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Knowledge of Chakma Women on Shifting Cultivation: a Comparative Study Between Bangladesh and India

D. Bhattacharjee
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur-1706, Bangladesh.

A. A. Barau
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Shifting cultivation is the primary livelihood of the Chakma people where women participation is visibly prominent. Hence, this study comparatively examined the knowledge of Chakma women participating in shifting cultivation in Bangladesh and India. Three hundred respondents were selected following stratified disproportionate random sampling. Data were collected using interview schedule and analyzed through descriptive statistics. Majority of respondents were middle age, illiterate, had medium-sized families with small sized farms and an annual income below their expenditure. Most of them have good knowledge on primitive shifting cultivation, but possessed poor knowledge on modern agricultural practices like IPM/ICM and balanced use of fertilizer. Fruit gardening, banana and turmeric cultivation were the key promising alternatives in Bangladesh, but in India; rubber plantation, fruit gardening, turmeric cultivation and lemon plantation were the main alternatives to shifting cultivation. Land scarcity, rodent damage, insect infestation and disease outbreak were the major problems in shifting cultivation in Bangladesh, whereas low price of products, lack of irrigation facility and land scarcity were the major problems in shifting cultivation in India. Thus, awareness campaigns on scientific use of land and need based skill training addressing gender issues may be designed for alternative livelihood promotion in both the countries.

Keywords: Agricultural practices; Jhum cultivation; Tribal farming; Tribal women; Chakma.

Location: Khagrachari, Rangamati and Bandarban district of Chittagong division, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Comparative study

Commodity: Shifting cultivation, Women

Objectives:

By and large, the role played by Chakma women in shifting cultivation and its place in their livelihood cannot be over emphasized. But, most of the practices are known to be a part of native tradition of the Chakmas. Therefore, the present study addressed the following objectives to: i) describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents; ii) examine knowledge of the respondents on shifting cultivation; iii) identify alternatives to shifting cultivation and iv) determine the problems faced in shifting cultivation.

Methodology:

The study followed descriptive research design. The locale of the study was divided into two parts i.e. Khagrachari, Rangamati and Bandarban district of Chittagong division, Bangladesh; and Dhalai and North district of Tripura state in India. All the Chakmas involved in shifting cultivation in the selected areas were the target population of the study. For successful and unbiased sampling, a contact list of the population of the Jhum cultivators was collected from District Agriculture Offices of both countries. Fifty (50) respondents were selected from each of three districts of Bangladesh and 75 respondents from each of two districts of India using a disproportionate stratified random sampling technique. Thus, a total of 300 respondents were selected from five districts of the two countries as the sample of this study. A draft interview schedule was prepared and it was finalized based on limited scale pretest and expert opinions including university professors, extension workers, researchers and social workers. The interview schedule contained both open and closed form questions. Both of primary data and secondary information were used in this study. Primary data were generated using an interview schedule, while secondary information were obtained from the internet, journals, textbooks and relevant available sources. Ten independent variables viz. age, educational attainment, family size, earning member, farm size, training experience, membership of association, contact with the source of information, annual income and annual expenditure were considered for the present study. Independent variables were measured following standard techniques, i.e. age in actual years, education in schooling years, family size in number of members, earning members by number of capable earning members, farm size in hectare, training experience in number of day attended in any training, membership of association by attachment in any social, religious, educational or other organizations, contact with the source of information by counting the number of information gathering sources, annual income and expenditure in currencies of the respective countries. Knowledge of the Chakma women was examined by using a knowledge scale containing 10 relevant questions. Alternatives to shifting cultivation were counted by the percent of the respondents’ responses. On the other hand, problems encountered in shifting cultivation were identified and ranked based on the frequency of the respondents’ responses. Generated data were analyzed through descriptive statistical tools. Descriptive statistics including frequency, range, percentile and mean were used throughout the study. Analyzed data were categorized, tabulated and ranked order as per objectives of the study.

Source of Information: Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology 38(3): 57-66, 2020

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: 10.9734/AJAEES/2020/v38i330324

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

In both countries, the highest proportion of the respondents were middle aged, illiterate, having insufficient annual family income and belonged to small sized farm category. Majority of them had limited training experience and maintained medium contact with source of information. Majority of the respondents possessed poor knowledge on modern agricultural practices like IPM/ICM and balanced fertilizer although, they have a good knowledge on primitive shifting cultivation techniques. Rodent damage, pest infestation, disease outbreak, low price of the product, lack of transportation facility, lack of irrigation facility, monkey damage, low yield of their product, more input cost and scarcity of land were the major problems hampering shifting cultivation production in both Bangladesh and India. Perhaps, because of these problems, they are gradually adopting some alternatives. Some possible alternatives to shifting cultivation were fruit gardening, rubber plantation, turmeric cultivation, low land cultivation, business, mushroom production, lemon plantation and timber business.

In respect of socioeconomic parameters in both countries, majority of the respondents were lagging behind in the context of different indicators of development. Governments have to come forward with more development programs for improving their socioeconomic profiles as much as possible. Awareness campaigns should be organized on scientific use of hills which lead to maximum production with minimum environmental degradation in both countries. Land is becoming scarce day-by-day and as a result Jhum cycle is also reducing rapidly. Therefore, it is essential to make a comprehensive planning covering both forest and non-forest land area for optimum utilisation of land by shifting cultivators. Need based skill training addressing gender issues should be designed for alternative livelihood promotion. Local NGOs may be involved in designing alternative livelihood promotion for Chakma women. The study found that finance is one of the great hurdles for shifting cultivators among Chakma communities. Therefore, Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) may extend their outreach program in those hill tract areas.

Knowledge Management: Journal