Activity Name: Alternatives to slash and burn agriculture

Country of Implementation: Indonesia, Philippines

Implementing Institutions:  USDA Forest Service/International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF)

Host Country Counterpart Institutions:  Indonesia Ministry of Forestry and Estate Crops

	Estimated Expenditure by Fiscal Year of Implementation
Fiscal Year	1998
Amount	$650,000

Operating Unit: Funding: ANE/SPOTS                 Managing: G/ENV/DAA

Objective Number:  498-015 1998 SEA-04

Brief Activity Description:  This activity of the International Center for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF) with the USDA Forest Service focuses on policy reform and extension of technical innovations as alternatives to slash and burn agriculture in Southeast Asia.  Four areas of concentration include: (1) policy development for community forestry and agroforestry; (2) timber marketing and trade policy reform; (3) extension innovations to facilitate implementation of alternatives to slash and burn; and (4) collaboration with understanding the underlying causes of the fires.

This project was approved at the end of FY1998 and was initiated 1999. The following are the accomplishments to date.

Component 1.  Policy development for community forestry and agroforestry

A cluster of five community forestry sites were identified in the key research watershed of Sumberjaya, Lampung, Indonesia. This cluster will be the locus for a series of case studies on local efforts to secure land rights and tree tenure in a watershed representing conditions where there has been widespread settlement on protected state forest lands for the production of coffee.  This area is a challenge because the Ministry of Forestry perceives the activities of the farming population unfavorably, and has implemented a vigorous, but unsuccessful effort to displace households farming within the forest area.

The policy team conducted a series of community surveys over several weeks at the Sumberjaya watershed to characterize the farming systems, demographics, and document the nature of the tenurial conflicts between villagers and the State. Six more weeks of field work are currently in progress in this area where a partner NGO has taken up residence.

ICRAF’s national policy analysis team worked intensively on a day-to-day basis as part of the inner group involved in the development of the new Forestry Law for Indonesia. Now that the Law has been adopted by the parliament, the team is continuing to work intensively as part of the process of  developing the implementing regulations and guidelines for the law.

Component 2. Timber marketing and trade policy reform

An ICRAF policy memorandum that recommended a major reduction in the export tax structure for farm-grown species of timber is under review in the Ministry of Finance. The current uncertainty related to the democratic transition in government has made progress in this area problematic for the time being.

Component 3. Extension innovations to facilitate implementation of alternatives to slash and burn

To promote smallholder tree production systems, village level workshops were convened by ICRAF and collaborating institutions in three Lampung, Indonesia villages and farmers’ preferences for trees were identified. A set of evaluation trials were implemented to investigate the comparative performance of a range of prospective species suited to smallholder timber production.

The data obtained from the 'species by elevation' trials in Mindanao, Philippines were analyzed and two draft manuscripts were completed. A draft extension manual was completed that contains recommendations from the research trials about the optimal species to produce at different elevations in the buffer zones outside Kitanglad National Park.

The experience of the innovative farmer tree seed organization that has evolved in Lantapan, Mindanao, was analyzed and written up.

To promote an innovative program in conservation farming, this project’s team wrote a major concept proposal in August, 1999, that aims to undertake research and development activities that will result in a complete revamp of the Indonesian National Regreening Program. This large program has implemented soil conservation and tree planting in watersheds throughout the country for many years. However, it is increasingly evident that the program has not accomplished its objectives, even though large sums of national and international funds have been invested. The proposal espouses a participatory approach that is based on a new generation of technical and institutional innovations, particularly the approach of farmer-led landcare groups. The proposal was circulated and a special seminar was held in September to discuss it in depth.

In November, the director of the division of reforestation and land rehabilitation, Mr Hadi Pasaribu, arranged a visit by himself and his team to ICRAF in Bogor. He strongly endorsed the new strategy for the National Regreening Program and requested ICRAF to begin working vigorously with the Ministry to fully implement the program of research and development. ICRAF agreed with the proposal and has appointed a point person to liaise closely with the Ministry to operationalize this initiative.

The number of Farmer-Led Landcare  groups in Mindanao expanded to over 200 in six municipalities. The Governor of Bukidnon Province convened a one-day workshop on Landcare attended by all the Mayors and provincial line agency staff. The Landcare approach was strongly endorsed. The output of the meeting was the declaration of a provincial-wide Landcare program. The chairman of the League of Provincial Mayors committed to working with ICRAF to extend Landcare to all municipalities.

Collaboration with EAPEI understanding the underlying causes of the fires

Remote sensing images are being acquired to assess land-use changes and burned areas.

An ASB site in Jambi, Indonesia will be a case study site for the fire assessment.