Fallow management strategies and issues in Southeast Asia

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 110 (2005) 1–13 www.elsevier.com/locate/agee

Fallow management strategies and issues in Southeast Asia Paul Burgers a,*, Quirine M. Ketterings b, Dennis P. Garrity c a

International Development Studies (IDS), Faculty of Geosciences, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands b Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA c World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya Available online 17 May 2005

Abstract For many upland farming communities in Southeast Asia the fallow-period is an integral part of their farming system. These fallow-based management strategies have often followed processes of nature by protecting or substituting for specific ecological functions of the natural forest. When exposed to a changing biophysical social, economic, and/or political environment, certain driving factors influence and condition farmers’ decisional behavior leading to the development of management strategies that may either protect or destroy the forest functions of the fallow. A decision to decrease the length of the fallow period may result in the disappearance of forest fallows and potentially result in degradation due to over-intensification. On the other hand, fallow management focused on improvement of the economic productivity of the fallow vegetation itself often leaves a forest-like structure intact. Examples are presented of successful and sustainable fallow-based management strategies that were developed by farming households in Southeast Asia within the context of social, economic, political, and environmental change. Key issues are identified for research and development initiatives that begin to develop in the region to work towards long-term socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of fallow-based farming systems. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Fallow management pathways; Indigenous; Change processes; Sustainability

1. Introduction In many upland farming systems in Southeast Asia a cropping period is followed by a fallow period. The fallow period conventionally serves to restore soil fertility, suppress weeds, and protect soils. In addition, * Corresponding author at: Faculty of Geographical sciences, Institute of Development Studies, Utrecht University (IDSUU), P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 30 2531382; fax: +31 30 2532746. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Burgers).

fallows may provide products that serve as inputs to agriculture (e.g. fencing materials, fodder) and/or supply the farmers with cash income. Traditionally, fallow vegetation established itself through the natural processes of succession following abandonment of cropped fields. In recent decades, many households have shifted towards more actively managed fallows as a result of changes in the biophysical, social, economic and political environment in which the households operate. Examination of examples drawn from the diversity of fallow management strategies currently found in

0167-8809/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2005.04.010

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Southeast Asia indicates that managed fallows differ widely in their ability to sustain the productivity and environmental functioning of farming systems, as well as in their effectiveness to respond to the changing livelihood needs and aspirations of households. There are numerous examples of management strategies that increase the economic value of fallow vegetation through species enrichment (Raintree and Warner, 1986; Cairns and Garrity, 1999; Sanchez, 1999). Some of these fallow enrichment strategies mimic natural vegetation succession and eventually lead to economically valuable, tree-crop-based permanent systems. Other fallow management strategies focus on intensification of the cropping period through the establishment of ‘‘improved fallows’’ with species that, compared to natural fallow vegetation, restore soil fertility at a faster pace. Under certain conditions, these improved fallows render the systems more sustainable. However, when fallow periods become too short, and good alternatives do not exist, even these strategies may ultimately lead to exhaustion of the soil and degradation of the fallow system. This paper analyzes indigenous fallow management strategies developed and presently practiced under different social, economic, political and environmental conditions that exist in the upland regions of Southeast Asian countries. Households have played a major role in the development of these strategies. Full understanding of actions taken at the household level is crucial in the development of (outside) strategies and technologies that are socioeconomically and environmentally sustainable.

2. Indigenous fallow management strategies in Southeast Asia ‘‘in context’’ 2.1. Different systems of forest farming In Southeast Asia, forest farming communities include those that depend principally on shifting cultivation and/or hunting-gathering activities, as well as those that open or use the forest for (semi-) permanent agriculture and/or for commercial purposes (e.g. commercial agriculture, logging activities, or collecting economically valuable products). These different communities respond to various contingencies, which can take many forms as a result of changes

in the political, social, economic and environmental context (Chambers and Leach, 1987; Leach et al., 1999). These will bring about changes in the organization or orientation of livelihood. Responses to contingencies do not only lead to a threat of deteriorating standards of living and new forms of risk and threat, but also to new challenges and opportunities (Ellis, 1998, 2000; Brookfield, 2001; Long, 1984). Along a continuum of responsive household behavior to secure livelihoods through certain forest management pathways, two opposite options in forest management may be identified. These depend on the background in and experience with farming at the forest margins. The two opposite strategies to manage forests and trees are formed by pioneers and indigenous forestfarmers. Households that have migrated to the upland areas as ‘‘pioneers or colonists’’ (Van der Glas, 1998) may have done so for safety reasons (political instability, wars), or because their livelihoods have deteriorated to the extent that migration is the only option. Although they may develop unsustainable practices in the beginning for mere survival, new opportunities may also lead to the adoption of more sustainable ways of forest farming in the long run. A more voluntary group of ‘‘pioneers’’ are those who see the prospects of greater wealth accumulation elsewhere (White, 1990; Dietz et al., 1992). The latter group usually consists of relatively resource-rich migrants who invest in forestconversion to establish (perennial and annual) cash crop gardens. Forested land is considered ‘‘under-utilized’’ (Table 1). Slash-and-burn techniques are often used to establish (semi-) permanent agricultural fields. These pioneer households generally do not rotate crops and more often than not abandon their fields when the soil is almost totally and frequently irreversibly degraded (Fujisaka and Wollenberg, 1991; Sunderlin, 1997). A second major group consists of communities that have practiced ‘‘indigenous forest farming’’ and lived at the forest margins for generations. Their long-term knowledge and experience of making a living at the forest margins has enabled them to sustain their livelihoods without causing large-scale deforestation. This group uses slash-and-burn techniques as an integral part of a rotational farming system, in which short cropping periods are followed by long forest-fallows aimed at restoring soil fertility. This paper will continue with the indigenous forest farming communities and how

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Table 1 Effect of different farming practices on the natural and socio-economic environment Forest farming practices Indigenous forest farming

Pioneer forest farming

Aspects of the natural environment Rotational farming Knowledge environment Type of forest used Cultivation objective

Long to short rotation Familiar Secondary forest Long term sustainability

Usually no rotation Not familiar Secondary and primary forest Short term survival/profits

Aspects of the socio-economic environment Labor used Capital investment Links with urban areas Farming objective

Family labor Low-medium Low-high Subsistence and cash crops

Family and hired labor Low-high Medium-high Subsistence or cash crops

Based on Sunderlin (1997).

change processes have resulted in a wide array of pathways to manage the fallow vegetation.

3. Major pathways followed by indigenous forest-farmers to manage fallows Changes in environmental, economic, social and political conditions have forced many households to adapt their management systems. The indigenous fallow management systems that have had to respond to such changes are usually not a specialised activity based on a single strategy, but often more complex, the combined result of various strategies. Based on their main focus, fallow management strategies can be grouped into three categories (Raintree and Warner, 1986; Cairns and Garrity, 1999; Sanchez, 1999; Burgers, 1999; Burgers and Cairns, 1998): (1) improved fallows with a focus on increasing the rate of the restoration of soil fertility and other ecosystem properties (e.g. reduction in pernicious weed populations) following the primary crop. A second type of improved fallows accomplishes the same, but in addition, increases the direct agronomic benefits of the improved fallow species by using multipurpose legume green manure/cover crop species that are either food/cash crops or livestock feed; (2) enriched fallows with a focus on increasing the direct economic benefits of the (natural) fallow vegetation; and (3) a focus on combined soil fertility and economic benefits through integration of livestock. The benefits and constraints of each of these strategies is discussed below.

3.1. Benefits and constraints of improved fallows For households that rely on farming as their income and live too far from large enough markets to sell their products or to buy food and inputs such as inorganic fertilizers, soil fertility restoration for food cropping usually remains the dominant purpose of the fallow. There are several approaches to the selection of either fallow systems, composed of various indigenous species, or select particular species to enhance soil fertility. They can be selected (1) to more completely restore soil fertility without changing the length of the fallow period; (2) to increase cropping intensity by shortening the fallow period while maintaining the same level of soil fertility at the start of each cropping cycle; or (3) to increase both cropping intensity and the level of soil fertility. The first option may increase yield per unit labor, the second yield per unit land, and the third may increase both yield per unit labor and per unit land to some degree. For purposes of soil fertility restoration, fallow species selection criteria mainly concentrate on optimizing the ‘‘visible’’ biophysical aspects of resource management. Selection focuses on increasing the amount of biomass produced, vigor of growth, degradability of biomass, and ease of establishment (Cairns et al., 1998). In Nagaland, Northeast India, the stumps of alder trees in the Alnus nepalensis-based fallow system are kept in the field during the cropping season, so that during the fallow period their rapid coppice growth forms a closed canopy. This fallow management practice evolved into a fallow-crop rotation with a fallow

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cycle of 5 years or less (Ramakrishnan, 1993; Cairns et al., 1998). The leguminous semi-permanent shrub Tephrosia candida is native to Southeast Asia. In Northern Vietnam, the introduction of this species into existing farming systems has enabled a reduction in fallow length from 10–15 years to 4– 6 years (Siem and Phien, 1993; Fagerstrom, 2000). When fallow periods become too short for trees to grow, shrubs become the dominant fallow species. Farming households in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia are using Tithonia diversifolia and other nutrient scavenging members of the Asteraceae family (daisy fallow species) for soil fertility enhancement. An intensification process based on modifying the species composition of the fallow may reduce pressure on forests, as it allows food crop demands to be met without expansion of the agriculturally used area (crop + fallow land). If changing the species composition of fallows requires specific interventions by the household, it is not likely that such interventions will take place for plants or crops without any direct value or harvestable product. If the harvested fraction is large, however, the contribution to soil fertility may be small. Leguminous cover crops with a low harvest index but some utility (such as Mucuna utilis) may be more attractive to farming households than legume

cover crops without any direct use. On the other hand, selection for a higher harvest index (such as soybean or groundnut) makes the legume into a regular crop, with relatively small residual benefits for subsequent crops. Upon further reduction in fallow length, seasonal fallows, which establish between the harvest and the planting season, may be the final option for restoring soil fertility (e.g. the use of Mimosa invisa fallows in the Philippines). Where this happens, fallow management is gradually replaced by (semi-) permanent cropping systems that may or may not be able to sustain production (Fig. 1). Shortening the fallow period, however, carries the risk of ‘over-intensification’, degradation of the soil, and a decline in household food security. A simple model of crop-fallow systems (Van Noordwijk, 1999) suggests that maximum crop yields per hectare can be obtained in a sustainable way if soil fertility at the start of each new cropping cycle is still about 55% of the maximum value—if that target can no longer be met, over intensification can lead to a negative spiral of declining yields, shorter fallows and even lower yields. Another drawback of introducing species for specific fallow purposes is that it tends to reduce plant diversity of the fallows. In particular when an

Fig. 1. Evolution of fallow systems and their potential existence in an integrated farming system.

P. Burgers et al. / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 110 (2005) 1–13 Table 2 Some potential advantages and constraints of improved fallows Improved fallows Advantages Productivity

Sustained/improved production

Socio-economic

Increased food security Low capital input Cash income from main cash crop Cash income from economically-valued fallow species

Environmental

Reduced pressure on forests Less erosion during fallow Less intensive fires (shrubs)

Constraints Productivity

Increased weed pressures Possible soil degradation Decreasing crop yields Negative effect of high intensity fires

Socio-economic

Greater labor demands to control vigorous growth Lack of cash income

Environmental

Decreased above-ground biodiversity Below ground biodiversity? Loss of carbon stocks as fallows shorten May turn into a vigorously growing weed

introduced fallow species becomes a weed and invades other fields and areas, the original fallow vegetation may be partially or fully replaced. Table 2 summarizes potential benefits and constraints of improved fallows. 3.2. Benefits and constraints of enriched fallows Livelihood needs and aspirations of households change in those areas where links with urban areas and the monetary economy intensify, where there are large enough markets to sell agricultural surpluses, and where alternative on-farm or off-farm employment opportunities are generated. The growing need and desire to obtain cash income often results in a (partial) shift from subsistence farming to production of economically valuable annual crops and perennials for the market (Fig. 2). For many generations households have promoted the growth of or even actively planted economically valuable species, including fruit and other non-timber tree species, in the fallow vegetation to obtain cash income (Wiersum, 1997; Van Noordwijk and Swift, 1999). In the peneplains of Sumatra, Indonesia, households have

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converted traditional fallows to multi-story tree-crop plantations in which rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), fruittrees, and rattan (Calamus, Daemonorops, and Korthalsia spp.) can be found (Gouyon et al., 1993; Angelsen, 1995; Dove, 1998). Other examples include the planting of rattan in natural fallows in the Philippines and Indonesia (Godoy, 1990; Siebert et al., 1995), and the enrichment of fallow vegetation with paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) in Northern Laos. In Kerinci, West Sumatra, Indonesia, households have carefully selected sets of crops and perennials that provide short-, medium- and long-term cash income (Burgers and William, 2000). During the establishment of this forest-like structure, commercial vegetables give the household an early start in obtaining a cash income after several months and continuing for up to 2 years. As coffee (Coffea spp.) seedlings are simultaneously planted with the annual crops, maturing coffee trees will overshadow the vegetables by the time the first coffee beans can be harvested (usually after 2 years). At this time, cinnamon (Cinnamonum burmani) seedlings are planted into the coffee stand. After 3–4 years of earnings from the coffee harvest, the canopy of the cinnamon trees closes and coffee cannot be harvested anymore. From this moment onwards, the branches of cinnamon trees are harvested and the bark is sold to satisfy daily and/or weekly cash needs. Invasive fallow species are allowed to establish in the understory of coffee and cinnamon. The stand of cinnamon trees forms the household’s ‘‘savings bank’’. The cash needs of the household determine whether part or the whole stand of trees is cut down. Whole stand harvests are generally done to cover expenses for very costly events including funerals and weddings. Similar strategies are applied to establish smallholder rubber gardens in Sumatra to satisfy different cash needs (De Jong, 2001). In East Kalimantan, Indonesia, many forest gardens of Dayak communities burned during the major forest fires of 1997. Using similar strategies to the above, they were able to re-established their burned forest gardens by intercropping rice (Oryza sativa) with rattan and rubber (Mussche, 2001). Such succession-based systems provide households with cash income, while the architectural structure of the tree-based system protects a certain degree of biodiversity. It also minimizes erosion and the surface

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Fig. 2. First of all, research at the household level (b) is needed, to understand a landscape mosaic (a) and fallow management priorities at a plot level (c) in order to sustain livelihoods.

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run-off of water, thus protecting both the uphill areas and the rice fields in the valleys (De Foresta and Michon, 1990; Wickramasinghe, 1997; Wiersum, 1997; Dove, 1998; Tomich et al., 1998). There are several reasons why conversion from unmanaged fallows to economically valuable treecropping systems may be difficult. First, there is a minimum amount of cash-cropped land needed to obtain enough income to buy food. For example, farming households in Sumatra estimated that at least 2–4 ha of upland fields (dryland) are required to satisfy cash income needs. The exact area depended on the degree to which households could satisfy their cash and food needs through off-farm employment (Burgers and William, 2000; Sabirin and Hamdan, 2000). Second, cash-crop farming requires a ‘‘waiting period’’ before yields can be obtained. In parts of Jambi Province, Sumatra, households overcome such waiting periods by combinations of working off-farm and planting annual crops in between the young rubber trees, but this may not be possible everywhere. Third, replacement of food crops by non-food cash crops may lead to an increased dependence on ‘‘market forces’’. Volatile prices for those cash crops may lead to a growing ‘‘risk’’ for the household. A fourth drawback is that rejuvenation of the intensified tree-based systems is often required. For instance, the latex production of rubber trees in Sumatra, Indonesia, declines significantly when trees are tapped intensively and for long periods of time. Rejuvenation of these rubber gardens is at present done by slashing and burning of the rubber trees and replanting with new seedlings. The soil fauna is generally fire-adapted and able to respond by rebuilding populations after fire events. However, the burning of large amounts of rubber wood may lead to severe soil destruction in patches, resulting in irreversible loss of soil fertility (Ketterings, 1999). A summary of the main benefits and constraints of strategies with a focus on increasing the economic productivity of the fallow vegetation is given in Table 3. 3.3. Benefits and constraints of integrating livestock A third strategy focuses on integrating livestock with crop-fallow rotations. This approach incorporates both the soil fertility and the economic return aspects. Outsiders have often undervalued the role of livestock

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Table 3 Some potential advantages and constraints of enriched fallows Enriched fallows Advantages Productivity

Increased cash crop production Increased food crop production

Socio-economic

Low-medium external inputs requirement Provides various products Generates a good cash income

Environmental

Reduced pressure on forests Prevention of erosion Accumulation of carbons stocks Reduced frequency of burning Protection of certain ecological processes of a forest Protection of part of the above-ground biodiversity

Constraints Productivity

Decreased on farm food production Long waiting periods till first harvest

Socio-economic

Increased labor demands Market dependence Minimum land requirements Delay in cash income

Environmental

Decreased above-ground bio-diversity Below ground biodiversity? Loss of certain ecological processes of a natural forest

in fallow systems and in particular the importance of ruminants in these systems. However, ruminant (and non-ruminant) livestock can play an extremely important role in nutrient cycling in mixed crop-livestock systems in addition to providing the household with cash income through the sale of animal products (e.g. meat, milk, skin). In remote areas of Laos, ruminant livestock are considered one of the few options which can provide households with a cash income because animals can be transported to markets and sold whenever money is needed (Hansen, 1997). Livestock may be especially important in degraded systems, although it depends on what they are fed and whether or not manure is brought back onto the field (Huxley, 1999). In Eastern Indonesia, households use Leuceana leucocephala as a fallow species in a rotational system with maize (Zea mays) (Metzner, 1983; Yuksel and Aoetpaj, 1991). The fallow provides a suitable fodderbank for the cattle, which are managed at the farmstead with zero-grazing cut and carry methods.

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A major constraint to the introduction of livestock is that households need to invest in herding, tethering or segregation of the livestock by stall-feeding, or establishment of a fenced-off, permanent grazing area. Investment costs for fencing are generally not recovered because crop fields are temporary, and free roaming cattle may result in overgrazing of the young fallow vegetation, thereby reducing the regenerative processes of a natural fallow. In addition, soil compaction may occur due to trampling. In his paper ‘‘Fodder, fallows and fences: the critical elements of integrating livestock into swidden systems’’ presented at the May 1997 workshop held in Vientiane, on upland farming systems in the Lao P.D.R., Cairns found that success in the introduction of livestock greatly depends on whether ruminants can complement the cropping system or needs to be segregated in separate units. In Northern Thailand, Karen communities allow cattle to graze in young fallow vegetation, only herding the animals during the cropping season Table 4 Some potential advantages and constraints of integrating livestock Integration of livestock Advantages Productivity

Improved productivity due to efficient nutrient cycling Diversification of production Intensification of production

Socio-economic

Additional fertilizer in the form of manure Supply of draft power Cash income Less dependent on good transport facilities (can walk by itself) Additional food products

Environmental

Reduced pressure on forest (if fenced) Decreased burning frequency when fallow becomes fodderbank

Constraints Productivity

Grazing practices slow down fallow vegetation Trampling may lead to soil compaction

Socio-economic

Greater labor demands Fencing and/or tethering needs Relatively high initial capital investment

Environmental

Decreased above-ground biodiversity Below ground biodiversity? Loss of carbon stocks in permanent mixed crop-livestock systems

of rice (Burgers and Trakansuphakan, 2001). In remote villages in Northern Laos, however, there are examples where the much needed economic returns from the sale of cattle did lead to the establishment of fences around temporary rice fields, and the enrichment of fallow vegetation with forages (IFAD et al., 2001). A summary of the benefits and constraints of integrating livestock is given in Table 4.

4. The need for supportive policies to enhance the development of acceptable alternative management strategies Much plot-level research has focussed on the development of technically feasible and sound improvements to fallow management. Although these studies have generated promising alternatives, the acceptance of the new strategies at the household level is first of all determined by political and socioeconomic factors that directly or indirectly impinge on households. Several examples from Southeast Asia show how the political and socio-economic environment can affect household decisions on fallow management strategies. In Laos, government policies promoted the introduction of teak (Tectona grandis) trees in fallows as a way to increase household income. Teak plantations took over agricultural land, leading to shortened fallow periods and decreasing yields on the land that remained for food production. As it takes several years before teak trees can be sold, many households have had to sell their land planted with teak trees to obtain much needed cash income to purchase food due to inadequate yields (P. Burgers, field observations). A more supportive policy was developed in Chogyal, India. The king of Sikkim (Chogyal) leased state forest areas to farmers for cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) cultivation. In return, the farmers pay a stipulated amount to the Crown. When Sikkim became part of India on 26 April 1975, the government continued the practice of leasing out the land. The individual farmer was asked to pay one-fourth of his/ her cardamom production to the government. Today, the Joint Forest Management and Protection Committee (JFMPC) continues this operation. The JFMPC collects lease money while household resources are

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used to maintain and conserve the forest (V.T. Darlong, personal communication). In Sumatra, Indonesia, shifting cultivators developed economically valuable damar (Shorea javanica) agroforests. Damar trees supply a resin that is traded internationally to the pharmaceutical industry. Because these damar agroforests resemble natural forests, the former Indonesia government classified them as state forestland to which all state policies applied. As a result, households could no longer officially manage their own tree-based systems and the government retained the right to harvest the trees for timber. It is obvious that such a policy could have severely constrained long-term survival of the damar forests. Fortunately, in January 1998, the Minister of Forestry signed a decree that recognized the legitimacy of community-managed agroforests on State Forest Land. The decree was based on the Minister’s concept of a distinctive forest-use classification, Kawasan dengan Tujuan Istimewa (KdTI). Loosely translated, KdTI is a zone with a distinct purpose, in which the right to manage is granted to the local community. The law also recognized the environmental and social benefits of an indigenous land use system (damar agroforests), the role of indigenous institutions in ensuring the sustainability of this natural resource management system, and the rights of the smallholders to limited harvesting and marketing of timber and other products from the trees they planted. The Krui damar agroforest in Lampung Province, Sumatra was the first KdTI area. It is clear that the development of locally acceptable alternatives is integrally connected with an understanding of government and local policies, and socioeconomic environment in which households take decisions. Many households practice a range of fallow management strategies at the same time, whether they are natural, enriched, or improved fallows or involve livestock. This is done to realise sequential or simultaneous benefits from a combination of livelihood strategies. For these households, the key concept is diversification of livelihood strategies. As a result one typically finds a mosaic of diverse land uses including cultivated food crops, perennials in various configurations within and outside cropped areas, home sites, and fallows (Buresh, 1999). The mix of land uses (which may be protective or destructive) will largely depend on the decisions households are able to make to apply

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specific strategies within a certain political context.In this respect, an encouraging policy environment is a crucial factor for the success of sustainable fallow management systems. Policies must be able to lower risks, stimulate flexibility, widen options and reduce vulnerability of the farming households. Supportive policies mean that they must focus on people and their ‘‘livelihood criteria’’, such as assets, access and promoting opportunities and options, rather than on sectors and their performance which is the conventional point of entry to policy (Ellis, 2000; World Bank, 2001). Facilitating empowerment is a final crucial factor in order to gain access to certain new opportunities, which include market access and public services, so that policies will be responsive and accountable to communities with fallow-based systems (e.g. the Krui case).

5. Information sharing and collaboration The various country case studies referred to in this paper demonstrate the existence of successful indigenous fallow management strategies. However, data or concrete proofs of success are not easy to obtain. Therefore, the International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and other organisations are facilitating networking in the Southeast Asia region in order to encourage documentation of these success stories and create a mechanism for the exchange of ideas and strategies. This kind of information exchange will greatly aid in the development of strategies that will be able to deal with future changes in the biophysical, economic, social, and political environment. 5.1. Regional network initiative The Southeast Asia Indigenous Fallow Management Network (SEA-IFM Network) was formed as a forum for collaboration and sharing of experiences between countries in Southeast Asia after a workshop, organized by ICRAF SE-Asia in June of 1997, on the intensification of shifting cultivation in Southeast Asia. The secretariat for the Network is currently housed at The Agricultural University in Los Banos, the Philippines (UPLB). Together with partner institutions in the region, the SEA-IFM Network is documenting and studying promising indigenous

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fallow management practices. Hopefully these activities will generate further information flows and links with in particular local initiatives in the region, which are not easy to access and recognized by outsiders. Such information is important if more supportive policies must develop. Activities in several countries will be discussed briefly. 5.2. Initiatives in Indonesia In Indonesia, research efforts of ICRAF personnel and partner organisations focus on Sumatra where traditional shifting cultivation has largely vanished and enrichment of the fallows has lead to the establishment of (semi-) permanent forest-like structures of high economic value. Examples are ‘‘jungle rubber’’ and cinnamon-coffee systems in Kerinci (both Jambi Province) and the damar agroforests in Krui (Lampung Province). ICRAF researchers are also addressing the selection of those improved fallow species, which are promoted to increase the rate of soil fertility restoration. In collaboration with the Agricultural University in Malang, East Java, a project was initiated to focus on the question whether these species, selected by households, which are said to increase the rate of soil fertility restoration indeed improve soil fertility, or whether these species are merely an indicator of favourable microenvironments. 5.3. Initiatives in the Philippines A direct result of the 1997 workshop in Bogor was the establishment of a National Fallow Management Group in the Philippines. This group has conducted a large number of Participatory Rural Appraisal exercises (PRA) to develop an inventory of fallow systems practised in the Philippines. Supported, among others, by the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD), these activities have accumulated a wealth of knowledge on various different indigenous fallow systems. Details about this inventory can be found in MagcaleMacandog et al. (1999).

support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), through a project coordinated by ICRAF’s Southeast Asia Program. The first phase involved: (1) linking Vietnam with ICRAF activities in the region and with the global Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn (ASB) program; (2) enhancing Vietnamese capacity to conduct agroforestry research, development and training; and (3) aiding in the development and dissemination of sustainable and acceptable alternatives to slash-andburn practices. Nine institutions have contributed to a literature review, institutional survey and synthesis report of Indigenous Fallow Management (IFM) in Vietnam. The Hanoi Agricultural University’s Department of Agroecology and Environmental Science has compiled the synthesis report. The report consists of four main chapters: (1) introduction to swidden agriculture and fallows; (2) shifting cultivation and fallows in Vietnam; (3) alternatives to shifting cultivation; and (4) government policies related to fallow management in Vietnam, followed by conclusions and recommendations for further research. This report was a key input for the national IFM workshop in Vietnam, in November 2000 (Chun Lai, 2000). Work referred to in this paper about Tephrosia Candida in Vietnam was made possible through funding from SAREC/SIDA the research co-operation between the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), ICRAF Southeast Asia Programme and the National Institute of Soils and fertilizers (NISF), Vietnam. 5.5. Initiatives in Thailand In Thailand, the ICRAF office in Chiang Mai coordinates and supports the Montane Mainland Southeast Asia Initiative as part of a wider watershed project. At the International Symposium II on Montane Mainland Southeast Asia, Governance in Natural and Cultural Landscape, in Chiang Mai (1–5 July 2000), a wide range of fallow management strategies were identified. 5.6. Initiatives in other Southeast Asian countries

5.4. Initiatives in Vietnam The Vietnam Agroforestry Capacity-Building Project (VACB) was initiated in May 1998 with

The network of information and research exchange between ICRAF, its partners and local organizations has not formally extended to Southeast Asian

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countries other than Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. However, in Laos, where shifting cultivation is among the major land-use types, very good informal links do exist. As the government of Laos is pursuing sedentary forms of agriculture, the work that is currently being undertaken in Laos on the integration of livestock provides a very interesting opportunity to study and evaluate under what conditions such an effort can successfully develop. In Sarawak, East Malaysia, where shifting cultivation is still widely practised, informal contacts have been established with several organisations. There is a wealth of information on enriched fallows in Sarawak (see for example, Cramb, 1990; Burgers, 1993; De Jong, 1997, 2001). Another country with a rich shifting cultivation and fallow management history is Myanmar. Unfortunately, the political situation in the country has made it difficult to establish formal ties with Myanmar. During a workshop on Secondary forests held 10– 14 April 2001, in Samarinda, Indonesia and organized by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), swidden fallow secondary forests and secondary forest gardens (enriched fallows) were mentioned as important secondary forest types. These fallow forests have the potential to be managed as a renewable resource. To coordinate knowledge and expertise regarding secondary forests, the Forestry Research Support Program for Asia and the Pacific, FAO, Bangkok, Thailand, suggested it would take the lead in pursuing the idea of an Asian Secondary Forest Network. 5.7. The future – drawing lessons from information across the region The challenge for the future is to develop methodologies that would help to elucidate the socio-economic, political and bio-physical context (at the household, local, regional and national levels) in which certain fallow management strategies developed. The SEA-IFM Network expects to play an important role in the development of such evaluation methodologies and in scaling up fallow management research from the plot level to a household level perspective. However, if the aim is to develop more sustainable fallow management systems, they cannot be sustainable if policies and

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the policy environment are not supportive to the particular conditions in which fallow management strategies remain or develop into sustainable practices.

6. Concluding remarks This paper has presented an overview of indigenous fallow management strategies in Southeast Asia and their potential role in sustaining livelihoods in the future. In situations where current management strategies are not sustainable or there is a risk that they may not be sustainable in the near future alternatives must be developed and implemented. A detailed understanding of how the biophysical, socioeconomic and political environment at different levels of scale influence the way households manage their natural resources and hence their fallows as part of overall livelihood objectives is essential. Indigenous fallow management strategies that have successfully adapted to a changing environment have much to offer because they have been modified, tested, and used for a long time by households for their survival. Although they may or may not be able to withstand future changes, their success must be the basis for further development. In this context, encouraging policies which support farmer-generated solutions in the context of livelihoods may be crucial for the long term success of these fallow management systems.

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