Recent changes in the composite swidden farming system of a Da Bac Tay ethnic minority community in Vietnam's northern mountain region

Abstract

Deforestation and land degradation associated with shifting cultivation have caused great concern about land-use sustainability of the northern uplands of Vietnam. Composite swiddening is a traditional land-use system that appears to be relatively sustainable. The system practiced by the Da Bac Tay ethnic minority in Tat hamlet in Da Bac district of Hoa Binh province is relatively diverse and flexible, and seems to hold considerable potential for intensification. However, recent changes in agricultural and economic conditions in Vietnam have also brought about changes in the farming system. This study was undertaken to describe the changes in the farming system in Tat hamlet over the past 15 years (1988-2003), and to identify factors influencing those changes. At the beginning of the study period, households were essentially economically undifferentiated and all were engaged in traditional composite swiddening, mainly for subsistence. Farming system differentiation began after the management of agricultural land was returned to individual households by the cooperative. By the end of the study period, farming systems of individual households had become more diversified, substantially differentiated, and oriented more toward commercial production. In later years, the contribution of swiddening to house-hold income decreased, while those of livestock, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and off-farm activities increased. At the household level, there were great variations in the ways that the farming system changed. Important factors influencing these changes included population increase, government policies on management of agriculture and forest land changes in the macro-economic environment, improved infrastructure and communication, improved access to market, government development programs and services, changes in family structure and the adaptive strategies of individual households, and environmental degradation. In particular, the shortening of the fallow period and the consequent decline in soil fertility poses a serious threat to long-term sustainability of the composite swidden system. Unless means are found to rapidly regenerate soil fertility, swidden areas will continue to suffer degradation and their productivity will continuously decline.