
for 6-10
6-10 weeks
estimated
farms, but
of the year in traditional taungya farms,
but no reliable figures
figures could be
be
obtained of the number of family members of the taungya farmer
farmer who
who worked
worked
on the farm.
however, the number of taungya
farm. In 1979, however,
taungya farmers
farmers had
had fallen
fallen
to 17,744, despite the area
area of
of traditional
traditional taungya
taungya having
having remained
remained nearly
nearly
the same and the availability in some states
stateB of taungya farms
farms which were
were
not planted
plant ed with
wi th trees.
This may reflect
reflect the continuing lack of recruits
recruitB to traditional
traditional taungya
taungya
farming (see
(Bee Olawoye 1975 and
and Ball
Ball 1977). Another
faotor affecting
affecting employ,employAnother factor
ment
haB been the recent
recent introduction of universal
ment in taungya farming has
universal
primary education;
education; there
there may
may be
be fewer
fewer young
young family
family members
members available,
available,
resulting in an increase
increase in
in casual
casual employment
employment during
during land
land preparation,
preparation,
mounding and
and harvesting.
harveBting.
mounding
Yams, maize and vegetables,
vegetables, which make the greatest demands on soil
soil
Yams,
fertility, are grown first,
A second crop of maize
fertility,
firBt, followed
followed by
by cassava.
caBsava. A
grown, but it
it is low
low yielding
yielding and is
is generally used for seed the
may be grown,
following year. In the past it waB
follOwing
was forbidden
forbidden to grow certain crops,
crops, such
such
aB
etc., because they were permanent
as cocoa,
cocoa, rubber,
rubber, plantains,
plantains, etc.,
permanent or semipermanent crops which competed with the forest
forest crop and could lead to
to
, alienation of the forest
forest reserve if they grew for long enough to establish
some sort
Bort of
of rights.
rights. Crops such as rice
rioe or guinea corn were banned because
because
root competitors
competitors and
and tobacco
tobacco was
was banned
banned probably because
they are aggressive root
of root
root eel
eel worm.
worm. Cassava could
could anly
only be
be grown
grown if
if it
it was
was the
the erect
erect and
and not
not
variety, but when taungya started in Bendel State forty years
years
the spreading variety,
ago it was banned
banned completely.
completely. These rules
rules have
have now
now been
been considerably
considerably relaxed.
re,laxed.
Plantains may
may be grown in
in Ogun,
Ogun, Ondo
Ondo and
and Qyo
Dyo States
States as
aB boundary
boundary markers
markers and
Plantains
in Bendel State
State throughout
throughout the
the plot.
plot. Rice and guinea corn
oorn are raised
raised in
in
Bendel, Kwara and
and the Eastern
Eastern States.
States.
43 - 43
The tree crops planted
planted in
in Nigeria are presented in
in the following table:
table:
Tree species planted
planted in taunxya
taungya farms
farme in some States
of Southern Nigeria in
of
in 1975
State
State
Species. in order of importance
Tree Species,
Anambra
Gmelina arboreal
arborea, Teak
Bendel
Gmelina arborea, Teak, Opepe,
Opepe, White Afara
Cross River
arborea
Gmelina arborea
Tmo
Imo
Gmelina arboreal
arborea, Teak,
Teak, White Afara, Opepe
Opepe
Kwara
Gmelina arborea, White Afara,
Afara, Teak
Ogun
arborea, Peak,
Gmelina arboreal
Teak, Opepe
Ondo
Teak, Gmelina
Gmelina arboreal
arborea, White
Hhite Afara, Opepe
Opepe
Oyo
Oyo
Gmelina arborea
Generally the licensees are responsible
responsible for tending the tree crop after
crop, which is
is usually cassava.
planting until they harvest the final food crop,
Tn
In Bendel
Bendel State,
State, however,
however, the
the Forest
Forest Department
Department do the lining out
out and
pegging but
can lead
lead to
to abuse.
abuse. Poor
Poor
but the licensees plant the trees. This can
planting and lack of weeding have been noted at several
several other
other centres in
to trees."
other Statee,
States, and in some places deliberate damage to
"In 1975/76
1975/76 there were 1221 jobs
2. Departmeptal
Departmental taungya:
taungya: "Tn
jobs created in
2.
taungya, either in
in growing or in
in processing
processing the
the food crops.
crops.
departmental taungya,
No reliable estimate is
is now
now available but the figure has
has been considerably
considerably
reduced because the area has fallen considerably
considerably (from
(from 1448
1448 ha
ha to 405 ha)
ha)
of the cassava
cassava crop
crop is
is processed
processed into
into gark.
gari. In
In departand because none of
only two crops
crops grown
grown are maize
maize and
and cassava.
cassava. In
In Cross
mental taungya the only
Cross
River State,
State, two crops
crops of
of maize may be grown, the
the second
second being
being for seed
seed
but usually it
it is
is only
only one.
one. A
A new development
development is
is that
that the
the Ondo Afforestintroduce Cowpea
Cowpea this
this year."
ation Project will introduce
-M44
S E N E GAL
SENEGAL
A.
General information
information
The
The Senegal case study and Oxby 1983
Location: Casamance
Location:
Rainfall: 1,000
1,000 mm.
mm.
Rainfall:
Source:
Source:
B.
Cultivation
practic~8
Cultivation practio.22
1. Permanent cultivation
cultivation of
of vegetables,
vegetables, fruit
fruit trees,
trees, some
some cereals
cereals and
legumes around
around villages;
villages; usually
usually fertilized
fertilized with
with manure.
manure.
2. Short
Short fallow
fallow cultivation
cultivation of millet,
sorghum, groundnuts
groundnuts near
near the
the
millet, sorghum,
village.
3. Wet rice in
in the
the swamps.
swamps.
4 . Long fallow cultivation
cultivation
4.
in
the
forest
away from
in
away-from
C.
C.
of cereals
cereals and groundnuts in
in plots cleared
oleared
of
the
village.
the village.
Alternative
CGOT* carried out
out mechanical clearing of forest
forest (6,500
(6,500 ha all together
were
1950s and 1960s) in
in order
order to
to introduce
introduce
were cleared during the 1940s, 1950s
continuous
rice. Local farmers
continuous cultivation,
cultivation, mainly of groundnuts and rice.
muoh since the project
project recruited
recruited paid
paid workers,
workers, many of
were not
not involved much
other regions
regions or
or countries.
oountries. Deforestation was increased
whom came from other
as a result
result of the project,
project, and there were severe
severe problems
problems of
of soil
soil
degradation, far
far worse
worse than
than those
those associated
with the
the local
local ferina
forms of
associated with
agriculture.
**
Compagnie G6n6rale
G~nArale des Oléagineux
OlAagineux Tropicaux
Tropicaux
45 -
-~-
LEONE 11
SIERRA LEONE
A.
General information
Source:
Source: The Sierra Leone case study
Location: Eastern
Eastern Province
Province
Location:
Rainfall:
Rainfall: between 2,500-3,000 mm annual average
Population density:
density: 50 persons per km2
km 2 in Eastern Province
Provinoe in 1974.
B.
Cultivation practices
Upland mixed food crops combined with swamp rice and tree cash crops
(cocoa, coffee,
(cocoa,
coffee, oil
oil palm).
palm). In
crops, average fallow
fallow of
of
In the
the case of food crops,
7.4 years in
in eastern
eastern province
province follows
follows 22 (or
(or sometimes
sometimes 1)
1) years aultivation.
cultivation.
c.
Alternative
Eastern Province Integrated Agricultural Development Project.
Project.
with respect to fallow:
fallow: increased concentration on swamp
Implications with
rice
palm, not
rice and some perennial cash crop cultivation (cocoa and oil palm,
not
coffee),
extension; upland fallow aultivation
cultivation discouraged,
coffee), with inputs and extension;
discouraged,
especially on steep
steep slopes.
slopes.
Achievements:
success with
with perennial
perennial crops
crops than
than with
with swamp
swamp rice.
rice.
Achievements: more auccess
Reasons:
swamp cultivation,
cultivation,
Reasons: farmers'
farmers' preference for upland rather than swamp
on account
aocount of
of its
its lower
lower labour
labour requirements.
requirements.
on
-- 46
46 --
SIERRA LEONE 2
A.
General information
Source: Koroma 1982
Source:
Location: nationwide.
Location:
B.
Cultivation practices
Bush fallow and
and swamp
swamp rice.
rice.
C.
Alternatives
Taungya
1. The National Programme of
of Taungva
The taungya procedure
procedure practised
practieed in
in Sierra
Sierra Leone
Leone is
is as
aB follows:
follows:
"Each year planting areas are demarcated in
in December
December or
or January and
and invita,
invi ts.tions issued through the Paramount Chiefs to the farmers who formerly owned
the
land. It
It is the original land-owners who have the first
first rights to farm
the land.
the land in exchange for clearing the bush fallow and
and following the planting
guidelines set
set out by the government. Only the original landowner
landowner can
can reject
reject
the offer to farm and pass on
on the rights to someone else.
else.
After the bush is felled,
felled, the cut
cut vegetation
vegetation is
is allowed
allowed to dry
dry and
and is
is then
burned about March-April. The
The Forestry
Forestry Department
Department lists
lists crops
crops that
that are
are
burned
allowed to be cultivated
cultivated and lays
lays down other requirements.
requirements. In Jun-ruly,
June-July, the
are planted
planted by
by the
the forestry
forestry staff,
staff, and
and this
this is
is done
done after
after
young forest trees are
the farmer has planted his own crops. Spacing for the
the forest
forest trees
trees varies
varies
according to site and species to be employed. The general trend is toward
my 3 x 3 m,
wide spacing,
spacing, e.g.
e.g. 2.5 x 2.5 m,
rn, and 4.5
4.5 mm for Gmelina
Gmelina arborea,
arborea,
4.5 x 4.5
T. superba,
Terminalia ivorensis,
ivorensis, 1.
superba, Cordia
Cordia alliodora,
alliodora, and
and Nauclea
Nauclea diderrichii.
diderrichii.
The principal agricultural
agricultural crop
crop used
used in
in taungya
taungya is
is rice,
rice, but
but farmers
farmers are
are
allowed to sow maize,
guinea corn,
corn, peas,
peas, sorghum,
sorghum, cassava,
cassava, and
and okra.
okra. During
maize, guinea
this time,
time, the farmers tend the young trees in
in addition
addition to
to their agricultural
agricultural
crops.
crops.
second, and
and sometimes
sometimes the
the third,
third, year
year the
the farmer
farmer is
is allotted
allotted
After the second,
most cases where there is
another plot. In most
is no land
land hunger
hunger and
and in
in remoto
remote
areas where the Forestry Department is obliged
obliged to carry
carry out
out rapid
rapid afforestation,
ation, the farmers are the forestry employees. Forest villages are built
for
cultivate belong
belong to
to them."
for them,
them, and all the agricultural crops they cultivate
(Koroma 1982:68-9).
(Koroma
2. Proposed taunplya
taungya with
crops
with perennial
perennial agricultural
agricultural crops
In order to increase agricultural production
production and
and provide
provide aa longer-term
longer-term
arrangement
farmers, the Forestry Department began
began in
in 1976
1976 to
to introduce
introduce
arrangement for farmers,
cocoa,
cocoa, coffee and cola as understoreys in
in Terminalia
Terminalia ivorensis
ivorensis and
and Terminalia
superba plantations.
,superha
plantations.
-- 47
47 -
"Initial experiments
experiments at Kasewe Forest
Forest Reserve in
in the
the late
late 1950s had proved
satisfactory, and the
the indications
indications are that coffee
coffee will soon
soon become the main
satisfactory,
understorey in
in extensive
extensive areas of wide espacement
espacement plantations in
in forest
line-planted areas
areas in
in native
native administration
administration forests.
forests. These
reserves and the lineplanted
These
perennial crops
crops are
are being
being introduced
introduced as
as understoreys
understoreys at
at spacings
spacinga of 7.5 x
x 7.5
7.5 m,
m,
m, and 10.8 x 10.8 m
121, and
99 x 99 m,
m such that the final crop will be 178,
178, 121,
85 stems/ha respectively
respectively when
when the
the plantations are
are between 12
12 and 15 years old.
It is hoped
hoped that when the
the agricultural crops
crops have
have outlived
outlived their usefulness
It
(about
(about age 30)
30),, the whole area will be clear felled and replanted by the
taungya system.
system. Maintenance from the time the agricultural crops are planted
will be carried out
out by the farmer (the
(the original
original landowner
landowner or
or holder), to
to whom
the plantation would be leased
on
payment
of
an
annual
rent
to
be
mutually
leased on payment of an annual rent to
agreed upon."
upon."
--4848 -
SIERRA LEXlNE
LEONE 33
A.
A.
General information
Source: FAO/World Bank 1982,
1982, Appendix 2
Location:
central Sierra Leone in the northern
Location: Adjacent
Adjacent areas of central
and southern provinces.
Rainfall: 2,500-3,000 mm
Rainfall:
2
Population:
persons/km2.•
Population: 40 to 100 persons/km
B.
Cultivation practice
practice
Upland mixed food crops combined
combined with tobacco growing;
growing; the latter
latter has
been of increasing importance
importance in
in the
the last
last 10
10 years.
years. Bush
Bush fallow
fallow 5-8
5-8 years;
years;
forest
than 10
10 years
years old.
old. In the north of the region in
in
forest rarely more than
question, where rainfall is
is lower,
lower, fallow
fallow is
is savanna,
savanna, including
including Lophire
Lophire ala-ta
~ -question,
dominated savanna.
C.
Alternative
Fuelwood plantations (eucalyptus)
(eucalyptus) and
and community
community forestry
forestry plantations:
plantations:
for fuel,
dwellings, soil improvefuel, poles,
poles, shade for agricultural crops and dwellings,
ment,
ment, ease of
of successful culture and minimal effect
effect on growth of agricultural
agricultural
crops.
crops.
Proposed species:
species: Acrocarpus fraxinifolius,
fraxinifolius, Acacia auriculaeformisl
auriculaeformis.
Proposed
Albizzia falcataria,
falcataria, Leucaena
Leucaena leucocephala.
leucocephala.
Albizzia
-- 4949 -
TANZANIA 11
A.
General information
Source:
1978:228-9
Source: Vieweg and Wilms 1978:228-9
Location:
(higher land,
Location: the
the Kilombero
Kilombero Valley,
Valley, southern
southern Tanzania
Tanzania (higher
land, not
not
low-lying central)
Rainfall:
Rainfall: 1,200-19400
1,200-1,400 mm
Population density:
density: 20-23
20-23 persons/km2
persons/km 2 rising.
rising. Some
in the
the
Some farmers
farmers in
lower
areas shift
shift their
their dwellings;
dwellings; most
most do
do not.
not.
lower population areas
B.
Cultivation practices
ractices
3-5 years cultivation
cultivation followed by 10-20
10-20 years fallow.
fallow. Fallow
Fallow period
period
depends on the type of soil;
soil; the farmer often judges
judges the fallow sufficient
sufficient
to restore soil
soil fertility when the original Hyparrhenia
Kyparrhenia grass has again
become the dominant species
species of
of the
the vegetation.
vegetation. Cultivation
of upland
upland rice,
rice,
Cultivation of
also maize and cassava.
cassava. All crops
crops planted
planted on
on ridges.
ridges. Weeds
removed
and
Weeds removed and
laid in the furrows where they serve as green manure after splitting the
ridges for the next crop.
crop. Only
hand hoe.
hoe.
Only tool:
tool: hand
C.
Alternative
Permanent aultivation
cUltivation of annual crops on
on 30
30 ha
ha at Katrin Research Station.
1. Results to date
1.
orop rotation differed somewhat
somewhat from field
field to
to field,
field, but generally
generally
"The crop
was: maize, rice, soyabean,
soyabeant rice
rice or
or sesame,
sesame, rices
rice, rice.
rice. Dressings
the sequence was:
Dressings
of artificial fertilizers were given to all crops;
crops; rates of
of application
to rice were usually 20
20 kg of N
N (as
(as ammonium
ammonium sulphate),
sulphate), 26
26 kg of
of P
(as
chloride) per
(as triple
triple super-phosphate)
super-phosphate) and 40 kg of K
K (as potassium chloride)
hectare. Despite the
the dressings
dressings of
of fertilizer,
fertilizer, yields
yields decreased
decreased gradually,
gradually,
but it
but
it was not possible to determine to what
what extent
extent it
it could
could be attribuattri butable to the effect of season or to an ever
ever increasing
increasing amount of weed
growth
growth which
which could
could not always
always be
be handled
handled properly.
properly.
During the sixth year of cropping, large patches
patches of
of plants
plants in
in the
the fields
grew extremely
extremely poorly
poorly and
and no seed
seed was
was harvested.
harvested. On one
one field,
soyabeans
field, soyabeans
suffered considerably,
oonsiderably, remaining small before finally 4ying.
dying. In
In another
another
field devoted to a rice variety trial,
trial, all 16
16 varieties germinated
germinated well,
well,
but few tillers and
and even
even fewer
fewer ears
ears were
were produced
produced before
before the
the plants
plants died
died
without
wi thout a single grain
grain being
being harvested.
harvested. Soil analyses showed that during
the six-year cropping
cropping period
period the pH
pH of
of the
the soil
soil (as
(as measured
measured in
in CaC12
CaC12
solution) was reduced from 5.4 to 4.1. This reduction
solution)
reduction was
was aa very
very large
large
one, taking into account
account the relatively low
one,
low rates
rates of
of application of
of NN and P.
Lime applied to the final soyabean
soyabean crop
crop raised
raised the
the pH
pH from
from 4.1
4.1 to
to 4.92
4.9,
but rice
rioe sown
sown as a test
test crop
crop on
on the
the site
site of
of the
the same
same experiment
experiment in
in 1973
1973
was destroyed by wild
wild animals
animals and
and no
nO crop
crop was
was harvested.
harvested. The remaining
land was put down to fallow."
fallow."
50
- 50-
2. Research work in_proRress
in progress
"Leaf and soil analyses of a detailed nature are being undertaken,
undertaken, but
but no
no
are available
available yet.
yet. Several trials have been laid
laid down
down in
in an
an
results are
attempt
attempt to find a sound cropping system for this type of soil.
soil. One longlongterm experiment is
is being used
used to
to compare
compare 12
12 different
Qifferept crop
crop rotations
rotations in
which rice
rice is
and leys
leys are
are also
also included.
inpluded. Other
Other experiments
experiments
it3 the main crop and
are being used to compare high and low rates of fertiliZer
fertilizer and the effect
effect
of lime.
lime. In one
one trial Mo significantly
significantly increased
increa~ed the yield of rice
of
rice straw
failed to do so for grain yield."
and narrowly fail\ld
3. Conclusion
'"rhe results obtained
obt!j.ined so
cultivation of
of
"The
so far
far from
from trials
trials on
on tbe
the long-term
longterm cultivation
soil
annual crops with mechanization
mechanization on
on aa pale
pale sandy
sandy groundwater
groundwater laterite
latente soil
been encouraging.
encouraging. After
After six
six years
years cropping,
cropping, yields
yields fell
fell to
to zero,
zero,
have not been
The application
applic~tion of
of cattle
cattle manure and
despite reasonable dressing of NPK. The
lime markedly improved the crop but neither seems to be a practicable
practicable
little cattle
cattle manure is
is produced
produced and
and the cost
cost of
of lime
lime
proposition because little
is uneconomically
high.
by
Liming
might
also
aggravate
the
problem
uneconomically high.
increasing mineralization of organic matter.
matter.
At the present
pres~t early
early stage
stage of
of investigation,
investigation, no improvement
improvement can
can be guggested
suggested
on the customary
austomary method of shifting cultivation as practised by farmers
farmers on
soil of this type."
51 - 51
TANZANIA 22
A.
A.
General information
Source:
study of
of Hado, Tanzania
Source: case study
Location: Hado
Hado area,
area, Kondoa
Kondoa
Location:
Rainfall:
annual average
Rainfall: 500-800 mm annual
Population
Population density:
density: 21
21 or
or 24.5
24.5 persons/km2
persons/km 2 (1978) (different figures
figures
on pp 26 and 27).
B.
practices
Cultivation prá2tices
farmers interviewed,
interviewed, 83 did
did not
not practise
practise fellows,
fallows, 37
37 did.
did. For those
Of 120 farmers
who did,
did, an average of 22 years fallow followed an average of 5
5 years culti(p 44 of
of case
case study).
study). In other words,
words, this is not shifting
shifting cultivavation (p
tion; it is
tion;
is usually permanent cultivation.
C.
Alternative
Alternative
for the Forestry Department, for
for fuelwood,
fuelwood, community
community woodlots
Tree planting for
and for reducing soil
soil erosion.
erosion. Four tree
tree nurseries
nurseries have
have been
been established
established and
by December 1982 some 7.1 million seedlings
seedlings were
were being
being raised.
raised. ~here
here were
There was
1690 ha of 'demonstration
'demonstration plots',
km.
plots', ridging had covered some 95 km
4.
a good participation rate of farmers
farmers in tree planting,
planting, but tending was not
not
trees
rigorously
pursued. Interest in tending trees would be greater if
if the
the trees
rigorously pursued.
planted were multipurpose, i.e.
i.e. if
if they could
could be integrated
integrated with the
the farmers'
farmers'
agricultural
agrisilviculture. (p
(p 55 of Hado case
case study).
study).
agricultural practices,
practices, as agrisilviculture.
-
52
52 -
TANZANIA 3:)
A.
General information
Source:
Source: case
case study
st~ of
of Usambaral
Usambara, Tanzania
Tij.tlzania
Location: UsaMbara
Usambara mountains
Location:
Rainfall:
Rainfall: 1,000-2,000
1,000_2,000 mm
mm depending
depending on
on altitude
altitude
Population density:
density: 137 persons/km2
persons/km 2 or 185 persons/km2
persons/km 2 for
for the
the area
of cultivable land (1978).
B.
cultivation
Cultivation practices
recent data:
data: probably
probably shifting
Shifting cultivation
cultivation in
in pro-colonial
pre-colonial times,
times, then
No recent
to short grass fallows
the early colonial
colonial
aa change from
from forest
forest fallow to
fallows during the
period,
cash cropping
cropping and government reservaperiod, associated with the spread of cash
tion
tion of
of land.
land. Now permanent
perm~ent cultivation
cultivation is
is the most common
common form of
agriculture.
agriculture.
c.
Alternative
growing in
in the
the context
context of
of the
the Lushoto Integrated
Integrated Development
Vegetable growing
Project. An evaluation
evaluation in
in 1974
1974 showed
showed that:
that:
a) the high-input agricultural practices used,
used, based on methods from
from
were' not
not appropriate
appropriate in
in this
this area;
area;
industrial countries, were
b) the positive aspects
aspeots of traditional cultivation techniques had
been neglected
neglected and
and
been
c) it
it was envisaged that sUbsistence
subsistence farmers would b~
buy vegetables and
thereby improve their diet;
fact the farmers could not afford to
diet; in fact
to
do this.
this. (pp
do
(pp 20-21
20-21 of
of UsaMbara
Usambara case
case study).
study).
- 53 -
TO G 0
TOGO
A.
General information
General
Source: Nadjombe 1982:70-72
Source:
Location:
Location: nationwide.
B.
Cultivation practices
Shifting cultivation
cultivation (no
(no details).
details).
C.
Alternative
Taungya, involving a succession of different arrangements from the 1950s
Taungya,
to the present time.
to
time.
1. Individual taungya
1.
a) 1954; Food
Food cróps
crops with
with teak
teak in
in disbursed_plots.
disbursed plots.
"At first,
first, the farmers were allowed
own site
site and
and
allowedtotoselect
select their
their own
desired acreage in a forest reserve,
reserve, according to their own criteria
and abilities. Using traHitional
traditional methods,
methods, they prepared
prepared the ground
and planted and nurtured the seedlings supplied by the Forestry
Department, which, in
in principle, supervised
supervised all
all operations.
operations. The
The food
food
crop harvests belonged entirely to the farmers,
farmers, who were authorized
to open up new
to
new plots according
according to
to their
their needs.
needs. When
When the
the cover
cover of
of the
the
teak plants began to hamper the development of food crops,
crops, the Forestry
Department resumed
resumed responsibility
responsibility for
for the
the care
care of
of trees.
trees. The
The farmers
farmers
Department
were also allowed
allowed to
to choose
choose the
the food
food crops
crops they
they wanted
wanted to
to grow,
grow,
according to
to practical
practical experience.
experience. Only perennial
perennial crops,
crops, such
such as
as oil
oil
palms, citrus fruits,
palms,
fruits, coffee,
coffee, and
and cocoa
cocoa were forbidden."
forbidden."
. b) ¡IL:
1958: Food
Food cro
crops
withteak
teak
adjacent
s with
in in
ax.i.
.acent plots.
plots.
"As early as 1958, farmers were compelled to cultivate
cultivate plots in a
continuous block rather than interspersing
interspersing them throughout
throughout the
the forest.
forest.
This regulation
regulation derived
derived from
from the
the difficulties
difficulties associated
associated with
with managing
managing
small heterogeneous plots that were spread
spread throughout the
the forest
forest and
small
that included
included seedlings
seedlings of
of many
ma.n;y different
different ages.
ages. With
\'/i th regard
regard to
to the
kind of crops to
to be grown,
grown, it
it was
was recommended
recommended that
that only
only corn,
corn, yams,
and beans be cultivated
cultivated together
together with
with teak,
teak. This
This recommendation
recommendation was
was
based not
not on
on scientific
scientific evidence
evidence but
but rather
rather on
on observations
observations of
of poor
poor
based
in combination
combination with
with other
other crops
crops such
such as
as cassava,
cassava, cotton,
cotton,
teak growth in
and sorghum."
sorghum."
c) 1972: Food crops
crops with Terminalia
Terminalia superba
superba with
with incentives
incentives in
in the
the form
form
of bonuses in cash and
and kind.
"With FAO assistance,
asSistance, the Office de
de Développement
D~veloppement et
et d,Exploitation
d IExploi tation
des For~ts
Forêts (Forest Development and
and Exploitation
Exploitation Authority,
Authority, ODEF,
ODEF, aa
up in 1971 to stimulate
set up
stimulate reforestation
reforestation
government organization set
activities) reintroduced
reintroduced the
the taungya
taungya on
on its
its sites
sites in
in 19729
1972, adding
adding new
new
activities)
- 54
54--
elements such
such as
as incentives
incentives in
in the
the form
form of
of bonuses
bonuses in
in cash
cash and
and in
in kind.
kind.
The cash
cash bonus
bonus was
was fixed
fixed at
at 6,000
6,000 Fr.
Fr. CFA
CFA (in
(in 1981,
1981, 400
400 Fr.
Fr. CFA
CFA .~ US$
US$ 1)
1)
and there were supplies
supplies worth
worth 23,000
23,000 Fr.
CFA for
for the
the first
first year of the
and
Fr. CFA
contract.
incentives made
made it
it possible
possible to
to plant
plant more
more than
than 1,200
1,200 ha
contract. These incentives
of Terminalia superba before the system encountered two difficulties
difficulties
that led once more to
to its
its abandonment.
abandonment.
Terminalia superba
superba plantations were
liere established
established in
in dense,
dense, semiThe Terminalia
farmers, who
deciduous woodlands that are much sought after by farmers,
who clear
them for
for food
food crop
crop production.
production. The new taungya
taungya system
system allowed the
planting of corn,
corn, which
which in
in Togo is
is generally
generally grown
grown on forest clearings
clearings
Planting
and is not the leading
leading rotation
rotation crop.
crop. Because
Because the
the ODEV
ODEF was
was unwilling
unwilling
of crops
crops under the taungya
taungya system,
system, farmers
farmers felt it
to allow rotation of
was pointless to
to continue
continue with the system,
system, as
as grasslands were readily
all around the forest
reserves; and T.
T. superba and teak
available all
forest reserves;
the Forestry Department after
plantations were usually handed over to the
of cultivation
cultivation by
by farmers.
farmers. Since these plantations were
were far
far
two years of
from human settlements, there
there was inadequate
inadequate labour
labour for
for maintenance
A great many of
reforestation activities.
activities. A
of the plantations were
and reforestation
in aa deplorable
deplorable state."
state."
thus left in
2.
2. Departmental
Departmental taungya,:
taungya: paid
paid labour
labour to
to establish food
food crops
crops with
with eucalyptus.
eucalyptus.
"Given that the taungya system faced virtually insurmountable
insurmountable difficulties
at the sociological and technical levels,
at
levels, a new
new formula had to be found.
found.
state supervision,
eucalyptus reforestation
reforestation
Thus,
Thus, under state
supervision, aa semi-mechanized
semimechanized eucalyptus
capable of supplying needed
site was established near a major urban centre capable
labour. Both food and tree crops
crops were to
to be cultivated
cultivated as
as before but the
the
State would
would reap
reap the
the benefits of
of all
all harvests
harvests and
and would
would pay
Ps;)'" labourers
labourers
a wage."
-- .55
55 --
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BITLIOGRAPHY
ALLAN, W.
VI.
(1965)
The African Husbandman,
Husbandman, Oliver and
and Boyd,
The
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