A VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF AGROFORESTRY PRODUCTS IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN REGION OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

This study explores the market linkages in a typical agroforestry value chain in Bangladesh, particularly the participation of the micro and subsistence level farming and household-community units in this chain. The study area is Dumuria Upazila which is a 30 square km land area in the outskirt of Khulna which is the third largest city of Bangladesh located in the south-western region of Bangladesh. Agro-products produced in the Dumuria Upazila and then sold in the areas including Dumuria Bazar and Gollamari Bazar which are peri-urban locations of Khulna city. The particular objectives of this study were to identify different value chains of agroforestry products, the relationship of various intermediaries within it, and to explore the impact of agroforestry practices on the socioeconomic condition of the local population. The assessment was performed by using multistage sampling of 80 households using a semi-structured questionnaire, and 30 intermediaries were included on convenience basis for tracing the structure of market linkage and existing problems, in the marketing of agro-products in the study area.  Explored network structures of the value chain have revealed that both the marketing of agroforestry crops and timber, include the intermediaries that have contributed to different forms of value-addition to the original product and produced higher gains for the participants in the value chain. Value chain participants in the point of origin of the products, farmers and households, reported being discriminated in terms of price taking while end-market intermediaries were found to absorb major shares of the total gain originated in the value chain.  The farmers were neutral in terms of satisfaction in case of purchase by the government, while the intermediaries were dissatisfied with the same. Findings of this study contributes in generating understanding the process of value creation, power structure, and gain sharing in the localized natural resources-based value chains.