Shifting cultivation is practiced across the humid and sub-humid tropics on every major tropical continent. A global satellite analysis published in PLOS One found signs of shifting cultivation in 62% of the tropical areas studied, covering an estimated 280 million hectares worldwide. The three main regions are Central and South America (41% of detected activity), Africa (37%), and Asia (22%).
Central and South America
Shifting cultivation is widespread across Latin America, from southern Mexico through Central America and deep into the Amazon basin. In Mesoamerica, the practice takes its most iconic form as the “milpa” system, an ancient intercropping method centered on maize, beans, and squash (sometimes called the “three sisters”). The milpa system originated in what is now Mexico and Guatemala and has sustained indigenous communities for centuries, providing food security while maintaining surprising crop diversity within small plots.
Further south, shifting cultivation is common across Colombia, Peru, and Brazil’s Amazon region. A long-term study tracking over 50 years of field-level land use in the Peruvian Amazon found that repeated cycles of cropping and fallowing gradually reduced soil organic matter, with the most intensively farmed sites losing about 16% of their soil organic matter after four or more cycles. Tree species richness in fallow forests also dropped sharply, declining more than 50% after the initial clearing of primary forest and continuing to fall by roughly half a species per year with each subsequent cycle. These findings highlight why the practice works best at low population densities where farmers can leave land fallow for long stretches.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa holds the largest total area of shifting cultivation on the planet. The practice is especially concentrated in Central Africa, with large continuous zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Zambia. Southeastern Africa, particularly Mozambique, also shows widespread activity. In West Africa, countries like Mali and Burkina Faso have long histories of rotational farming. Farmers in Mali’s Dogon Country, for instance, grow pearl millet or sorghum for a couple of seasons, then leave fields fallow to let the soil recover before planting again. Archaeological evidence from the region shows this pattern of alternating between cropping and fallow stretches back centuries.
Across much of the continent, the crops grown in shifting systems are staple grains: millet, sorghum, and in wetter areas like the Niger Inland Delta, rice. The fallow periods vary widely depending on population pressure and soil quality, with some farmers able to leave land for 15 to 25 years and others forced to return much sooner.
Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Southeast Asia contains some of the most intensive and well-documented shifting cultivation systems in the world. The practice is particularly concentrated in northern Laos, Myanmar, and the island of Borneo. Specific ethnic groups closely associated with shifting cultivation include the Dayak people of Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo, the Iban of Sarawak, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and highland communities like the Akha, H’mong, Lisu, and Khmu across mainland Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, the Batak and Tagbanua peoples also rely on swidden farming.
In southern China’s Xishuangbanna region, groups including the Dai, Akha, Lahu, and Jinuo all practiced shifting cultivation before the mid-20th century. Northern Laos was historically dominated by swidden fields in the uplands, cultivated by communities of diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, while lowland valleys supported permanent paddy rice. In northern Thailand, highland ethnic minorities practiced swidden agriculture for generations, though the Thai government has only recently begun recognizing their citizenship rights.
Northeast India is another significant area. Research from that region found that soil carbon recovers rapidly within the first two years of a fallow period, which helps explain why the practice has persisted there. A study modeling carbon storage in shifting cultivation landscapes found that a 30-year fallow forest stores about 56% of the carbon found in old-growth forest, demonstrating meaningful ecological recovery when fallow periods are long enough.
How the Cycle Works
Shifting cultivation follows a repeating pattern. Farmers clear a small patch of forest or bush, typically by cutting vegetation and burning it. The ash releases nutrients into the soil, giving crops a fertile start. After one to three growing seasons, yields begin to drop as soil nutrients deplete, and the farmer moves to a new plot. The old plot is left fallow, meaning it’s abandoned to natural regrowth. Traditionally, fallow periods lasted 15 to 25 years, long enough for secondary forest to regenerate and soil fertility to rebuild.
The system is not the same as large-scale deforestation, though the two are often confused. Traditional shifting cultivation operates on a rotation: the total area of land a community uses stays roughly constant, with most of it resting as fallow forest at any given time. The distinction breaks down when fallow periods shorten. In areas with growing populations or where farmers lack secure land rights, people return to the same plots more frequently. This prevents full forest regrowth, depletes soil nutrients faster, and can trigger erosion.
Government Restrictions and Decline
Despite its persistence, shifting cultivation faces growing pressure from governments worldwide. Countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines have formally condemned the practice, often blaming shifting cultivators and the ethnic minorities who practice it for forest loss. Several countries across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa have passed laws that effectively criminalize it.
In Sarawak, Malaysia, colonial-era policies restricted the Iban people from expanding their swidden fields, and later programs pushed farmers into permanent rubber and oil palm smallholdings. In Laos, government programs encouraged the replacement of swidden fields with cash crops like sugarcane and rubber. China’s Xishuangbanna region saw a similar transition, with former swidden land converted to rubber plantations. In northern Thailand, a royal project replaced highland farming (and opium cultivation) with intensive cash crops like vegetables, flowers, and temperate fruits.
Many of these resettlement and conversion programs have had mixed results. Research consistently notes that attempts to convert indigenous shifting cultivators into sedentary farmers were “largely unsuccessful,” driven by a poor understanding of the farming systems they aimed to replace. In some regions, particularly northeast India, studies suggest permanent agriculture is simply not sustainable due to severe soil erosion and nutrient depletion on the steep terrain where shifting cultivation traditionally occurs.
Why It Persists
Shifting cultivation remains widespread for practical reasons. In remote tropical areas with poor soils, steep terrain, and limited access to fertilizers or irrigation, it is often the most viable way to grow food. The system requires no purchased inputs, builds on generations of local ecological knowledge, and can maintain biodiversity in fallow forests that support useful tree species, wild foods, and medicinal plants. When practiced with long fallow periods and low population density, it sustains both people and landscapes in ways that permanent farming on the same marginal land often cannot.