1. Khaled Misbahuzzaman CIFOR, Bogor, 26 March 2009
PEN Study in Rangamati and Banderban Districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
Khaled Misbahuzzaman
CIFOR, Bogor, 26 March 2009

2. Context Village | Population
The study was conducted in the south-eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh
The mean annual total rainfall: mm; the mean annual temperature: approx. 260C and the mean temperature: C; the mean humidity is approx. 76%.
The region covers an area of about sq. km and occupies about 76% of the total upland areas of the country
The Village Common Forest Communities were contacted for survey, the number of villages surveyed were 7 where approximately 2230 people were living
70 households were surveyed, where average number of people per household were 4.3
Village | Population |
| Empupara | |
Kurongpara |
| Chaiggachari |
| Changrachari |
| Hajachari |
| Headmanpara |
| Madhyapara |

3. Household Income Sources
How large are household incomes ?
Source
Total
Cash
Share
Subsist
Direct Forest 60 40
Forest Derived
645.65
100
Fish
478.26
Non-forest environment
Crop 43
8768.0 57
Livestock
853.32
759.05 89
94.27 11
Other
296.76
Wage
Business
1448

4. Income sources and seasonality
Income Distribution- all QTRS Quarterly Income Distribution
end summer
end winter
end rain
end autumn
For some households, environmental income may be considered as ‘seasonal gap filler’ in that wild tubers and other root crops are harvested particularly to supplement vegetables requirement

5. Key forest and environmental products
Products that provide at least 10% of income
* Direct Forest Income, total net income is
fup_pdt fup_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent
timber
bamboo
* Forest Derived Income, total net income is
fpr_pdt fpr_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent
Bera
Thurong
Jhumghor
Jurga

6. Key forest and environmental products cont’d
* Fish Income, total net income is
fish_type fish_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent
stream fish
No aqua income
* Non-forest environmental Income, total net income is
env_pdt env_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent
anim fodd
thatch grass
tubers
The main method of valuation was respondent-reported values. Most products (vegetables) are traded locally and some (bamboos and timber) regionally. However, estimating value for fodder for animals was not straightforward. Here, the respondent was asked firstly how much the product would be worth in the market, and if this was difficult to obtain, the respondent was then asked how much they would be willing to sell the product for. For fuelwood and thatching grass district markets were visited for price estimation

7. Income composition and poverty
Averages in quintiles
. * All For. Inc. - All Forest Income (dfi fdi and pfs)
. * Tot. Inc. - Total Income
quintile All For. Inc. (avg.) Tot. Inc. (avg.) As % of Tot. Inc.

8. Other patterns
There is no evidence that currently forest income is a stepping stone out of poverty, though there is potential to enhance income from selling processed products of bamboo and medicinal plants
However, environmental income from ecotourism services and PES schemes could be ensured provided that a proper government land use policy that offers tenurial security to the communities is in place (currently under consideration by the newly formed government in the country)
Households using forests to cope with crisis
Freq. Percent Cum.
No |
Yes |
Total |
Most common coping mechanisms
How did you cope? | Freq. Percent Cum.
Assistance from friends and relatives |
Harvest more wild products not in forest |
Harvest more forest products |
Harvest more agricultural products |
Did nothing in particular |
Tried to reduce household spending |
Get loan from money lender, credit asso |
Do extra casual labour work |
Spend cash savings |
Assistance from NGO, community org.|
Total |

9. Policies and overall findings
The government policy to stop traditional farming (shifting cultivation) has had impacts on community livelihood strategies in that rice was (is being) cultivated in many forms, in traditional shifting cultivation (locally termed as jhum chash), in hill terraces and slopes, in valleys and in plain land
The above policy resulted in crop diversification (including crop combinations of horticultural and vegetable crops, and root crops such as turmeric and ginger) in hills which though improved livelihood has contributed to environmental degradation
The most exciting finding from the study is that the communities still adheres to age old principles of resource conservation and management particularly water and forest resources which are vital for community survival in the fragile landscape