HIGHER GEOGRAPHY HUMAN - RURAL

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HIGHER GEOGRAPHY HUMAN - RURAL

Let’s now look at the three case study farming types.

They are called;-

SHIFTING CULTIVATION

INTENSIVE PEASANT FARMING

EXTENSIVE COMMERCIAL FARMING

You will need to know;-

•An example of where each type is practiced

•What the landscape looks like

•How each type works; the good and bad aspects of it

•The changes that have been affecting it, and how.

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Equator

Tropic of Capricorn

Tropic of Cancer

Central Africa

Indonesia and PNG.

Amazon Basin

Global Distribution of Shifting CultivationGlobal Distribution of Shifting Cultivation


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Shifting cultivation is practiced in the Equatorial Rainforest areas of the world.

An example is the Boro Indian tribe in Amazonia- Brazil, South America.

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This type of farming is subsistence, extensive, low technology, peasant, low productivity, labour intensive, mainly arable.

It is practiced by between 3 and 6 extended families -perhaps twenty to fifty people- who live and farm together.

They use a huge area of rainforest for their farming, but only small amounts at any one time.

It relies on leaving the land empty- fallow- for many years to recover after use.

The area of rainforest is traditionally handed down to the next generation; no-one actually ‘owns’ the land.

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The land is lush with dense vegetation cover, but it is very fragile! Stop the cycle of nutrients and the soil is easily ruined!

The native indians know how to work the land without spoiling it in the long term.

This is called SUSTAINABLE, and it is good!

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What are the processes involved in

Shifting farming?

1.The group decide to settle in an area- it could be several hectares in size.

2.They build a large, communal hut called a MALOCA.

3.The men chop the smaller trees down with axes and machetes.

4.Useful trees like bananas and pineapples are left.

5.The larger trees are left to help bind the soil and to provide shade; they are too hard to remove, anyway!

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A clearing with its crops surrounding the communal hut.

A maloca- home to several inter-related families.

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The design varies between different tribal groups…

A A GuaraniGuarani tribe version tribe versionA A BoroBoro tribe tribe MalocaMaloca


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SLASH AND BURN is used to

clear the land. Why is this better than chopping the trees down and removing them?

Some trees such as the banana tree might be left standing. Why?


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In Papua New Guinea a house is built in a few hours…

The final roof covering goes on…


11Inside, the houses are extremely basic.


12A family in their Maloca.


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6. The women and children burn the chopped wood- it adds ash as a weak fertiliser, though this is quickly washed out of the soil by the rain.

7. The women then plant their ‘gardens’ called CHAGRAS between the stumps in a random, irregular way.

8. They weed and tend the plants over the next few months, and can harvest up to three crops a year. Remember there are no seasons in the rainforest, and there is continuous growth!

9. All the work is done with digging sticks, hoes and machetes- very low technology!

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..the cut down trees are allowed to dry for three months or so, then burned, in

small, controlled fires.


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Who needs matches? … making fire with two sticks


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Ground clearance is very hard work, so many stumps, branches and roots are

left.

Ground clearance is very hard work, so many stumps, branches and roots are

left.


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The burned wood adds ash (a natural fertiliser) to the soil.The burned wood adds ash (a natural fertiliser) to the soil.


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In this Chagra, -a garden rather than a field-, maize seeds are being planted amongst Sweet Potato.


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Manioc – probably the single most important crop…

…its roots providing carbohydrate-rich Cassava flour (Tapioca).


20Simple fences to keep out wild and domestic animals…


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Maize Maize (corn) may be (corn) may be grown where the grown where the soils are richer.soils are richer.

Papaya Papaya and other and other fruits form an fruits form an important part of important part of the diet.the diet.


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• Yams• Tobacco• Coca• Mangoes• Beans

Other crops may include…Other crops may include…

Domesticated animals such as pigs and chickens Domesticated animals such as pigs and chickens may also be kept.may also be kept.


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However, the torrential rains cause rapid leaching of the already poor soils, washing vital minerals out of the soil and reducing its fertility. This is why the clearings are

only used for a few years.

Unless the land is left fallow (rested) to recover these nutrients, it will be

permanently degraded.

LEACHING by rain.


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After a few years, the crops start to fail and the clearing is abandoned – to be

reclaimed by the forest.


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Forest cleared by ‘slash and burn’ method. The ash acts as a fertiliser

Food crops such as manioc, sweet potatoes and maize are grown.

The diet is supplemented by hunting, fishing and gathering food from the forest.

River sites are good for fishing and transport


This farming does not lead to serious destruction as it allows the forest to naturally regenerate.

SeeBooklet

p7

Copylabels

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…Shifting village and cultivation


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Because of the large area of forest required with all of these moves, the overall population density is very low – often less than 1 person per sq.km.

The settlement pattern is dispersed or

scattered.


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There is a variation on this type of farming;

BUSH FALLOWING is where the group settle in one area, living in a permanent maloca for very much longer than usual.

They grow their crops in ‘fields’ around the settlement.

To stop the soil getting ruined too soon, they practice CROP ROTATION. This is where they use a different field each time for a different crop.

They usually leave some of the fields FALLOW to let them recover a bit.

See the booklet, pages 12/13.

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Changes 1Changes 1• Shifting cultivation is in danger of disappearing;

• This is due to destruction of large areas of the rainforest on which this system depends – the area available is rapidly shrinking;

• This is caused by logging companies, cattle ranchers, gold and diamond miners and other mineral hunters, and new settlers moving in to the forest;

• Population growth is also putting additional strain on this way of life – particularly in west Africa.


SeeBookletP10/11

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Some Indian groups have been forced into reservations or retreated into more remote areas deep in the forest;

many tribes have suffered from Culture Shock;

There has been violence and intimidation against these tribes, with many thousands killed by new settlers;

Thousands have also died due to lack of immunity to “western” diseases such as measles;

There has been serious water pollution by gold mining, which uses toxic substances such as mercury. This has caused poisoning of rivers and people.

Changes 2Changes 2


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In Brazil, for example, the building of the Trans Amazonian Highway has opened up the virgin rainforest to settlement and exploitation, often with disastrous consequences for the shifting cultivators.


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Massive deforestation is removing the habitat on which shifting cultivation

depends, as here in Brazil.


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Huge fires now destroy enormous areas in a few

hours.

Shifting cultivation is abandoned and replaced by large, often foreign owned schemes.


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…such as the Jari Project in the 70s and 80s, with its forestry plantations, cattle ranches, towns and railway lines.


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Thousands of garimpeiros, or

gold miners, devastate an area of rainforest in a desperate search

for gold.


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Review of Main pointsReview of Main points• Shifting Cultivation is also known as slash and

burn;• It is found mostly in the equatorial rainforest

areas of the world e.g. Amazon, Congo, PNG.• It has several versions, including bush

fallowing;• It is low technology;• It supports a very low population density;• Its settlement pattern is dispersed;• It is subsistence farming, with little surplus;• It is under threat due to a combination of

outside influences. Detailed knowledge of these forces of change is essential.


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HIGHER GEOGRAPHY HUMAN - RURAL