chitemene

…woodland through the adoption of chitemene cultivation, widespread in Zambia even today. That technique depends heavily on the use of iron axes, because seed is sown in the ashes of branches lopped from trees.

…of a shifting variety called chitemene, whereby trees (or their branches) are cut and then piled in the centre of the clearing for burning, the crop being planted in the ashes. Expanded rural populations, however, growing because of improved health care and nutrition, have in turn led farmers to let…