Abstract
Against the backdrop of environmental degradation and poverty caused by traditional agricultural systems in the mountain regions, this study classified agricultural systems in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and analyzed their determinants, with the objective of seeking policies for environmentally compatible and economically viable agricultural systems. Information was collected from 36 tribal villages of Bandarban district through household survey, group discussion, observation, key informant interview, and secondary sources. In view of the complex heterogeneity of prevailing agricultural systems in the surveyed villages, systems were classified into three major groups – extensive, semi-extensive and intensive – using cluster analysis. The factors determining these three types of agricultural systems were analyzed using factor analysis. Discriminant analysis was performed to explore the relative influence of these predicted factors. Institutional support, including land tenure, extension services and credit facilities, productive resource base and the distance to the market and service centres were found to be the major factors influencing agricultural systems in the study area. Provision of appropriate institutional support, including a secure system of land tenure, is indispensable for enabling poor mountain farmers to adopt environmentally and economically sound intensive agricultural systems such as plantation, agroforestry and livestock husbandry. Emphasis is also laid on linking mountain regions to other regions through the development of infrastructure such as roads.
