“Slash and Burn” and “Shifting” Cultivation Systems in Forest Agriculture Frontiers from the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

We analyze changes in the extent of slash and burn cultivation (SBC) and shifting cultivation (SC) and the main drivers of change observed in the last 10 years across the Brazilian Amazon. Our results show that SC is stable in indigenous and caboclo communities from Amazonas and Acre. SBC increases along new roads, illustrating how roads shape deforestation frontiers beyond the “arc of deforestation.” In established forest frontiers, the conversion of forests into pasture or cash crops through SBC continues to increase locally, but smallholders' diversification strategies translate into complex land uses with both the increase and decrease of SBC and SC observed locally. Secure land tenure, access to markets, and population increase appear to be driving to the classic intensification path. Overall, access to cash transfer programs has helped stabilize forest frontiers as households become less reliant on subsistence agricultural production.

Keywords:

• Amazon
• forest frontiers
• land use change
• shifting cultivation
• slash and burn
• smallholders

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Danish Research Council for Social Science. We thank all the experts contributing to this research from the following institutions: Alternativas para a Pequena Agricultura no Tocantins, Conservation Strategy Fund, Cooperativa de Serviços, Pesquisa e Assessoria Técnica, Ecology Brasil, EMBRAPA, Indiana University–Bloomington, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, Instituto de Desenvolvimento Agropecuário e Florestal Sustentável do Estado do Amazonas Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá, Instituto de Educação do Brasil, Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia, Instituto de Proteção e Desenvolvimento da Amazônia, Instituto Estadual de Florestas do Amapá, Instituto Federal do Acre, Instituto Federal do Amazonas, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Instituto Paraense de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural, Instituto Socioambiental, Michigan State University, Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário, Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas Ambientais, Operação Amazônia Nativa, Salisbury University, Secretaria de Agricultura do Estado do Pará, Secretaria Municipal de Agricultura de Cáceres, Secretaria Municipal de Produção e Abastecimento de Manaus, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras Rurais de Santarém, The Nature Conservancy, The Ohio State University, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Universidade Estadual do Maranhão, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Universidade Federal do Pará, University of Pennsylvania, World Agroforestry Centre, and University of São Paulo.

Notes

*Number of communities where a given driver was listed among the five main drivers of change in land use.

Note. Boldface values are significant for an alpha = .05.