Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
11.1 Introduction
In Bangladesh, 41.3 percent of the population lives under the poverty line, compared
to 5.6 percent, 17 percent, and 34.3 percent in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India respec-
tively (UNDP 2007). Moreover, with an annual growth rate of 1.7 percent, its total
population may increase from 158.66 million in 2007 to 206 million in 2025 (ESCAP
2007). The grave poverty situation and steady population growth have mounted pres-
sure on the country's natural resources. Forests are depleted by commercial timber
exploitation and gradually converted into pastures, plantations, and cultivated fields.
By the year 2005, only 6.7 percent of the country's surface area was left under forest,
with a net forest loss estimated at 2,000 ha per year for the period 2000-2005 (FAO
2006). Forest fallows have been eliminated completely, with the cycle period of slash-
and-burn cultivation declining from about 20 years in 1900 to about 3 years today.
Due to the depletion of firewood resources, rural communities turn to alternative fuels
such as cow dung and crop residues that previously served as organic manure on
agricultural fields. The shorter fallow periods, reduced organic inputs and repeated
removal of nutrients with harvested crops have contributed to soil degradation and,
consequently, lowered crop yields and farmers' returns leading to more poverty.
Agroforestry is often seen as one of the very few options that might lift farmers
out of the poverty trap. In developing countries, approximately 1.2 billion poor
people depend directly on a variety of agroforestry products and services (IPCC
2000). In the five sub-Saharan African case studies described in Franzel and Scherr
(2002), agroforestry is shown to have the potential to increase farm incomes and
resolve difficult environmental problems. It is financially more profitable to local
farmers than the traditional cultivation is, besides providing other economic and
social benefits. Thus, agroforestry can help reduce poverty and support the transi-
tion to permanent cultivation (Mai 1999). Agroforestry is not only economically but
also envrionmentally promising, supporting as it does the agroclimate and biodiver-
sity (Huxley 1993), shelter and soil organic matter, water and nutrients (Sae-Lee
et al. 1992; Wu 1996; Elevitch and Wilkinson 1998). Another study (Ahmed and
Rahman 2000) suggests that establishment of multi-layered cropping systems is
inevitable for Bangladesh to supply enough fruits, fuel wood, timber and various
agricultural products for the growing population.
Bangladesh lies in the 'homegarden zone' of the global map in Nair and Kumar
(2006) and indeed in Bangladesh, practices of agroforestry are well-known to most
farming families in rural areas. Before the widespread introduction of rice, wheat
and other seasonal cash crops in the 1970s, traditional mixed cropping systems
based on perennial tuber, root, and fruit tree crops grown in association with vegeta-
bles were practiced throughout Bangladesh (Alim 1993). Moreover, with the decreas-
ing yields of crops planted in seasonal crops, farmers have recognized the need for
modifying their farming practices and conserving soil resources. Some alternative
farming technologies including multistrata agroforestry systems (e.g., fruit garden-
ing, multipurpose homegardens) have been introduced especially after 1980 in the
north as well as in other parts of Bangladesh under various development projects of
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