Marketing of Agroforestry Products in Bangladesh: A Value Chain Analysis

Abstract

Bangladesh agriculture, including agroforestry, is dominated by small-scale subsistence farming; however, farmers do not get proper prices for their products due to the involvement of many intermediaries in its value chain. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to analyze the value chain of main agroforestry products and the position of the various intermediaries within it, and to determine the extent of value addition in terms of costs in successive stages of products movements. The study was conducted in Madhupur Sal forests area of Bangladesh and data were collected through questionnaire interviews, focus group discussion, observation and literature review. In analyzing network structures of value chain, the study found that both agroforestry crops and timber marketing have regulated a number of intermediaries which enhanced value addition and created high marketing margins of products. Moreover, farmers had possessed strong negative relationship with intermediaries and that the lack of a farmer organization severely affected farmers' free and fair access to local markets to sell their products. So, there is an immediate need to establish farmers' cooperatives in order to reduce unexpected intermediaries from value chain to get fair prices of their products, and to harmonize and execute marketing legislations.

Production and Marketing of Agroforestry Products in the Municipality of Rizal, Kalinga

“…At the identical time, the marketing of agriculture and small-scale forestry products also plays a serious role in smallholders' economies which are both produced and consumed locally. These products are contributing a major role in developing countries because these products make a significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and their consumption represents a vital a part of rural people's expenditure (Kazi et al, 2014).…”

“…It's also worth considering the sort of timber and non-timber species or crops to be planted that are more adaptable in such a given topography for sustainable agroforestry farming. 16.07 % of the farmers were denied of receiving any assistance. This implies that almost all of the respondents received assistance from the government showing that the government is supportive to the farmers although some were denied.…”

Assessing the factors and constraints for value chain development of dairy food products in Bangladesh

“…Yogurt and ghee manufactured from dairy milk in this district has high market demand all over the country because of its taste and texture ( Islam et al., 2017 ). Earlier, in Bangladesh, several studies have been conducted relating to the value chain analysis, marketing system, and marketing efficiency of livestock, vegetable and fruit products ( Omar and Hoq, 2014 ; Chowdhury et al., 2012 ; Khatun et al., 2016 ; Nasrin, 2012 ; Islam, 2014 ; Ranathilak and Andri, 2014 ; Mango et al., 2015 ; Kumar et al., 2005 ). These studies provided important information about the vegetable production and marketing system, value chain analysis and price integration of livestock, and vegetable and fruit products produced in Bangladesh.…”