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Who Counts? Demography of Swidden Cultivators in Southeast Asia

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Abstract

Swidden cultivators are often found as a distinct category of farmers in the literature, but rarely appear in population censuses or other national and regional classifications. This has led to a worldwide confusion on how many people are dependent on this form of agriculture. The most often cited number of 200–300 million dates back to the early 1970s, but the source is obscure. We assess available, published data from nine countries in Southeast Asia and conclude that on this basis it is not possible to provide a firm estimate of the number of swidden cultivators in the region. A conservative range of 14–34 million people engaged in swidden cultivation in the region is suggested, however. We argue that along with improved knowledge of swidden livelihoods, there is an urgent need to develop techniques that will allow for better estimates of swidden populations in order to secure appropriate rural development and poverty reduction in swidden areas.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Ford Foundation Vietnam which provided funding for a workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam, in March 2008, where the data in this article were discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Ole Mertz

  2. Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Stephen J. Leisz

  3. Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research North South, Institute of Geography, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland

    Andreas Heinimann & Michael Epprecht

  4. Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Kanok Rerkasem

  5. Walai Rhukhavej Botanical Research Institute, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, Thailand

    Thiha

  6. School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Wolfram Dressler

  7. Centre of Applied Research in Remote Sensing and GIS, CARGIS, Hanoi University of Science, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Van Cu Pham & Kim Chi Vu

  8. Natural Resources Department, Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani, Thailand

    Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt

  9. Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia

    Carol J. P. Colfer

  10. Institute of Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, NY, USA

    Christine Padoch

  11. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Lesley Potter

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  1. Ole Mertz
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  13. Lesley Potter
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Correspondence to Ole Mertz.

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Mertz, O., Leisz, S.J., Heinimann, A. et al. Who Counts? Demography of Swidden Cultivators in Southeast Asia. Hum Ecol 37, 281–289 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-009-9249-y

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