Ten Years of Population Change and the Chitemene Slash-and-Burn Syst em around the Mpika Area, Northern Zambia

Abstract

Newly cleared fields created by the chitemene slash-and-burn system were counted in two satellite images (Landsat TM 7: path 170, low 68) taken in 1994 and 2001 in the Mpika area of the Northern Province, Zambia. These images indicated that the number of chitemene fields was almost the same in 1994 and 2001. However, expansion of chitemene to the interior of forest reserves was apparent in the image from 2001, which clearly showed that the land area is not sufficient to maintain the chitemene system under the present agroenvironmental and socio-economic conditions.The relationship between the number of chitemene fields and population revealed that the density of chitemene in the Standard Enumeration Area (SEA ) increased up to 1 chitemene/km2 with an increase in population density up to 10 people/km2, while it decreased with a further increase in population density. The carrying capacity of the chitemene was thus estimated to be at most 10 persons/ chitemene/km2, a capacity achieved through farmers' efforts to diversify crop production. Between 1990 and 2000, the population in the resettlement project areas doubled, while in other areas, the population did not increase. This had diverse effects on the environment due to both immigration and emigration in the surveyed areas.