Shifting Cultivation-Mozambique
A large majority of agricultural production in Mozambique is based off of shifting cultivation methods. Shifting cultivation is sometimes referred to as slash-and-burn but it is not always the case. In Mozambique farmers plant one crop per year and after the harvest they move areas to allow the soil to replenish its nutrients and start all over.
Most farmers hand plow their fields and hand pick the crops as well. Agricultural technology is very rare in Mozambique and because of this large amounts of workers are needed to tend the fields. Farming is practiced by roughly 80% of the country and it being the largest source of income, however, most farmers live well below the poverty level. While I was there you could definitely see just how poor these people are just by looking at their homes. Most were built out of mud and thatch, similar to the tribal huts of the Koi Sahn tribe.
The number one crop that is grown on the farms is typically corn, with some variation of wheat, or cassava root. Life on the farm is rough. Generally farm hands put in 12 hours a day with little over 35 cents a week in income.
No comments:
Post a Comment