Assessment of Farmers Perception and Problems towards Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in Coastal Area of Bangladesh: A Study in Noakhali District

Abstract

The economy of Bangladesh largely depends on agriculture. Agroforestry is one of the modern agricultural practices which ensure maximum utilization of resources and offer sustainable environmental and economic development. The present study was carried out to find out farmers’ perceptions and problems towards the adoption of agroforestry practices in the coastal area of Bangladesh. In total, 400 farmers were selected from five upazila of the Noakhali district following a proportionate random sampling technique. Face-to-face interviews, case studies, and focus group discussions (FGD) were used to obtain the data. Statics such as range, mean, standard deviation, Chi-square, and correlation analysis were applied. Most of the respondents were middle-aged (45%) with a low literacy rate and large family size (55%). The majority of them (50%) had small-sized land, and they had limited access to agricultural training. A greater part of the respondents (61%) had a very low level of knowledge of agroforestry practice. Silvopasture and homestead agroforestry system was practiced by most of the farmers (77%) without proper concept. Only 11% of the respondents know and practice multistrata agroforestry, which is one of the best agroforestry practice. The perception of the respondents towards the adoption of agroforestry was found low in most of the cases. They expressed a low level of acuity towards agroforestry, and they were not so interested towards the adoption of these practices. “Agroforestry adoption may be hampered by a lack of institutions and policies to support it” and “Lack of knowledge and awareness on agroforestry practice” was identified most significant problems with a chi-square value of 41.6 and 39.2 at 5% level of significance. Respondents’ knowledge of agroforestry, exposure to training, and farm size were positively and significantly correlated with their adoption of the practice (r = 0.437∗∗, 0.572∗∗, and 0.64∗∗, respectively). Demonstrations, awareness campaigns, financial incentives, and collaborations between government organizations and NGOs may increase the adoption of agroforestry practices in the coastal region of Bangladesh.