Abstract
In the Padma floodplain of Bangladesh, the traditional system of agriculture has become unsustainable due to high population growth. Mango-based agroforestry which has been practiced by the farmers since the 1990s, is a promising alternative and is considered as one of the few options to lift farmers out of poverty and improve livelihood security. This paper examines the potential of mango-based agroforestry to improve livelihoods, using data collected by rapid rural appraisal, farmer participatory research, stakeholder analysis and a farm household survey in six representative villages in the floodplain. Farmers with the least land were found to allocate a higher percentage of their land to agroforestry, and the increased income from agroforestry compared to other agricultural systems helps reduce relative poverty. This income maintains basic household needs, providing food security and fuelwood, and contributes to healthcare, housing and sanitation conditions, and meeting educational expenses.
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Notes
The taungya system involves the planting of cash or food crops between newly planted forest seedlings in a reforestation or plantation project (Alam et al. 1996).
1 ac = 0.41 ha.
The Government and NGOs provide farmers with essential information, training and subsidised seeds and seedlings.
An upazila is a sub-district.
RRA was conducted with the people of study site to understand basic information of the villages (e.g. location of farm households, distance of cultivation fields, crop calendar).
In this study ‘poor’ has been defined by considering farmers’ incomes. ‘Poor’ are taken as those with incomes of not more than US$1.25 per person per day, following UNDP (2010 ).
USD 1 = BDT (Bangladesh Taka) 68.40 as of November 2009.
Land-grabbing is prevented because planting trees improve resource tenure by greater monitoring and control over land.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the Department of Sociology of the University of Rajshahi, CIFOR and the IC-SAAKTI Project for providing financial support for this research. We are also grateful to Professors Khan, Siddiquee and Hossain for their valuable advice and guidance. Many thanks are also given to the farmers at the field survey sites, who shared their precious time, thoughts and concerns, and even their sometimes scarce meals with us.
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Rahman, S.A., Imam, M.H., Snelder, D.J. et al. Agroforestry for Livelihood Security in Agrarian Landscapes of the Padma Floodplain in Bangladesh. Small-scale Forestry 11, 529–538 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-012-9198-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-012-9198-y