Earth logo

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture. Is it Sustainable?

Discover the past, present and future of this ancient farming method.

By Alex HermesPublished about a year ago 4 min read
Like

Slash-and-burn agriculture is the process of clearing and burning plants from land in order to rehabilitate the soil and cultivate food. Slash-and-burn agriculture continues to be essential for the survival of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. However, slash-and-burn agriculture is scarcely viable today. Deforestation, a rise in carbon emissions, and biodiversity loss have resulted from it.

This article examines the development of slash-and-burn farming, its history, and if it might be revived and applied in a more sustainable manner.

What is Slash-and-Burn Agriculture?

Slash-and-burn farming also goes by the names shifting cultivation, swidden farming, and fire-fallow farming due to its broad use in various civilizations. The customary form of the technique entails "slashing"—clearing small forest areas—and burning the remaining flora. As a result, the soil receives the carbon and other nutrients that were stored in the plant material. Until the soil is depleted, two to three years are spent planting in the newly rich soil.

After that, there is a fallow time to allow plant life to flourish again and soil nutrients to replenish, continuing the cycle as farmers move on to cultivate other land. This is a type of agroforestry that has been used for thousands of years, long before the terms "permaculture" and "regenerative agriculture" were coined.

Benefits of Slash-and-Burn

Since it has been used for at least 7,000 years, slash-and-burn agriculture has been dubbed the oldest farming system in the world. It has been more widespread than the intensive farming that is usually associated with the so-called "Agricultural Revolution" of ancient Mesopotamia.

Slash-and-burn farming was one of the first types of cultivation that foragers (or "hunter-gatherers") embraced since it allowed for seasonal movement between cultivated communities and hunting grounds. Many New World staples, including corn, manioc, chile peppers, squashes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, were initially farmed from tropical forest species using slash-and-burn techniques.

Effects of Slash-and-Burn

Slash-and-burn subsistence farming communities are finding that their way of life is endangered by industrial agriculture and the consumer needs of more affluent countries. As a result, slash-and-burn practices significantly contribute to the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss while also becoming increasingly harmful to the world's forests.

Deforestation

With between 12% and 20% of all GHG emissions coming from deforestation, it is the second greatest source of GHG emissions. Land clearing for cattle and monoculture crops like oil-seed intended to feed global consumers is the main cause of deforestation. Although it is more difficult to measure, traditional slash-and-burn agriculture nevertheless contributes significantly to local population feeding. Because much of the world still uses slash-and-burn agriculture, cutting down old-growth forests can cause the release of 80% of the carbon they store into the atmosphere.

Slash-and-burn practices cause biodiversity losses that are comparable to those caused by industrial logging.

Industrial Agriculture

Slash-and-burn agriculture has been derided as outdated, wasteful, and "the greatest obstacle to the immediate increase of agricultural production as well as soil and forest conservation" since the Green Revolution of the 1950s, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1957.

Since then, international assistance agencies have encouraged industrial fertilizer use and the cultivation of monocultures, such as palm trees, bananas, coffee, cassava, and other export crops, as opposed to small-scale agriculture. Land clearing has increased and fallow seasons have decreased as a result of commercial agriculture and reliance on overseas markets.

Additionally, as industrial agriculture has grown, Indigenous peoples' land has been taken, frequently unlawfully. The amount of land that needs to be farmed has increased due to increases in human density in wooded areas brought on by mining, logging, and commercial agriculture (such as soy plantations or cattle ranches). However, it has also reduced the overall area that may be farmed using slash-and-burn techniques. Less land can therefore be left fallow over extended periods of time.

For slash-and-burn agriculture to be viable, cleared land must have plenty of time to regenerate. Mammals and birds may take ten years to repopulate cleared land. It may take 15 years for soil to return to its previous state. It can take a species of tree 20 years to regain 80% of its original diversity.

Depending on the region, it may also take 10 to 20 years of fallow land for soil carbon levels to return to normal. Fallow periods can exceed 20 years at low population densities, but during the past 25 years, they have virtually consistently decreased to barely two to three years—far short of what is considered sustainable.

Refining Slash-and-Burn Agriculture

The demands of the local community, who are infrequently involved in discussions and decision-making about saving biodiversity and reducing climate change, must be considered when preserving the world's remaining forests. Nearly half a billion people in 64 developing countries depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and food security; it continues to play an important role in their culture and way of life.

Supporting Indigenous communities worldwide is necessary to make slash-and-burn farming sustainable once more because only by preserving human cultural diversity will the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss be reversed. Slash-and-burn farmers can extend the fallow seasons that are so essential for carbon sequestration and forest preservation thanks to "nature-based solutions." These remedies consist of:

  • Defending Native American territory from commercial intrusion,
  • Limiting the use of slash and burn techniques in old-growth forests, and
  • Providing compensation for environmental services, such as carbon farming, to assist subsistence farmers,

If Slash-and-Burn agriculture has been a major factor in accelerating climate change and the loss of biodiversity, it can also be a major factor in finding remedies. Preserving the customs of those who still rely on it is the first step towards achieving this.

Sustainability
Like

About the Creator

Alex Hermes

Hi friends! I'm Alex and I'm a mindfulness copywriting environmentalist. I write about topics such as eco-friendly lifestyles, travelling, cooking, history etcetera. I'd love to share my interests with you! Don't hesitate to contact me.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

Alex Hermes is not accepting comments at the moment

Want to show your support? Send them a one-off tip.

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.