Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T23:16:19.541Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A spatiotemporal model of shifting cultivation and forest cover dynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

DOUGLAS R. BROWN*
Affiliation:
Senior Sector Specialist, Environment and Natural Resource Management, World Vision Canada, 1 World Drive, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L5T 2Y4. Tel: 905-565-6200 x 2158. Fax: 905-696-2164. Email: douglas.r.brown@sympatico.ca

Abstract

Sustainable use of humid forest resources as a source of fertile land for cultivation requires long periods of fallow and the ability to move the zone of active cultivation from one location to another over time. At the individual field level, shifting cultivation is essentially a resource extraction problem akin to a pulse fishery – a short period of intensive use of the stock of soil fertility followed by a long idle period permitting regeneration. This paper describes a spatiotemporal model of resource extraction adapted to the use of forest resources by shifting cultivators. Theoretically grounded in the spatial and household modelling literature, it is a structural simulation model of household decision-making, and includes a demonstration of the concept with a limited data set from southern Cameroon. Use of a stated preference approach to modelling decision-making identifies individual preferences and spatial path-dependency as important sources of shortened fallows and resource degradation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albers, H.J. (1996), ‘Modelling ecological constraints on tropical forest management: spatial interdependence, irreversibility, and uncertainty’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 30: 7394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Albers, H.J. and Goldbach, M.J. (2000), ‘Irreversible ecosystem change, species competition and shifting cultivation’, Resource and Energy Economics 22: 261280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angelsen, A. (1994), ‘Shifting cultivation expansion and intensity of production: the open economy case’, Working Paper WP 1994: 3, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway.Google Scholar
Angelsen, A. (1999a), ‘Faustmann meets von Thünen in the jungle: combining forest rotation and spatial approaches in shifting cultivation agriculture’, IUFPRO, Darmstadt, Germany.Google Scholar
Angelsen, A. (1999b), ‘Agricultural expansion and deforestation: modelling the impact of population, market forces and property rights’, Journal of Development Economics 58: 185218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bockstael, N.E. (1996), ‘Modelling economics and ecology: the importance of a spatial perspective’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78: 11681180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boserup, E. (1965), The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change Under Population Pressure, Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Brown, D.R. (2004), ‘A spatiotemporal model of forest cover dynamics and household land use decisions by subsistence farmers in Southern Cameroon’, Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Brown, D.R. (2006), ‘Personal preferences and intensification of land use: their impact on southern Cameroonian slash-and-burn agroforestry systems’, Agroforestry Systems 68: 5367.Google Scholar
Conrad, J.M. (1999), Resource Economics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cropper, M., Puri, J., and Griffiths, C. (2001), ‘Predicting the location of deforestation: the role of roads and protected areas in north Thailand’, Land Economics 77: 172186.Google Scholar
de Janvry, A., Fafchamps, M., and Sadoulet, E. (1991), ‘Peasant household behaviour with missing markets: some paradoxes explained’, Economic Journal 101: 14001417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dvorak, K.A. (1992), ‘Resource management by West African farmers and the economics of shifting cultivation’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 74: 809815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faustmann, M. (1849), ‘On the determination of the value which forest land and immature stands possess for forestry’, in Game, M. (ed.), Martin Faustmann and the Evolution of Discounted Cash Flow, Oxford Institute Paper 42, 1968.Google Scholar
Franzel, S. (2001), ‘Use of an indigenous board game, “bao”, for assessing farmers’ preferences among alternative agricultural technologies’, in Peters, G.H. and Pingali, P. (eds), Tomorrow's Agriculture: Incentives, Institutions, Infrastructure and Innovations, Proceedings of the 24th International Conference of Agricultural Economists, 13–18 August 2000, Berlin, Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 416–424.Google Scholar
Geoghegan, J., Villar, S.C., Klepeis, P., Mendoza, P.M., Ogneva-Himmelberger, Y., Chowdhury, R.R., Turner, B.L. II, and Vance, C. (2001), ‘Modelling tropical deforestation in the southern Yucatán peninsular region: comparing survey and satellite data’, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 85: 2546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gockowski, J. and Nolte, C. (2003), ‘Labor demands and leguminous tree fallow interventions for the traditional mixed groundnut field of southern Cameroon – draft for discussion’, IITA Humid Forest Ecoregional Center, Yaoundé, Cameroon.Google Scholar
Gockowski, J., Tonye, J., Baker, D., Weise, S., Ndoumbé, M., Tiki-Manga, T., and Fouaguégué, A. (2004), ‘Characterization and diagnosis of farming systems in the forest margins benchmark of Southern Cameroon’, IITA Social Sciences Working Paper No. 1, Ibadan, Nigeria.Google Scholar
Hauser, S., Nolte, C., and Salako, F.K. (2001), ‘The effects of tree-based fallows on food crop yields and soil properties in West Africa’, Unpublished manuscript, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Humid Forest Ecoregional Centre, Yaoundé, Cameroon.Google Scholar
Holden, S.T. (1993a), ‘Peasant household modelling: farming systems evolution and sustainability in northern Zambia’, Agricultural Economics 9: 241267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holden, S.T. (1993b), ‘The potential of agroforestry in the high rainfall areas of Zambia: a peasant programming model approach’, Agroforestry Systems 24: 3955.Google Scholar
Holden, S.T., Barrett, C.B., and Hagos, F. (2003), ‘Food-for-work for poverty reduction and the promotion of sustainable land use: can it work?’, Working Paper, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IITA (1996), ‘Resource management survey of the humid forest benchmark zone in Southern Cameroon’, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Humid Forest Ecoregional Center, Yaoundé, Cameroon.Google Scholar
Kuyvenhoven, A., Ruben, R., and Kruseman, G. (1998), ‘Technology, market policies and institutional reform for sustainable land use in southern Mali’, Agricultural Economics 19: 5362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legg, C. (2002), ‘Camflores: a FLORES-type model for the humid forest margin in Cameroon’, Humid Forest Eco-Regional Centre, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Yaoundé, Cameroon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legg, C. (2003), ‘CamFlores: a FLORES-type model for the humid forest margin in Cameroon’, Small-scale Forest Management, Economics and Policy 2: 211223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legg, C. and Robiglio, V. (2001a), ‘Spatially explicit modelling of landscape change at the humid forest margin in Cameroon’, IITA Humid Forest Ecoregional Centre, Yaoundé, Cameroon.Google Scholar
Legg, C. and Robiglio, V. (2001b), ‘Sustainable land use mosaics in the humid forest zone of Cameroon: a modelling approach’ [Online], http://www.asb.cgiar.org/docs/SLUM%5C03-Livelihoods%20and%20resource%20access%5C03-1%20-Sustainable%20land%20use.ppt (verified 15/Nov/06).Google Scholar
Legg, C. and Brown, D.R. (2003), ‘Modelling the dynamics of coupled human and natural systems along a gradient of agricultural intensification in the humid forest of Cameroon’, Paper presented at the international workshop on Reconciling Rural Poverty Reduction and Resource Conservation: Identifying Relationships and Remedies, 2–3 May 2003, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Leplaideur, A., Longuepierre, G., and Waguela, A. (1981), MODÈLE 3 C: Cameroun – Centre-Sud – Cacaoculture ou Simulation du comportement agro-économique des petits paysans de la zone forestière camerounaise quand ils choisissent leur système de cultures., Montpellier, France: IRAT.Google Scholar
Mamingi, N., Chomitz, K.M., Gray, D.A., and Lambin, E. (1996), ‘Spatial patterns of deforestation in Cameroon and Zaire’, Poverty, Environment and Growth, Working Paper No. 8, World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Manson, S.M. (2000), ‘Agent-based dynamic spatial simulation of land-use/cover change: methodological aspects’ [Online], http://www.ucgis.org/oregon/papers/manson.htm (posted 18 June 2000 verified 29 January 2002).Google Scholar
Muetzelfeldt, R. and Massheder, J. (2003), ‘The simile visual modelling environment’, European Journal of Agronomy 18: 345358.Google Scholar
Omamo, S.W. (1998a), ‘Transport costs and smallholder cropping choices: an application to Siaya District, Kenya’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 80: 116123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omamo, S.W. (1998b), ‘Farm-to-market transaction costs and specialisation in small-scale agriculture: explorations with a non-separable household model’, The Journal of Development Studies 35: 152163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pendleton, L.H. and Howe, E.L. (2002), ‘Market integration, development, and smallholder forest clearance’, Land Economics 78: 119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfaff, A.S.P. (1999), ‘What drives deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon? Evidence from satellite and socioeconomic data’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 37: 2643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanchirico, J.N. and Wilen, J.E. (1999), ‘Bioeconomics of spatial exploitation in a patchy environment’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 37: 129150.Google Scholar
Singh, I., Squire, L., and Strauss, J. (1986), Agricultural Household Models, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, M.D. and Wilen, J.E. (2003), ‘Economic impacts of marine reserves: the importance of spatial behaviour’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 46: 183206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stryker, J.D. (1976), ‘Population density, agricultural technique, and land utilization in a village economy’, American Economic Review 66: 347358.Google Scholar
Thaler, R. (1999), ‘Mental accounting matters’, Journal of Behavioural Decision Making 12: 183206.Google Scholar
Thornton, P.K. and Jones, P.G. (1998), ‘A conceptual approach to dynamic agricultural land-use modelling’, Agricultural Systems 57: 505521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner II, B.L., Villar, S.C., Foster, D., et al. (2001), ‘Deforestation in the southern Yucatán peninsular region: an integrative approach’, Forest Ecology and Management 154: 353370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Thünen, J.H. (1826), Der Isolierte Staat in Beziehung auf Landwirtschaft und Nationalökonomie [1826], English translation edited by Hall, Peter (ed.) (1966), Von Thünen's Isolated State, Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Vosti, S.A. and Witcover, J. (1996), ‘Slash-and-burn agriculture – household perspectives’, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 58: 2338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkie, D.S. (1994), ‘Remote sensing imagery for resource inventories in Central Africa: the importance of detailed field data’, Human Ecology 22: 379403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar