Agricultural Development And Land Degradation? Land Use Changes In The Kundasang Highlands Of Sabah

Abstract

Much of general literature suggests that land use changes following planned rural development programmes, and the desire among farmers to accumulate profits from cash cropping often lead to serious degradation of the environment. This paper examines land use changes, in terms of intensification and expansion of agriculture, that took place after a government programme to develop commercial agriculture among Dusun shifting cultivators in Kundasang highlands of Sabah, East Malaysia. The paper starts with an overview of the traditional land use system under shifting cultivation. A detailed discussion follows of land use changes adopted after the implementation of the agricultural development programme. Finally, the impact of these changes are analysed. The paper illustrates that, like many other places, the new crops, technologies and cultivation practices adopted in Kundasang have increased production but resulted in severe land degradation. To maintain production under such environmental conditions farmers were forced to adopt a new farming system based on high-energy and capital-intensive technology. However, unlike other places, some of the practices adopted under the new system of farming in Kundasang appear to be more sustainable than the previous practices and may lead to recovery of degraded land.