Natural resources of miombo woodland and recent changes in agricultural and land-use practices

Miombo woodland covers a large area of central Africa, south of the equator. The renewable natural resources of miombo, i.e., timber, poles, wood fuel, beeswax and honey, mushrooms, edible caterpillars, wild fruits and livestock browse are discussed and roughly evaluated. A brief account is given of the salient ecological features of miombo, including the role of fire and its timing in determining the tree population dynamics, and the parts played by tsetse fly and wildlife populations in the history of human occupation in the region.Under the traditional system of agriculture practised in northern Zambia, a form of shifting cultivation known as chitimene, the woodland is the agricultural fallow. Owing to population growth, changes in social attitudes and economic considerations, the chitimene system can no longer be practised. An important aspect of the changes taking place is the replacement of finger millet, a grain relatively rich in protein, by maize, giving a poorer diet and resulting in the need for measures to restore soil fertility periodically. One such measure discussed is the introduction of an edible leguminous fallow crop to maintain productivity.with the inevitable reduction in the area of the miombo woodlands which accompanies the changes in the agricultural system, their natural resources are becoming scarcer. Their importance in the economy is not appreciated by the people until there is a local shortage.The value of exotic pine and eucalyptus plantations, which grow well in the high rainfall areas (1000 mm⁺), and their economic future are considered.