Transformation of shifting cultivation: Extent, driving forces and impacts on livelihoods in Tanzania.

Shifting cultivation is in rapid transformation in many parts of the Global South, but the drivers and consequences of these changes are still not well understood, especially in Africa. We therefore analysed the drivers of this transformation and its impacts on livelihoods between 1995 and 2014 in two villages located in Eastern Central Tanzania by combining analysis of socio-economic and remote sensing data. Results revealed that in an upland village, the number of shifting cultivators declined from 34% to 16% and the area changed from 19% to 17%. In a plateau village, the number of shifting cultivators declined from 24% to 18% and the area substantially declined from 23% to 14%. In both villages, shifting cultivators adopted intensive land preparation methods that involved deep tillage and burying of vegetation. Transformation of shifting cultivation in the upland area was driven by adoption and enforcement of land tenure policies that restrict shifting cultivation whereas in the plateau area, it was driven by population pressure causing competition for land between shifting cultivators and pastoralists. In both villages transformation of shifting cultivation negatively affected household income and increased periods of food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]