Elsevier

World Development

Volume 23, Issue 10, October 1995, Pages 1713-1729
World Development

Shifting cultivation and “deforestation”: A study from Indonesia

https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(95)00070-SGet rights and content

Abstract

About half of tropical deforestation is commonly explained by the expansion of traditional agriculture (shifting cultivation). This article first questions the share of responsibility assigned to traditional agriculture — it may well be overestimated because of unclear definitions, uncertain estimates, and potential political biases. Second, a simple framework based on a theory of land rent capture is developed to explain agricultural expansion. The framework is applied in the study of recent changes in shifting cultivators' adaptations in a lowland rainforest area in Sumatra, Indonesia. Increased rubber planting and expansion into primary forest are seen as a response to increased rubber profitability and (expected) land scarcity, and as a race for property rights. Government land claims have had significant multiplier effects on forest clearing through changes in farmers' expectations and in initiating a self-reinforcing land race.

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  • Cited by (0)

    I would like to thank Stein Holden, Bustanul Arifin, Ian Coxhead, Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Johan Helland, Richard Moorsom, Jerry Shively, Ussif Rashid Sumaila and two referees for constructive comments on draft versions of the paper. I claim exclusive property rights to remaining errors. The fieldwork benefited from being part of a larger interdisciplinary project — Norwegian-Indonesian Rain Forest and Resource Management (NORINDRA). Funding for the project was provided by the Norwegian Research Council (NFR) and the Norwegian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Environment.

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