What is it and who does it? Swidden agriculture, also known as shifting cultivation, refers to a technique of rotational farming in which land is cleared for cultivation (normally by fire) and then left to regenerate after a few years. Governments worldwide have long sought to eradicate swidden agriculture, which is often pejoratively called ‘slash-and-burn’, due to a mistaken belief that it is a driver of deforestation.
“Some argue that part of the immense diversity of these forests is due to shifting cultivation practices, rather than endangered by them.
Fire is one tool that is carefully used in these farming systems, which have been developed over generations to be appropriate to both the land and the community.“
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