Chitemene from the ciBemba

Bemba language

The Bemba language, ChiBemba , is a major Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people and as a lingua franca by about 18 related ethnic groups, including the Bisa people of Mpika and Lake Bangweulu, and to a lesser extent in Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the...

 word meaning “place where branches have been cut for a garden”, is a system of slash and burn agriculture practiced throughout northern Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

. It involves coppicing

Coppicing

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...

 or pollarding

Pollarding

Pollarding is a pruning system in which the upper branches of a tree are removed, promoting a dense head of foliage and branches. It has been common in Great Britain and Europe since medieval times and is practiced today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a predetermined...

 of standing trees in a primary or secondary growth Miombo

Miombo

Miombo is the Swahili word for Brachystegia, a genus of tree comprising a large number of species. Miombo woodland is classified in the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome...

 woodland, stacking of the cut biomass

Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....

, and eventual burning of the cut biomass in order to create a thicker layer of ash than would be possible with in situ burning. Crops such as maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, finger millet

Finger millet

Eleusine coracana, commonly Finger millet , also known as African millet or Ragi is an annual plant widely grown as a cereal in the arid areas of Africa and Asia. E...

, sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

, or cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

 are then planted in the burned area.

Description

Chitemene systems are most widely used throughout the Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands that is the largest ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 in Zambia and the predominant ecoregion of Northwestern, Copperbelt

Copperbelt Province

Copperbelt Province in Zambia covers the mineral-rich Copperbelt, and farming and bush areas to the south. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule and fuelled the hopes of the immediate post-independence period, but its economic importance was severely...

, Central

Central Province, Zambia

Central Province is one of Zambia's nine provinces. The provincial capital is Kabwe, home of the Mulungushi Rock of Authority, founder home of UNIP, the ruling political party in the second republic ....

, Northern

Northern Province, Zambia

Northern Province is one of Zambia's nine provinces. It covers approximately one fifth of Zambia in land area. The provincial capital is Kasama. The province is made up of 12 districts, namely Kasama , Chilubi, Isoka, Chinsali, Kaputa, Luwingu, Mbala, Mporokoso, Mpika, Mpulungu, Mungwi and Nakonde...

, and Luapula

Luapula Province

Luapula Province is one of Zambia's nine provinces, and is located in the north of the country. The provincial capital is Mansa. Luapula Province was named after the Luapula River....

 provinces. Typical soils in this biome are of the order Oxisols, which are highly weathered, acidic, and easily leached soils. The pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

 of these soils range from 4.0 to 4.5, values too acidic for the cultivation of most common cereal grains and root crops in Zambia (maize, finger millet, sorghum, and cassava). The chitemene system, which creates a surplus of ash in concentrated spaces, raises the soil pH, enabling the cultivation of those crops. Furthermore, the heat generated by the burning of the biomass fumigates the soil, kills any existing weed seeds, and reduces the soil to a fine tilth

Tilth

Tilth can refer to two things:Tillage and a measure of the health of soil.Good tilth is a term referring to soil that has the proper structure and nutrients to grow healthy crops. Soil in good tilth is loamy, nutrient-rich soil that can also be said to be friable because optimal soil has a mixture...

, reducing labor requirements for cultivation of the soil.

The agricultural viability of a chitemene region is limited to a few years, until the soil pH declines. After the yield declines, a new area is cleared for chitemene, and the initial site is left to lie fallow. Typically, the regrowth of branches and natural leaf litter from the coppiced or pollarded stumps will restore soil fertility in 20 to 25 years, at which point the chitemene process is repeated.

Types of chitemene

Though there are numerous variations on chitemene systems, three types of chitemene are practiced in distinct groupings in Northern Zambia, depending largely on the tribal traditions and soil characteristics of the specific area. The systems are distinguished from each other by the:

• Ratio of cleared area to that of the cultivated portion
• Shape and size of the cleared area and cultivated portion
• Period of cultivation
• Rotation of crops
• Staple crops

Large circle chitemene

Large circle chitemene is practiced in northeast Zambia over the extent of the Muchinga plateau within Luapula and Northern Provinces. In Luapula province, it is practiced uniformly in all districts in the portions outside of the lowland areas surrounding Lake Bangweulu as well as those adjoining the Luapula River valley. In Northern province, it is practiced everywhere outside of the afore mentioned Bangweulu lowlands, the Chambeshi River flat, the areas west of Mpulungu and north of Lake Mweru Mwantipa, and near to the borders of Tanzania (where another rake-and-hoe system is practiced). By and large, the farmers engaged in large-circle chitemene are Bemba speakers, though not necessarily Bembas by tribe. Large circle chitemene has the following distinguishing features:

1. Pollarding of trees and stacking of branches into a circular or oval space comprising 1/6 to 1/10 of the area cleared.
2. Land use is from four to six years
3. Common crops include finger millet, cassava, groundnuts, beans, maize, and sorghum. The dominant crop in this area is cassava.
4. Area of cropped land (i.e. land cleared) is between 4 and 5.4 acres (21,853 m²).

Small circle chitemene

This system is practiced in an area extending from the southern portion of Mpika District (Northern Province) westwards throughout the Muchinga Escarpment uplands of Central Province to the vicinity of Kapiri Mposhi. It is a common practice of the predominant tribes of the region, the Laala and Swaka peoples. Its main features include:

1. Coppicing of trees and stacking of trunks and branches into a series of long, rectangular-shaped mounds. Unlike large-circle chitemene, the cleared area may contain more than one mound to be burned or cultivated.
2. Immediate cultivated land use is for two to three years.
3. Predominant crops are millet, maize, and sorghum.

Block chitemene

This system is predominant from Kapiri Mposhi in the east to Mufumbwe in the west, and is a practice of the baLamba and baKaonde tribes of Central, Copperbelt, and Northwestern Provinces.

1. Due to the relative paucity of people and plenitude of land, large trees are base-cut, left to dry, and then burned before the rains. Crops are planted in both the cleared and burned areas to the extent that nearly all cleared land is planted.
2. Size of cleared land is approximately 2.3 acres (9,307.8 m²).
3. Predominant crops are maize and sorghum.

Ecological issues

Chitemene is an ecologically sound system in a situation where land pressure from population demands are low and ample woodland is present. In the past, when land and population were respectively plentiful and sparse, chitemene fields had ample time to lay fallow and recover before farmers returned to clear the field again. However, in contemporary Zambia, farmers switching from traditional crop rotations to monoculture of maize continue to practice chitemene. Unfortunately, the nutrient demands of maize tend to exhaust soils faster than traditional crops such as sorghum or millet, and the desire to sell maize as a commodity expedites the expansion of chitemene clearings.