Tropical forests and shifting cultivation: secondary forest fallow dynamics among traditional farmers of the Peruvian Amazon

Tropical secondary forests created by swidden-fallow agriculture cover exte nsive areas in the humid tropics and yield significant ecological and econo mic benefits, yet forest fallowing behaviour among swidden cultivators rema ins poorly understood. This paper reports on a study of forest fallow manag ement among Amazonian peasant farmers in a traditional, riverside community near Iquitos, Peru. Data were gathered through in-depth household intervie ws (n = 36) on farming practices, demographic characteristics, kinship rela tions and family history, income-expenditures and household wealth. Field v isits and interviews allowed the reconstruction of forest fallow histories (n = 593 fields) for the period of 1950-1994. These histol ies were combine d with information on household land holding and demographic composition, o ver time, and incorporated into a panel data set for analysis of fallow dyn amics at the plot and household level. Our analyses indicate marked variati ons among households in the area, number and age of fallow holdings through time. Tobit regressions suggest that households with better access to land and to both in-house (male) and communal labour hold more land in secondar y forest fallow with longer fallow periods. Over time, as primary forest la nds around the community became increasingly scarce, households increased t heir holdings of forest Fallow but reduced the fallow length. Duration anal yses at the plot level indicate that fallow length is influenced primarily by the type of prior crop, field size, and household access to labour as we ll as primary forest. Land poorer households have significantly shorter for est fallows than better-off households. Our findings point to the importanc e of intra-community variations in non-market mediated access to land and l abour and their implications for secondary forest fallow management among t raditional peoples in tropical rain forest regions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.