Shifting cultivation takes place across the humid and sub-humid tropics of three major regions: Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. A global survey of tropical land use found signs of shifting cultivation in 62% of the zones studied, with the Americas accounting for 41% of those areas and Africa 37%. Far from disappearing, this ancient farming method remains a primary livelihood for an estimated 500 million of the world’s poorest rural people.
How Shifting Cultivation Works
Shifting cultivation, also called swidden or slash-and-burn agriculture, follows a simple cycle. Farmers clear a small patch of forest or woodland, burn the vegetation to release nutrients into the soil, then plant crops for one to three seasons. Once yields drop, the plot is abandoned and allowed to regrow as secondary forest while the farmer moves to a new patch. The resting period, called fallow, typically lasts 5 to 15 years for the soil to recover, though in low-population areas it can stretch to 20 or 30 years. The system depends on having enough surrounding land to rotate through, giving each plot time to regenerate naturally.
The crops grown vary by region. In Southeast Asia, upland rice is the dominant staple. In South America, farmers plant maize and cassava. In Africa, millet and sorghum are the main crops. Yams, sugarcane, plantain, and various vegetables appear across all three regions.
Central and West Africa
Central Africa contains some of the largest continuous areas of shifting cultivation on earth. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a major hotspot, where the practice is not only widespread but still expanding in certain areas. Northern Zambia is another zone with extensive swidden farming. Across West Africa, shifting cultivation remains common in most countries, with one notable exception: Nigeria, where it has nearly disappeared and persists only in small pockets.
The miombo woodlands of southern and eastern Africa also support shifting cultivation, though at lower levels. Kenya and Tanzania have particularly low occurrence. Madagascar is a distinct case. Along its eastern escarpment, the area under shifting cultivation has remained stable for the past two decades with only slight decreases overall.
Central and South America
In Central America, shifting cultivation is widespread and has actually increased in some countries, including Panama and Guatemala, well into the 2000s. Indigenous communities throughout the region create forest-agricultural mosaics by clearing small plots called “conucos,” where they grow vegetables, tubers, and fruits. Hunting and fishing supplement the diet with protein.
South America shows a more complicated picture. In the southern Brazilian Amazon, areas under shifting cultivation have clearly shrunk. But in other parts of the Brazilian Amazon and in Peru, the practice is expanding. Colombia also shows pockets of activity. The Venezuelan highlands, home to Pemón indigenous communities, maintain traditional swidden systems in a savanna-forest mosaic. The climate in these regions is typical of equatorial zones: average temperatures around 26 to 27°C and annual rainfall near 1,800 mm, with distinct wet and dry seasons that dictate planting schedules.
South and Southeast Asia
The mountainous mainland of Southeast Asia is one of the most studied shifting cultivation zones in the world. Northern Laos and Myanmar contain some of the largest remaining swidden areas in the region. The highlands spanning parts of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and southern China also support the practice, particularly among ethnic minority communities in steep, remote terrain. In northwest Vietnam, for instance, farmers cultivate maize and cassava on slopes with 33 to 91% inclination.
The island of Borneo, shared by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei, is another significant zone. Here, shifting cultivation has historically been practiced in the interior by indigenous Dayak communities, though it faces growing pressure from palm oil plantations and government restrictions.
Why These Regions Share Common Features
Shifting cultivation is concentrated in tropical areas for practical reasons. Warm temperatures and heavy rainfall drive rapid plant growth, which means cleared forest can regenerate in years rather than decades. The soils in these regions, often classified as nutrient-poor tropical soils, actually make shifting cultivation a logical choice. Permanent farming on these soils quickly depletes organic carbon, nitrogen, and potassium. The fallow period allows leaf litter and root systems to rebuild those nutrients naturally. Fields that are farmed too frequently without adequate rest show measurably lower soil fertility.
The practice also clusters in mountainous and hilly terrain. Steep slopes make mechanized permanent agriculture difficult or impossible, so small rotating plots remain the most practical option. This is true in the Andes, the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia, and the hilly interior of Central Africa.
Environmental Tradeoffs
Shifting cultivation has a complicated environmental reputation. The secondary forests that regrow during fallow periods act as significant carbon sinks and support 50 to 80% of the plant and bird diversity found in undisturbed natural forests. That is a surprisingly high level of biodiversity for land that has been farmed.
The real ecological damage often comes not from shifting cultivation itself but from what replaces it. When governments or markets push farmers to transition to permanent intensive agriculture, the results can include permanent deforestation, loss of local plant and animal varieties, and reduced total carbon storage. In other words, the rotating mosaic of small plots and regenerating forest can be more ecologically sound than the monoculture plantations that take its place.
Why the Practice Is Declining in Some Areas
Several forces are pushing farmers away from shifting cultivation in parts of all three tropical regions. Higher crop prices, better road access to markets, and secure land tenure all increase the financial appeal of switching to permanent crops like palm oil, rubber, or cocoa. Government policies in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and China have explicitly targeted shifting cultivation for elimination, viewing it as wasteful and destructive to forests.
Plots with the best conditions, those with fertile soils near water, roads, and villages, tend to be the first converted to permanent farming. But access to these transitions is highly unequal. Wealthier farmers with better land and market connections can make the switch, while the poorest remain dependent on shifting cultivation with shrinking fallow periods and declining soil quality. Population growth compounds the problem by forcing shorter fallow cycles, sometimes too short for the soil to fully recover. In the eastern Amazon, the most frequently cultivated fields already show measurably lower organic carbon, nitrogen, and potassium, a sign the system is being pushed past its limits.