The Bamileke are skilled farmers who exploit virtually every strip of land available. Along with the neighbouring Northwest Province, the West supplies most of the food consumed in Cameroon's seven lower provinces. Tools are largely traditional. Farmers plant after the first rains in fields consisting of alternating ridges and furrows. In the past, farmers practiced field rotation, allowing land to lie fallow for two or three years. Due to increasing population density, however, they use the land almost continuously today; the loss in fertility is partially countered through extensive use of fertilisers and manure. Hedges or fences that separate private plots and keep out animals surround farms in the West. These hedges also provide firewood and help prevent from soil erosion. In the Southeast, farmers sometimes place fields in forest clearings where they use slash-and-burn agriculture.