A community of farmers in a tropical region currently practises shifting cultivation. A government programme is encouraging them to move to settled, permane...

(a) Main stages of shifting cultivation [4]

1. An area of forest or bush is cleared by cutting down the vegetation using hand tools [1].
2. The cleared vegetation is burned, and the resulting ash provides a temporary supply of nutrients and minerals to the soil (slash-and-burn) [1].
3. Crops are planted and grown on the cleared land for a few seasons until the soil fertility declines and yields drop [1].
4. The farmers then abandon the plot and move to a new area, leaving the original land to regenerate naturally over a long fallow period of several years [1].

(b) Two reasons shifting cultivation is a form of subsistence farming [4]

Any two, each explained:

1. The farmers grow only enough food to feed their own families, with little or no surplus available for sale at market [1]. Production is aimed at household consumption rather than commercial income [1].
2. Simple hand tools such as hoes and cutlasses are used rather than machinery, so production levels remain low [1]. The small scale and low technology limit output to subsistence quantities [1].
3. There is no use of purchased inputs such as fertilisers, improved seeds or pesticides [1], so output depends entirely on natural soil fertility, which further restricts yields to subsistence levels [1].

(c) Three advantages of secure land tenure [3]

Any three:

1. The farmer can invest in permanent improvements such as fencing, irrigation systems or soil conservation structures, knowing they will benefit from them long-term [1].
2. Secure tenure allows the farmer to use the land as collateral to obtain bank loans for purchasing inputs, equipment or livestock [1].
3. There is no risk of losing access to the land, which gives the farmer confidence to plan ahead and invest in long-term productivity [1].
4. It becomes worthwhile to plant tree crops or perennial crops that take several years to produce a first harvest, such as fruit trees or cocoa [1].

(d) Four difficulties when changing to permanent settled farming [4]

Any four:

1. The soil on a fixed plot may lose fertility over time without proper management, and the farmer may not be able to afford the fertilisers needed to maintain productivity [1].
2. The farmer needs new skills in soil conservation, crop rotation and pest management that were unnecessary under shifting cultivation [1].
3. Clearing and preparing a permanent plot requires initial investment in tools, fencing and possibly irrigation infrastructure [1].
4. Without the long fallow period, weed and pest populations may increase and become harder to control on continuously cultivated land [1].
5. Yields may initially be lower than expected while the farmer learns and adapts to the techniques of permanent agriculture [1].
6. The farmer loses the flexibility to move to better land if soil or drainage conditions on the fixed plot prove to be poor [1].