The good and bad of Kaingin System
Farmers have different ways to make the land suitable for farming their crops. Land converting usually happens when farmers do not have any more suitable land that they can use for farming, an example of which is using forest lands. In the Philippines, farmers use a rather simple but destructive practice to convert these forest lands into farm lands. That practice is called the "Kaingin" system.
Kaingin ,or Slash-and-Burn system, is a common deforestation practice in the Philippines that indigenous people use to convert forest lands into suitable lands for farming. As the name suggests, farmers cut the trees from forests and burn them. The ash produced from burning these trees will be used as fertilizers to make that land suitable for farming. Converting forests through Kaingin system could help farmers produce more crops, but what makes this practice very harmful and dangerous for the environment are things such as loss of habitat, soil erosion, loss of soil fertility as well as climate change due to this deforestation practice. Kaingin could also ruin the biodiversity and the ecosystem of forests if farmers continue to practice it as this is more harmful to the environment than normal logging.
Having the government invest more in agriculture is a good first step to stop this harmful practice. Local government units could also assign local officials or volunteers to patrol in hills or mountains to warn farmers about Kaingin system. Teaching farmers the alternatives on how to farm more crops without destroying the environment too much is a good way to lessen the number of farmers that are using this deforestation practice.