Ecological knowledge of site selection and tree-cutting methods of Bemba shifting cultivators in northern Zambia

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The Bemba people, slash-and-burn cultivators in northern Zambia, practice the citemene system, which is distinguished by two characteristics: first, men climb up tree trunks larger than 15 cm diameter at breast height and lop off the branches, leaving the trunks standing; second, women carry the branches from the tree-cutting area and pile them up to waist-height in a central area where the garden is to be cultivated after burning. The woodland preference of Bemba people for opening citemene fields is related to the woody biomass they can acquire there, which serves to fertilize the soil. Based on the interviews from Bemba people, their woodland preference for opening citemene fields fell into four categories: woodlands (1) highly suitable for the establishment of citemene fields, (2) suitable to serve as citemene fields, (3) suitable to serve as small fields of kakumba, and (4) unsuitable as either type of field. As a result of vegetation research in 40 plots (50 m × 50 m), they estimated woodlands with more than 90 t ⁄ ha woody biomass in fresh weight (FB) “highly suitable for creating gardens”. In fields of that size, high yields of finger millet could be expected. They estimated that woodlands with FB between 60 and 90 t ⁄ ha are potentially “suitable woodland as citemene fields”. In woodlands ranging from 30 to 60 t ⁄ ha FB, they reduced the size of the burned field, called kakumba. They classified woodland of less than 30 t ⁄ ha FB as ”unsuitable for use in growing crops“. Bemba consider it very important to cut and pile sufficient quantities of branches for burning the soil thoroughly, in order to nourish the soil.

収録刊行物

  • Tropics

    Tropics 14 (4), 309-321, 2005

    日本熱帯生態学会

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