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Assessing Sustainability of Swiddens
systems in Tropical Forest Margins
Dr Martin YEMEFACK, IITA Cameroon and IRAD,Yaounde, Cameroon.
yemefack@itc.nl & M.yemefack@cgiar.org
Dr Roberto PORRO, Embrapa Eastern Amazon, Belem, Brazil.
roberto.porro@embrapa.br & porro.roberto@gmail.com
Dr Rosaline NJOMGANG, IRAD, Yaounde, Cameroon;
rnjomgang@yahoo.fr
Dr Peter Akong Minang, ASB Global Partnerships, ICAF, Nairobi, Kenya
A.Minang@cgiar.org
Salt Lake City (USA), 5-11/10/2014

Content of the Communication
- Tropical Forest Margins and Swiddens
- Sustainability impacts of swiddens and its measurability
- Examples of Southern Cameroon and Eastern Amazon Brazil
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What are the Tropical Forest Margins?
 The Tropical Forest Margins are the disturbed franges of
tropical forests that usually comprise Shifting agricultural
landscape mosaic systems (SALMS).
 The SAMS here refer to the past, present or future
agricultural land surface and its associate spatial
heterogeneity of aggregated elements of distinct
boundaries, where the mixed local ecosystems are
repeated in similar form over a defined area.
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Salt Lake City (USA), 5-11/10/2014

Shifting Agricultural Landscape Mosaic Systems
(SALMS) in southern Cameroon and Eastern Amazon
Amazon Basin, Brazil Congo Basin, Cameroon
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What is Swidden?
 Swiddens systems (or shifting cultivation or Slash and Burn
agriculture) = agricultural system that involves an
alternation of cropping for a few years on a land parcel
followed by a relatively long period of fallow.
 Its main features are:
1. land clearing by slashing and burning;
2. rotation of plots for food crop production;
3. alternation between relatively short occupation of plots
and long fallow periods;
4. decline of soil productivity during cultivation period and
recovery by means of spontaneous fallow vegetation.
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Two Swiddens sub-systems
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Two sub-systems in general:
• a food crop production system (Crop-fallow system),
• a semi-permanent system of perennial plantations and
pasture lands.
Swidden at it origin is considered a strategy for suitable
exploitation of the energy and nutrient capital of the natural
vegetation-soil complex.
A flexible system in response to changes.
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Swiddens variations
- Great spatial variants and tremendous transformations
due to interactions between socio‐ecological and
economical events.
- Mostly on rotational short fallow systems as due to high
demand on land near villages and increasing trade in
food crops products.
- But, continuously encroachment into primary forest
because of market‐oriented productions.
- Burning induces changes in soil properties and
environmental services.
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Sustainability impacts of swiddens
Swiddens are often labeled as being unsustainable and
having negative environmental impacts especially soil
degradation, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, and
increased emissions of green-house-gases.
But, they are also not considered as viable for food security
and livelihood objectives.
We need to know how current trends in swiddens are
impacting livelihoods, deforestation, emissions, water
supply, biodiversity, etc. ?
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How to measure Sustainability in swiddens?
Sustainability complies simultaneously with multiple
objectives (production, ecological / environmental, social,
cultural, economic and temporal).
A multidisciplinary approach is therefore, needed to
evaluate an interdisciplinary concept.
Methodologies using indicators that allow objective
quantification and analysis of sustainability has been proved
to provide a complete understanding of such processes.
These are tools for participatory evaluation of
sustainability indicators of smallholders’ initiatives
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Methods for measuring Sustainability
Several methods are already available for evaluation of impact and / or
sustainability through indicators. Some examples:
• FESLM: Framework for Evaluating Sustainable Land Management (Smith,
Dumanski, 1993)
• MESMIS: Framework for the Assessment of Natural Resource Systems’
Management Incorporating Sustainability Indicators (Astier et al., 2008, 2011;
López-Ridaura et al., 2002; Sarandon; Flores, 2009)
• IDEA: Indicateurs de Durabilité des Explotation Agricole (Melo, Cândido,
2013)
• TAPIS: Traditional Agroforestry Performance Indicators System
(Rodrigues et al., 2009)
• APOIA-Novo Rural: Weighted Environmental Impact Assessment of New
Rural Activities (Rodrigues et al., 2010; Rodrigues, Campanhola, 2003)
• CCBS: Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (Richards, Panfil,
2011)
• SAFA: sustainability assessment of food and agriculture systems (FAO,
2014)
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SAFA Framework

Example of the Embrapa Environment’s
APOIA-NovoRural (ANR)
In this study, we use the Embrapa Environment’s
APOIA-NovoRural (ANR) applied in side in Brazil
and in Cameroon
- to assess the social dimension of sustainability
related to the operation of a smallholders’
cooperative in the Mearim river valley, Maranhão
State, Brazil,
- to assess the farmers perceptions of their own
development in four contrasted region in
Cameroon
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Applying the method in 4 Steps
Step 1: Define Aspects, Components and Indicators for Sustainability
Impact Assessment (social, economic, environmental
dimensions)
Step 2: Evaluate the importance of aspects, components and
indicators of social sustainability through percentages at each
level of analysis (total = 100%)
Step 3: Assess previous and current situation through scores 0-5?
0 = very negative & 5 = very positive
Step 4: Summary of results by community
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Social assessment
1 LABOR-RELATED 25
2 HEALTH & NUTRITION 20
3 WELFARE & UNEXPECTED CRISIS 15
4 SOCIAL RELATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS 15
5 EDUCATION 25
100
Economic assessment
6 CONSUMPTION 50
7 CAPITAL ASSETS 30
8 INCOME 20
100
Environmental assessment
9 Technology efficiency 45
10 Environmental conservation 40
11 Environmental restoration 15
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100
Step 1: Aspects &
Components

Step 1:
Defining
Indicators for
Sustainability
Impact
Assessment
(initially, social
dimension)
I - SOCIAL DIMENSION: 5 ASPECTS, 14 COMPONENTS, 73 INDICATORS
LABOR: 4 COMPONENTS
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1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Demand for family labor
Generation of the family unit outside employment
Working conditions for family
Working conditions for employees hired
HEALTH AND NUTRITION: 3 COMPONENTS
2.1
2.2
2.3
General health conditions at home
Occupational and environmental Health
Nutrition and food safety
WELLBEING & E VULNERABILITY: 2 COMPONENTS
3.1
3.2
Local perceptions of well-being
Vulnerability and unexpected crises
SOCIAL RELATIONS & INSTITUTIONS: 3 COMPONENTS
4.1
4.2
4.3
Social organizations
Human relations and conflict
Access to public services
EDUCATION & TRAINING: 2 COMPONENTS
5.1 Education
5.2 Training

I - SOCIAL DIMENSION: 5 ASPECTS, 14 COMPONENTS, 73
INDICATORS
ASPECT LABOR: 4 COMPONENTS
1.1 Demand for family labor
Generation of the family unit outside employment
Working conditions for family
Working conditions for employees hired
41%
1.2 17%
1.3 23%
1.4 19%
100%
ASPECT HEALTH & NUTRITION: 3 COMPONENTS
2.1 General health conditions at home
Occupational and environmental Health
Nutrition and food safety
43%
2.2 27%
2.3 30%
100%
ASPECT WELLBEING & E VULNERABILITY: 2 COMPONENTS
3.1 Local perceptions of well-being
Vulnerability and unexpected crises
57%
3.2 43%
100%
ASPECT SOCIAL RELATIONS & INSTITUTIONS: 3 COMPONENTS
4.1 Social organizations
Human relations and conflict
Access to public services
45%
4.2 28%
4.3 27%
100%
ASPECT EDUCATION & TRAINING: 2 COMPONENTS
5.1 Education 62%
5.2 Training 38%
100%
Step 2: Evaluate the
importance of indicators
of social sustainability
through percentages at
each level of analysis
(total = 100%)
Weights obtained
through interviews
with key
informants, local
organizations

Average weight
assigned by 3
groups: AMTR, AJR
and COPPALJ

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Social Sustainability Index for the sites in Brazil
54
61
63
53 52
48
63 64
51
61
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LABOR HEALTH &
NUTRITION
PERCEPTIONS OF
WELLBEING AND
VULNERABILITY
SOCIAL RELATIONS
AND INSTITUTIONS
EDUCATION AND
TRAINING
SOCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY
INDEX

Ways for Improving/intensifying swiddens in
Cameroon Soil management practices per zone
Agro ecological zone
Cropping practices Coastal
zone
Humid
forest
Forest-
Savannah
Western
Highlands
Heaps ** **
Ridges along the Contours ****
Shifting cultivation **** **** ***** *
Burning in ridges ***
Crop residues incorporation ****
Manuel tillage **** **** **** **
Motorised tillage **
Soil amendment * * * ****
Manual weeding **** **** ***** ***
Chemical weeding **
No-tillage * *
Rural Population density (inh/ha) <20 20-40 40-50 80-120
(From ***** (Highly use) to * (occasionally use)
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Proportion of perceived
welfare by farmers
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• Land pressure (due to scarcity or limit access) is the
main driver of permanent food crop agriculture.
• The need for welfare do not seem to be a motivation
factor to local people for adopting permanent food crop
production which requires high inputs.
• Developping Alternatives to Swiddens in less populated
area should be based on strong policy and incentives
framework.
• This methodologic framework sustainability
assessment was robust to stratified social groups; with
reproducible results. It is expected to work well for
studies of swidden dynamics in various communities in
the tropical forest margins.
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Final Considerations
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