Coexistence of multiple ethnic groups practicing different slash-and-burn cultivation systems adapted to field conditions in miombo woodlands in northwestern Zambia

Abstract

This study is focused on farmers’ maintenance of slash-and-burn cultivation in northwestern Zambia’s miombo woodlands and elucidates their ecological knowledge and process of clearing slash-and-burn fields. It also examines farmers’ coexistence in a multi-ethnic community in the context of the locations and ecological classification of fields cultivated by firstcomers and immigrants. The study area was S Ward in northwestern Zambia. It is written as S ward not to be specified the location. Northwestern Zambia is home to five ethnic groups: the Kaonde, who are considered the region’s firstcomers, and the Lunda, Luvale, Chokwe, and Luchazi, who are relative newcomers to S Ward. The number of villages in S Ward increased from 11 Kaonde villages in 1960 to 23 villages in 2000, of which nine were built by non-Kaonde immigrants. The population of S Ward increased with the influx of immigrants. Accordingly, the total area of cultivated land in S Ward in 2014 was 12-times higher than in 1968. Farmers in these five ethnic groups categorized the surrounding ecological environment according to landforms, soils, and vegetation, and classified the ecology as marsh or woodland. Woodland was identified as one of two types based on the accumulated soil: the outer edge of the marsh has gray soil, whereas the upland region is characterized by red soil. According to the farmers, the gray soil was soft and rich in nutrients, whereas red soil contained little sand and hardened when dried. Farmers in S Ward recognized that the gray soil in the woodland was more suitable for cultivation. The Kaonde’s cultivated fields were located at the outer edge of the marsh, as the Kaonde have lived in the area for several generations, so newcomers were forced to clear the uplands, which had remained unoccupied by the Kaonde farmers. The Kaonde and immigrants coexist in S Ward by cultivating different ecological areas and practicing different slash-and-burn cultivation systems.