The first part of this chapter summarizes how swiddening, also called shifting agriculture and slash-and-burn agriculture, may still be a viable and relevant form of livelihood and food production in some locations and situations, particularly in Southeast Asia. In many parts of the world, shifting cultivation is often viewed negatively as a form of substantial forest degradation, which therefore contributes to anthropogenic climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases during burning. Thus, swidden landscapes are increasingly being identified as potential sites of entry for projects designed around the United Nations' collaborative programme Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). Many proponents envision that REDD+ incentives, based on a financial value for carbon stored in forests, could tempt forest-frontier communities away from swidden agriculture and towards other systems that potentially reduce emissions and/or increase carbon sequestration. The second part of this chapter questions the viability of such programmes, largely because of the great uncertainty regarding the carbon outcomes of many of the main land-use transitions involved. It is argued that there is an urgent need to advance understanding of the extent to which swiddening fits into the causes and cures of climate change, not just in terms of carbon emissions and sequestration, but in terms of how swiddeners are affected by the process. Therefore, the final part of this chapter explores unanswered questions with regard to REDD+ and swiddening.
