Chitemene

Chitemene (also spelled citemene), from the ciBemba word meaning “place where branches have been cut for a garden”, is a system of slash and burn agriculture practiced throughout northern Zambia.

The pH 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).

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.

The systems are distinguished from each other by the: Large circle chitemene is practiced in northeast Zambia over the extent of the Muchinga plateau within Luapula and Northern Provinces.

Its main features include: 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.