Incentivizing Hill Farmers for Promoting Agroforestry as an Alternative to Shifting Cultivation in Northeast India

Abstract

Northeast India (NEI) falls in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, which is one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world, that covers 17.2 million ha of land under forests, constituting ~25% of India’s total forest area. Hill farmers in NEI are represented by over 100 different indigenous communities practising shifting cultivation for millennia in this biodiversity hotspot. Shifting cultivation, involving slash-and-burn agriculture, is one of the predominant land use systems in NEI and an important driver of soil degradation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. This work aims to contribute to better understanding of the system and provide decision-makers with alternative management options. Therefore, the specific objectives of this chapter are to (1) quantify tree diversity, biomass, and soil carbon dynamics in slash-and-burn agriculture, (2) assess ecosystem disservices caused by slash-and-burn agriculture, and (3) identify best alternatives to restore degraded land under slash-and-burn agriculture. We find that shifting cultivation is an important element of the cultural identity of indigenous communities of NEI. However, the shortened fallow cycle as practised currently is not ecologically sustainable and economically viable. We also find that slash-and-burn lands can be transformed into sustainable agroecosystems if best management practices such as agroforestry systems are widely promoted through appropriate incentive schemes. We propose developing appropriate cash incentive mechanism as a part of payment for ecosystem services for adoption and promotion of agroforestry systems in degraded slash-and-burn landscapes.