Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

Southeast Asia: between 14 and 34 million people are shifting cultivators

South Asia: shifting cultivators number at least several millions.

Majority belong to ethnic groups referred to as ethnic minorities, tribal people, hill tribes, aboriginal people or, Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous Peoples in Asia comprise two thirds of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous people.

Also called rotational farming, swiddenfarming/agriculture, slash-and-burn agriculture, or other local terms (kaingin, jum)

1. Removal of the natural vegetation ( forest of shrub land) by cutting or burning

2. An alternation between a short duration of cultivation and a comparatively long duration of bush or forest fallow

3. Regular or cyclical shifting of fields ( rotational farming)

1957, the FAO declared shifting cultivation the most serious land use problem in the tropical world.

In the name of forest conservation and development, colonial and post-colonial governments in Asia have since more than a century devised policies and laws seeking to eradicate shifting cultivation.

economically inefficient and ecologically harmful practice

shifting cultivation now also blamed for causing too much carbon emissions and thus for contributing to global warming.

“an ideal solution for agriculture in the humid tropicsas long as human population density is not too high and fallow periods are long enough to restore soil fertility."

“This agricultural system is ecologically sound and meets a variety of human needs with great efficiency, particularly with regard to labor and other agricultural inputs”.

Source: Shifting Cultivation, Livelihood and Food Security. Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Pact (AIPP) and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Chiang Mai 2014

Population growth and population-land ratio has reached critical levels, caused by natural growth and above all state-sponsored or spontaneous in-migration and resettlement.

Government restrictions on shifting cultivation and large-scale alienation of Indigenous Peoples’ land have been the main cause of land scarcity.

Indigenous shifting cultivators are still widely neglected and discriminated and that their land and resource rights are not recognized and protected in most countries.

FAO Regional Office in Asia and the Pacific (FAO-RAP) and Asia Indigenous People Pact (AIPP)

The objective of the project was to identify and address key challenges faced by and opportunities open to Indigenous Peoples in the region in achieving and maintaining livelihood and food security.

7 case studies were conducted in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand

August 28 - 29, 2014: multi-stakeholders consultation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 51 participants representinggovernment agencies, UN agencies, international NGOs, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, communities and local governments.

Country Cases Project locations and IPs involved

1.Bangladesh Exploring Adaptive Responses, Livelihood and Food security of Shifting Cultivators: Report of the Case Studies of Jumias(Shifting Cultivators) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

Rangamati, Khagrachariand Bandarban of the CHT region. IPs: Chakma, Tripura, Tanchangya, Marma, Mroand Khuang

2.Cambodia The Changing face of SwiddenAgriculture in Ratanakir Province, Cambodia

Pierr village and BieneVillageIPs: Tampuan

3.India Shifting Options – A case study of Shifting Cultivation in Mokokchungdistrict, Nagaland, India

Sungratsu and Chuchuyimpangvillages of Mokokchungdistrict in Nagaland IPs: Nagas

Country Cases Project locations and IPs involved

4.Laos An Alternative Approach of Land and Forest Management in Northern Lao PDR

Pak Beng District, Oudomxay ProvinceIPs/Communities: Kmhmu

5.Thailand The Lizard on the tree and the Tailor bird village: 21st Century livelihood challenges among Karen Swidden farmers in Thailand

Northern Thailand – Mae ThoIPs/Community: Karen

6.Nepal A Case Study on Adaptive Responses, Livelihood and Food Security among the Tharus Living in the Chitwan National Park in Nepal

Patihani VDC of ChitwanDistrict of Central Nepal

IPs: Tharu

7.Indonesia Food Security In the Farming System of Dayak JalaiCommunity in Ketapang District, West Kalimantan-Indonesia

Southern KetapangDistrict, West KalimantanIPs; Dayak Jalai

Shifting cultivation still plays a very important role in providing livelihood and food security in many communities.

Shifting cultivation per se is a sustainable form of land use as long as a minimum cycle of 7 to 10 years can be maintained (with up to 2 or 3 years cultivation and at least 5 years fallow)

Shifting cultivation does not lead to deforestationunless land scarcity forces farmers to clear new land in forest areas.

Indigenous women perform 70% of the work related to shifting cultivation: selection of seeds, for weeding the fields, gathering, processing, and selling the surplus products.

Men do the identification of land suitable for shifting cultivation and the hard physical work in land preparation. But women help in clearing the land, and both make the firebreaks, harvest and conduct the rituals during the shifting cultivation cycle together.

Indigenous women possess rich knowledge on seeds, crop varieties, medicinal plants, and non-timber forest products which they can harvest during the fallow period.

Generally, livelihoods in indigenous communities across the region have become more diversified due to:

Scarcity of land

Market integration

Education and mainstream media

Non-recognition of land rights and, consequently, outright dispossession or widespread tenure insecurity, are the main hindering factors for many indigenous communities to maintain, regain, orsustain livelihood and food security.

Loss of land is the result of outright dispossession when Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their land and resources are not recognized, and land is given to private enterprises for plantations or resource extraction.

Where land rights are recognized, laws and policies often favour individual private ownership over communal land rights.

Land scarcity can be exacerbated for some house- holds with the adoption of cash-cropping in the community.

Access to markets both for selling products and buying goods has helped improve livelihood, increased incomeand food security in many indigenous communities.

However, due to the volatility of commodity markets they are often at risk of ending up in debt.

Landlessness and labour: many indigenous farmers take up seasonal or temporary on-farm or off-farm employment in order to increase their cash income.

High-input farming: Cash cropping of vegetables and corn demand high inputs of agrochemicals have been promoted to replace shifting cultivation.

Migration, education and employment: Traditional livelihood practices, in particular shifting cultivation, are often considered ‘backward’ and preference is given to ‘having a job’.

Examples of innovative practices:

Combining shifting cultivation with agroforestry practices

Growing high-value cash crops in shifting cultivation fields

Establishing separate, permanent fields for cash crops

improving fallow management through planting of specific trees, or the domesticating wild plants that are in high demand

Shifting cultivation is a resource and land management system that provides sustainable livelihoods and food security to millions of indigenous peoples, and is closely linked to the culture and identity of indigenous peoples.

Continued shifting cultivation requires the recognition and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights to land for comprehensive indigenous landscape management practice

Market access can improve food security and the overall living standard in communities, but only where farmers have sufficient land and tenure security.

Customary institutions in resource management haveallowed not only a sustainable use of but also equity in access to land and resources, thus ensuring livelihood and food security for all.

1. Strengthen policy advocacy for sustainable shifting cultivation, resource management and cultural integrity based on the principle of equal partnership between states and Indigenous Peoples and adhering to the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of Indigenous Peoples.

Review and amend laws, policies and programmes to guarantee Indigenous Peoples’ rights over their lands, domains and forests, including shifting cultivation, based on customary laws and forest rights and the right to FPIC

Inclusion of shifting cultivation and/or related indigenous agricultural practices in the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) through supporting proposal(s) formulation by FAO, Indigenous Peoples, research institutions, advocacy organizations.

2. Raise awareness on Indigenous Peoples’ rights to address the consequences of large- scale mono-cropping, land investments and plantations, capacity building on innovations especially for women and youth, skills in agroforestry, non-timber forest products.

Policy briefs on shifting cultivation as a sustainable form ofland use that ensures food security and livelihoods, to dispel the myths on shifting cultivation as a driver and cause of deforestation

Recognition and promotion of traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples including the roles and contribution of women in sustainable shifting cultivation and biodiversity enhancement by governments, FAO and other UN agencies