Lao PDR - Rural life - Slash and burn

An Akha Oma man from Ban Na Nam village harvests his hill rice. Slash and burn cultivation or ‘hai’ in Lao PDR consists of cutting the natural vegetation, leaving it to dry and then burning it for temporary cropping of the land, the ash acting as a natural fertiliser. Shifting cultivation practices, although remarkably sustainable and adapted to their environment in the past, have come under increasing stress in recent decades and are now starting to be a major problem in Lao PDR, causing widespread deforestation and watershed degradation.

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Filename: A_11316cc_1.jpg
Copyright: Tessa Bunney
Image Size: 2828x2120 / 523.0KB; Southeast Asia Southeast Asia Laos Lao PDR Lao PDR Tessa Bunney rural life Phongsaly Phongsali remote countryside environment land landscape mountainous hilly hill hills slash and burn slash burn rice harvest harvesting swidden hai crop crops field farm farming subsistence work working food production agriculture male man Oma Akha Akha Oma scythe tool steep hillside hill tribe hill tribes
Contained in galleries: Lao PDR - Rural Life

An Akha Oma man from Ban Na Nam village harvests his hill rice. Slash and burn cultivation or ‘hai’ in Lao PDR consists of cutting the natural vegetation, leaving it to dry and then burning it for temporary cropping of the land, the ash acting as a natural fertiliser. Shifting cultivation practices, although remarkably sustainable and adapted to their environment in the past, have come under increasing stress in recent decades and are now starting to be a major problem in Lao PDR, causing widespread deforestation and watershed degradation.