Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

Science through the lens

Our changing online gallery presents photos from research in the field, illustrations about little-known aspects of science, as well as videos – always linked to short stories about sustainability or sustainable development. Now featuring:

Jhum in the Naga Hills of Myanmar

Shifting cultivation – locally known as Jhum – practiced by the Indigenous Naga people in the mountains of Northwest Myanmar is more than agriculture. Though often misunderstood as a cause of deforestation and carbon emissions, research shows: It’s a sustainable practice that supports communities and ecosystems and should be recognized and protected as a cultural heritage.
(All pictures were taken before the coup in 2021.)

Jhum patches — According to fallow forest condition and soil quality, certain areas are selected for Jhum with controlled burning. Photo: Philipp Eyer

Jhum cultivation with around 135 crop species in one plot (diverse multi-intercropping agriculture). Photo: Lin Bo Jian

The importance of fallow length

Jhum is an agroforestry system based on land rotation and regeneration. Long fallow periods of more than seven years are essential in shifting cultivation cycles to maintain soil fertility and ensure long-term sustainability. Without a sufficient fallow period, the soil will not have enough time to recover and the land will become degraded. Proper fallowing not only replenishes soil nutrient content, but the process also supports biodiversity by creating habitats for various plant and animal species.

For the Naga people, fallow periods are deeply embedded in their farming practices, balancing resource use with the need to protect the land for future generations. Fallow periods are not just a farming technique; they reflect a sustainable approach to land stewardship and cultural respect for the environment.

Controlled burning — Shifting cultivation burning season runs from the end of March until late April. Photo: Philipp Eyer

grazing livestock — Jhum fallows are also used for livestock grazing – which helps to fertilize the soil and improve vegetation. Photo: Philipp Eyer

Land for all villagers

The Naga customary land tenure system ensures that community members have access to land and use it productively. All land is claimed and managed under the customary system. Households in need of land, including newcomers and people displaced by conflict or natural disaster, are allocated land to cultivate on a yearly basis.

Land is inalienable and cannot be sold to private companies or people living outside of the village. Customary institutions administer the land within village boundaries. Management decisions are made by the community.

Fuelwood for cooking — Villagers can collect fuelwood for domestic use. Photo: Philipp Eyer

Community work on a Jhum field. Photo: Philipp Eyer

Granaries, where households store their grains — Granaries where households store their grains. Photo: Philipp Eyer

More than agriculture

Naga people are deeply rooted in their land. In their understanding, people and nature must be in balance. Therefore, their culture is very strongly embedded in the environment. Athong Makury, director of the local organization Resource Rights for the Indigenous Peoples (RRtIP), says: “If you destroy our culture and traditions, you also destroy our wildlife, forests, rivers and mountains – and vice versa.”

Villagers returning from town, where they sold jhum crops — Villagers returning from town, where they sold Jhum crops. Photo: Lin Bo Jian

Monoliths were installed to remember certain events and achievements. Photo: Philipp Eyer

Traditional weaving with cotton harvested from Jhum fields and coloured using natural dye. Photo: Philipp Eyer

Feast of honour for the herders. Photo: Philipp Eyer

Fishermen — Traditional fishing by the Naga people. Photo: Lin Bo Jian

THE RESEARCH PROJECT

Rotation, not deforestation

Standard methods based on satellite images only consider what the ground is covered with, but not which land use systems are involved. This has the disadvantage that fallow land, such as in the Naga region, on which secondary forests have grown back after five to seven years, is simply recognized and classified as “forest”. Looking at these areas again after 10 or 15 years, satellite images show that they are (again) being used for farming. This is usually wrongly interpreted as deforestation, although these are the regeneration areas of shifting cultivation.

CDE and the local Indigenous organization RRtIP have been conducting research in shifting cultivation and Indigenous land governance systems across the Naga Hills in Myanmar.

Methodology

To analyse the spatial dynamics over time, CDE scientists used Google Earth Engine to identify the specific space-time pattern of deforestation associated with Jhum from satellite data, as well as the increase in biomass during the fallow period. For the analyses of the Naga areas in Myanmar, the entire high-resolution Landsat satellite image archive from 1987 to 2020 was searched and cloud-free images were created for the dry season – the time when old plots are cleared and prepared for cultivation.

The image series from the dry season were analysed for changes in the spectral information on which vegetation indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are based. This provides information about the density of the vegetation cover. Algorithms that focus on specific patterns of shifting cultivation, such as the decrease and increase in biomass, can be used to recognize the clearings that can be traced back to shifting cultivation. The lengths of the fallow periods can be derived from this.

The average fallow period for the approximately 90,000 hectares of land used for shifting cultivation in the Naga areas analysed is 13 years. A closer look at the Jhum clearings reveals the rotation of plots – and also clearly shows that they do not extend into forest areas.

In short

Research results show that the Naga areas are neither deforestation nor “virgin” land, but an agroforestry system based on rotation.

Satellite imagery 1987-2023