Assessing land use changes and livelihood outcomes of rural people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, Bangladesh

Abstract

Land use change is a pressing concern for the livelihoods of people in tropical developing countries. Changes in land use from swidden (shifting cultivation) agriculture to smallholder tree‐dominated areas producing timber, fruits and cash crops can result in changing livelihood outcomes for rural communities. This paper examines land use patterns of rural households and the association with food production and income across three different zones of various forest proximity across a landscape gradient (remote, intermediate and on‐road) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. We conducted in‐depth semi‐structured surveys of households (175–300) and farm owners (30) to collect information on people's perceptions of land use change, present land use patterns and contributions to food production and income. Our research found that more than half of the surveyed households experienced a decline in the land available for food production over the past 30 years. The land use patterns revealed decreasing crop lands (mainly swidden shifting cultivation/land rotation farms) and an increase in areas of planted trees within this landscape. However, household use of the reduced crop land has not affected food production in the on‐road zone, whereas the diversity of food sources has declined. People living in more remote areas engaged in swidden farming and used larger areas of crop and fallow lands, fruit orchard and accessed natural forest lands that provide a diverse reservoir of food sources. The current land uses contribute to variations in annual household income across zones, with remote dwelling people earning less to those living closer to urban areas in the intermediate and on‐road zones. In summary, this transition of land uses over three decades and changes in income and food availability cannot be generalised across the region because of zone specific differences. We recommend a broader and context‐reliant landscape management approach in consideration of the diversity of forest and tree benefits for the livelihoods of people in the region.

Determinants of forest and tree uses across households of different sites and ethnicities in Bangladesh

“…But forest and planted tree-land management result in diverse social and environmental outcomes in different landscape contexts (Reed, Ros-Tonen, and Sunderland 2020). For instance, the planted tree-land uses increased in the context of secure land ownership (i.e., specific intermediate and on-road locations of the region) and contributed to the economic benefits of the rural communities (Ahammad et al 2019;Ahammad, Stacey, and Sunderland 2020). However, in the remote location, people owned a limited amount of planted tree areas for their own uses, and a relatively larger number of households maintained their forest resource uses through accessing state-managed forests (Ahammad 2019).…”

Farming methods and the livelihood outcomes of women in Eastern Uganda

“…If their methods of farming were capable of addressing farming challenges, they would have acquired assets through proceeds from agriculture. It is indicated that women's agricultural yields are often low (Ahammad et al, 2020). This limits acquisition of assets that they would rely on in times of uncertainty.…”

“…With regards to women, it is observed that they practice agriculture with the intention to attain food security, fuel, water, clothing, shelter, education and medical care (Carr, 2013;De Haan, 2012;FAO et al, 2019;FAO et al, 2018;Lang and Barling, 2012;Ugwu, 2019). Regrettably, the majority have not achieved these outcomes as their agricultural yields are often low and are not commensurate to the labour invested (Ahammad et al, 2020;Kassie, 2017;Valdivia, 2019). This setback is attributed to the perilous challenge of poor soils, illiteracy, small land size, low incomes, climate change and gender power relations (Baba et al, 2015;FAO et al, 2018;Gebru et al, 2018;Ugwu, 2019).…”

Conservation of Natural Resources and Biodiversity Management In Bandarban, Bangladesh

“…The forests of CHT are ecologically classified as Tropical wetevergreen, Tropical semi-evergreen, Tropical moist-deciduous, Tropical open deciduous and Savannah forests (Chowdhury 2006). Forests contribute a significant portion of the economy (46%) at local and national levels, followed by crop/fruit production in the region (Ahammad et al 2020, Hossain 2016. The evergreen and mixed evergreen forests of CHT are the habitat of more than 1560 species of flowering plants.…”