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 la nd management and agroforestry project (the Upland Settlement Project or US P) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region in south-eastern Bangladesh. The project attempts to 'rehabilitate and develop' some impoverished indige nous ethnic people, who have hitherto been engaged in shifting cultivation The paper sheds light on the nature, organization and achievements of the p roject. Of late, the upland ethnic communities have received increased atte ntion 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 far ming families. One thousand families from four ethnic communities have been resettled. Each family has received ownership title to land, with a view t o developing it through integrated homestead agroforestry and rubber planta tions, and all necessary community facilities and services were also provid ed. To evaluate the performance of the programme, a survey was conducted throug h a semi-structured questionnaire (complemented by observation and ethno-hi stories). Major problems observed during the course of fieldwork included t he 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 partic ipatory working style. Despite the limitations, however, the majority of th e participating families expressed their general satisfaction about their p resent level of participation in the project. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.