Presentación de Jacqueline Cariño de Filipinas en el marco del Seminario Internacional de Expertos sobre 'Diversidad Cultural, Sistemas Alimentarios y Estrategias Tradicionales de Vida' realizado del 4 al 6 de noviembre de 2014 en Cusco Perú.

1. Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

3.  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.

4. Also called rotational farming, swidden
farming/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)

6.  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.

8.  “an ideal solution for agriculture in the humid tropics
as 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

10.  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.

11.  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 representing
government agencies, UN agencies, international NGOs,
Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, communities and local
governments.

12. 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, Khagrachari
and Bandarban of the CHT
region.
IPs: Chakma, Tripura,
Tanchangya, Marma, Mro
and Khuang
2.Cambodia The Changing face of Swidden
Agriculture in Ratanakir Province,
Cambodia
Pierr village and Biene
Village
IPs: Tampuan
3.India Shifting Options – A case study of
Shifting Cultivation in Mokokchung
district, Nagaland, India
Sungratsu and
Chuchuyimpang
villages of Mokokchung
district in Nagaland
IPs: Nagas

13. 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 Province
IPs/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
Tho
IPs/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 Chitwan
District of Central Nepal
IPs: Tharu
7.Indonesia Food Security
In the Farming System of Dayak Jalai
Community in Ketapang District, West
Kalimantan-Indonesia
Southern Ketapang
District, West Kalimantan
IPs; Dayak Jalai

14.  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 deforestation
unless land scarcity forces farmers to clear new land in
forest areas.

15.  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.

17. Generally, livelihoods in indigenous communities across
the region have become more diversified due to:
 Scarcity of land
 Market integration
 Education and mainstream media

18.  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, or
sustain 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.

19.  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.

20.  Access to markets both for selling products and buying
goods has helped improve livelihood, increased income
and food security in many indigenous communities.
 However, due to the volatility of commodity markets they
are often at risk of ending up in debt.

21.  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’.

22. 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

23.  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

24.  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 have
allowed not only a sustainable use of but also equity in
access to land and resources, thus ensuring livelihood
and food security for all.

25. 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.

26. 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 of
land 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