The shifting ground of Swidden agriculture on Palawan Island, the Philippines

Issue Date

12-2010

Abstract

Recent literature describing the process and pathways of the agrarian transition in Southeast Asia suggests that the rise of agricultural intensification and the growth of commodity markets will lead to the demise of swidden agriculture. This paper offers a longitudinal overview of the conditions that drive the agrarian transition amongst indigenous swidden cultivators and migrant paddy farmers in central Palawan Island, the Philippines. In line with regional agrarian change, we describe how a history of conservation policies has criminalized and pressured swidden farmers to adopt more intensive "modern" agricultural practices. We examine how indigenous swidden cultivators adjust their practice in response to recent changes in policies, security of harvests, and socio-cultural values vis-à-vis intensification. Rather than suggest that this transition will lead to the demise of swidden, results reveal that farmers instead negotiate a shifting ground in which they lean on and value swidden as a means of negotiating agrarian change. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Source or Periodical Title

Agriculture and Human Values

ISSN

0889-048X

Volume

27

Issue

4

Page

445-459

Document Type

Article

Physical Description

illustration, graphs

Language

English

Subject

Agrarian transition, Indigenous, Palawan Island, Persistence, Swidden, The Philippines

Identifier

doi:10.1007/s10460-009-9239-0.

Digital Copy

yes

Link to Full Text

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