Chitemene cultivation is a form of slash-and-burn farming that makes full use of woodland. In the woodland, the year is clearly divided into dry and rainy seasons. In May, when the dry season begins, men go out to the woodland, climbing trees and cutting off branches using an axe. They never cut down big tree trunks. Women carry the dried out branches and leaves to the center of the cutting field and pile them up there. Tree cutting area will be six times larger than burned field. This is a way of cultivation that promotes the renewal of the woodland.

A man cutting off branches from a tree

A woman carrying dry branches and leaves to the center of the cutting field.