Indigenous market-oriented agroforestry: dissecting local diversity in western Amazonia |
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Authors: | O T Coomes G J Burt |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada, H3A 2K6 |
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Abstract: | This paper reports on a study of local diversity and variation in indigenous agroforestry practices among Amazonian peasants
in a traditional community near Iquitos, Peru. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with agroforestry-reliant households
n = 36) on farming practices, demographic characteristics, income-expenditures and household wealth. Visits to crop fields
and forest fallows n = 329) allowed the reconstruction of extensive cropping histories. More in-depth assessments of crop occurrence, density
and diversity were conducted on 83 fields. Our results indicate considerable variation in field characteristics, agroforestry-cycles,
and household agroforestry portfolios. Agroforestry practice is found to be strongly related to access to land within the
community: households holding more land use both potentially more sustainable and more lucrative swidden-fallow agroforestry
systems. Our results question the view of indigenous agroforestry systems as intrinsically ‘stable, equitable, and sustainable’,
and underscore the importance of studying local variation in indigenous agroforestry practices. Promising avenues are discussed
for future research on the factors related to the successful adoption of sustainable agroforestry systems.
This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | adoption land distribution Peru rain forest shifting cultivation swidden-fallow |
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