Factors influencing land-use change in areas with shifting cultivation in the Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh | |
| Author | Rasul, Golam |
| Call Number | AIT DISS. no. RD-03-04 |
| Subject(s) | Shifting cultivation--Bangladesh Land use--Bangladesh |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Steep slopes and heavy seasonal rainfall have made most part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a hilly region in the eastern part of Bangladesh, vulnerable to soil erosion. Shifting cultivation, locally known asjhum, is an extensive land use system for growing crops over one or two seasons and then moving on to another plot. Increased pressure on land due to population growth and other competitive uses, has forced farmers to reduce the fallow cycle sharply. Growing annual crops with short fallow period by slash-and-burn on sloping lands, which is otherwise suitable for perennial crops, has accelerated deforestation, soil erosion and nutrient depletion and resulted in declining yields and income for the poor tribal people depending on agriculture for sustenance. Challenges faced by the government are how to promote locally suitable land use systems, which can conserve resources and provide sufficient income to the farmers to improve their living conditions. Despite concern, little effott has been made to understand the underlying factors, which influence land use change. A review of experiences gained elsewhere suggests that land use decision-making is a complex process influenced by a host of biophysical, socioeconomic, institutional, and policy factors operate at different levels, macro, meso and micro. To explore the factors that determine the land use system, a comprehensive framework was adopted combining national, regional and household level factors. The study was conducted at three different levels, macro (entire CHT), meso (village level) and micro (household level). Information was collected both from primary and secondary sources. Primary information was collected through household survey, village survey, observation, group discussions, focused group discussions, key informants interview, and reconnaissance survey using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Secondary information was collected from relevant government offices, NGOs, books, journals, maps, and reports. Collected information was analyzed through qualitative and quantitative techniques including Cluster Analysis (CA), Factor Analysis (FA), Discriminant Analysis (DA) and Cost-benefit Analysis (CBA). The analysis begins with the pre-colonial period in the mid l 81 h century, when shifting cultivation was the only form of land use. The process of change was induced by the nationalization of land and forest and establishment of reserve forests during the British colonial period and reinforced by the construction of a hydroelectric dam during 1960s, which inundated a vast area of valley land. Planned settlement of lowland people to CHT during 1980s created further pressure on land. These factors drive the changes in land use in CHT and several types of land use systems evolved over time. However, the patterns of land use vary from one area to another area. CA identified three distinct types of land use systems in 36 study villages namely "extensive" dominated by shifting cultivation, "semiextensive", where valley farming, agro-forestry, timber plantation and livestock raising were incorporated into fallow based shifting cultivation and part of the land cultivated continuously and "intensive" where land is used continuously for horticulture, agroforestry & tree cropping. Factors influencing inter-regional variation in land use were explored through FA and DA, which revealed that institutional suppo1t, productive resource base, and distance to market and services were crucial in influencing the variation in types of land use systems practiced in the study area. Land use also varies among the farm households. CA identifies four types of land use systems among the 304 sample households namely the "entirely }hum dependent type"; the ''}hum dominant mixed type" where ho1ticulture, agro-forestry, annual cash crops and valley farming incorporated with }hum; the "valley farming dominant mixed type" where }hum, agro-forestry, ho1ticulture, timber plantation, annual cashcrops and livestock raising are impo1tant components with valley farming; and, the "commercial horticulture dominant type" where agro-forestry, timber plantation and annual cashcrops are impo1tant components with horticulture. Factors influencing the variation in types of land use systems practiced by farm households were explored through DA analysis which revealed that farmers' ethnic affiliation, economic orientation, land ownership, land resource base, attitude towards permanent agriculture, education level, access to support services, are the important factors influencing the variation in types of land use system. Financial and economic performance of five land use systems namely }hum, annual cash crop, ho1ticulture, agro-forestry and timber plantation practiced by farmers in uplands were evaluated through CBA. Financial analysis shows that the annual cash crop system provides the highest return to per unit land and labor followed by horticulture, timber plantation, and agroforestry. Return from }hum is the lowest. However, high financial benefit in annual cashcrops comes with a high level of soil erosion ( l 09/t/h/y) while in agro-forestry and tree-farming soil erosion is the lowest I O/t/h/y. Cost of soil erosion was imputed using replacement cost method. When the cost of soil erosion was taken into consideration the relative profitability of land use systems changed considerably. Horticulture appears as the most profitable followed by annual cash crops, timber plantation, and agro-forestry. Jhum remains least remunerative in all respects. The analysis revealed that difficulties in marketing timber and agricultural commodities arising from inappropriate policies and institutional environment undermine the profitability of timber plantation, agro-forestry and horticulture. A scenario analysis conducted assuming alternative policy and institutional environment indicates that removing such constraints can substantially improve the financial benefit of tree crops, agro-forestry and horticulture and can offer a solution by achieving both economic and environmental goals. The study concludes that shifting cultivation, despite its lower financial benefits and higher environmental cost, predominates not because of tribal farmers' adherence to that land use system or a poor physical environment, rather because of inappropriate or poor policies, institutional environments, agricultural infrastructure, and support services that fail to create an environment conducive to change from shifting to sedentary land use systems. Policy and institutional reforms needed to facilitate such transformation have been identified and appropriate programs and strategies necessary to promote such land use systems are outlined. |
| Year | 2003 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Thapa, Gopal B. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Zoebisch, Michael A.;Soparth Pongquan |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2003 |