Sustainable land management with rubber-based agroforestry: a Bangladeshi example of uplands community development

The paper outlines the experience and performance of a community-focused land management and agroforestry project (the Upland Settlement Project or USP) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region in south-eastern Bangladesh. The project attempts to 'rehabilitate and develop' some impoverished indigenous ethnic people, who have hitherto been engaged in shifting cultivation. The paper sheds light on the nature, organization and achievements of the project. Of late, the upland ethnic communities have received increased attention from development academics and activists alike. The USP, administered by the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board, has been found to be reasonably appropriate and acceptable to participating farming families. One thousand families from four ethnic communities have been resettled. Each family has received ownership title to land, with a view to developing it through integrated homestead agroforestry and rubber plantations, and all necessary community facilities and services were also provided. To evaluate the performance of the programme, a survey was conducted through a semi-structured questionnaire (complemented by observation and ethno-histories). Major problems observed during the course of fieldwork included the inadequate and delayed release of funds, marginal participation of women in the project meetings, lack of base-line socio-economic, demographic and topographic information and the project staff's limited exposure to participatory working style. Despite the limitations, however, the majority of the participating families expressed their general satisfaction about their present level of participation in the project. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment