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Farmers’ Perspectives on Vital Soil-related Ecosystem Services in Intensive Swidden Farming Systems in the Peruvian Amazon

Human Ecology volume 41, pages 139–151 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

A growing dilemma is how to conserve Amazonian forest while allowing local people to secure their livelihoods. Small-scale swidden farming in Amazonia is entirely dependent on the continued provision of ecosystem services (ES) that generate the conditions for agriculture. This study identified soil-related ES needed for, and enhanced by, productive swidden systems from the farmer’s perspective. Workshops in six farming communities in northeastern Peru discussed various land uses, swidden systems that continue to be productive, and swidden systems on degraded land. The participating farmers noted changes in their production systems and described the ES (or lack thereof) in terms of soil quality, crop production quantity and quality, burning practices, forest regeneration, and farming skill. The central elements described in farmers’ own strategies for managing soil-related ES were fallow management for biomass production and crop diversity, factors identified as central to future ES management work in established agricultural areas in Amazonia.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. One workshop was arranged in each village, except in one village where separate workshops were held for men and women.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Kristina Marquardt & Rebecka Milestad

  2. World Agroforestry Centre, Region Latin America, Belem, Brazil

    Kristina Marquardt & Roberto Porro

Authors
  1. Kristina Marquardt
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  2. Rebecka Milestad
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  3. Roberto Porro
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Correspondence to Kristina Marquardt.

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Marquardt, K., Milestad, R. & Porro, R. Farmers’ Perspectives on Vital Soil-related Ecosystem Services in Intensive Swidden Farming Systems in the Peruvian Amazon. Hum Ecol 41, 139–151 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-012-9522-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-012-9522-3

Keywords

  • Diversity
  • Fallow management
  • Land use
  • Peruvian Amazon
  • Small-scale farming
  • Subsistence production

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