International Journal of Research on Land-use Sustainability 1: 18-25, 2014 Copyright © 2014 ISSN: 2200-5978, print

Volume 1 | Issue 1| June 2014 P a g e | 18

Research Article

Can homegardens help save forests in Bangladesh? Domestic biomass fuel consumption patterns and implications for forest

conservation in south-central Bangladesh

Sharif Ahmed Mukul1,2,*, Mashiur Rahman Tito2,3, Shifath Ahmed Munim4

1Tropical Forestry Group, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia

2Centre for Research on Land-use Sustainability, Maijdi, Noakhali 3800, Bangladesh 3Research and Innovation, mPower Social Enterprises Limited, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh

4Architecture Discipline, Science, Engineering and Technology School, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh *Corresponding author: sharif_a_mukul@yahoo.com / s.mukul@uq.edu.au

Received: April 1, 2014; Accepted: May 25, 2014

Communicated by: Dr. Mohammad Shaheed Hossain Chowdhury, Shinshu University, Japan

ABSTRACT

We conducted an exploratory survey in south-central Bangladesh to realize the contribution of homegardens to household domestic biomass fuel consumption. Households were placed into categories based on their land holdings. A total of thirty households were interviewed to understand their domestic fuel consumption pattern as well as the role played by homegardens in meeting their biomass fuel requirements. This study suggested that the majority of the households in the area rely extensively on homegardens to meet their domestic fuel requirements. 58% of the households biomass fuel were drawn from homegardens, followed by neighbours (16%), markets (12%) and from public/fallow land (14%). 47 species were identified from the homegardens that were used by the respondents as fuel. Fuelwood was a major type of biomass fuel used by the households, contributing to about 56% of households total biomass fuel consumption, followed by dried leaves (21%), dung cake/sticks (14%), and crop residues (6%). As homegardens were found to provide a valuable alternative source of biomass fuel, it was concluded that a rich homegarden system near forest regions should be supported in order to reduce pressure on the country’s remaining forests. Governments can facilitate this by granting marginal households access to trees in fallow lands, as well as public places including roads, railways and river banks.

Key words: biomass fuel, domestic cooking, homegarden, forest conservation, deforestation

Introduction

About 2.3 billion people worldwide – every

two in five - rely on biomass fuel as their main

sources of domestic energy requirements (FAO 1995;

Sands 2005; Arnold et al. 2006). Whilst economic

development in many developing countries has

progressed rapidly in the last few decades,

alternatives to biomass fuel are still scarce in many

areas in those countries, particularly in remote rural

areas (Soussan 1991; Koopmans 1993). Forests are

still vital sources of biomass fuel, providing the

majority of biomass fuel requirements in most

developing countries (Arnold et al. 2006). According

to FAO (2006), fuel wood harvests account for about

40% of the global removals of wood from forests.

Extraction of fuelwood from forests is also one of the

major reasons for its depletion and degradation in

developing states (Sands 2005). In South Asia,

projected biomass fuel consumption during the year

2010 was about 372.5 million cubic meters, which

was second highest in the world (Arnold et al. 2003;

Arnold and Persson 2003). This suggests that biomass

fuels will continue to be a major source of domestic

energy in rural areas in this region for many years

ahead. However, a combination of rapid losses in

forest cover and reduced access to forests due to

conservation regulations have stimulated the need

Highlights

Homegardens are the primary source of fuel in forest poor regions of Bangladesh;

Rural households prefer woodfuel from inferior tree spceis with higher calorific value;

Promoting homegardens can be a easy way to reduce anthropogenic pressure on forests.

Research Article DOI 10.13140/2.1.3049.1848

Homegardens can help save forests in Bangladesh S.A. Mukul et al.

Int. J. of Res. on Land-use Sust. 1: 18-25 | 2014 P a g e | 19

for an alternative source of biomass fuel (Uddin and

Mukul 2007).

In tropical regions homegardens comprise an

assemblage of plants around a residence, and

typically include trees, shrubs, vines and herbs (Nair

1993). In fact, homegardens represent a well-

established traditional land-use system in the tropics,

playing an important role in the livelihoods and

economy of small-holder rural households (Webb and

Kabir 2009). They also play a considerable role in

forest conservation by providing an alternative source

of biomass fuel for local people, which may have

otherwise been derived from forests (Uddin and

Mukul 2007; Bardhan et al. 2012). We assume that, in

a changing world with decreasing forest cover and/or

limited access to forests for biomass fuel,

homegardens will play an important role as a

substitute source of biomass fuel together with

sources other non-timber forest products (Mukul

2011). In areas where there are limited forests for

public use, homegardens are already playing a

noteworthy role in meeting household fuel

requirements for domestic cooking (Miah et al. 1990,

2011).

Bangladesh is characterized by a relatively small

natural resource base and a population of more than

160 million. The official forest coverage of the

country is about 17%, with per capita forestland of

around 0.02 ha – one of the lowest in the world

(Mukul et al. 2013). Moreover, the country’s public

forests are often degraded and unevenly distributed

or spatially scattered (out of 64 districts of the

country, 28 districts have no state forests)

(Zashimuddin 2004). Due to its high population

density, poverty and unemployment the

deforestation rate in the country is also one of the

highest in tropical Asia (Poffenberger 2000). Despite

this, per capita fuelwood consumption in the country

is one of the lowest in the world (i.e. 0.1 m3) as there

is a big gap between supply, availability and demand

(Miah et al. 2011).

More than 77% of people live in rural areas in

Bangladesh and about 80% of them possesses small

to medium sized homegardens which are used as a

supply for domestic fuel (Zashimuddin 2004). In the

southern and central regions of the country there are

very limited public forests where people can collect

biomass fuel for domestic use. In such circumstances

homegardens have evidently played a vital role in

meeting the demand for biomass energy (see for

example: Zashimuddin 2004; Jashimuddin et al. 2006;

Miah et al. 2009, 2011). This paper reports a case-

study carried out in a south-central rural village of

Bangladesh where we investigated households’

domestic biomass fuel consumption patterns and the

role played by the homegardens in meeting

household biomass fuel requirements. We believe the

results of this study will provide insight into the

prospective role of homegardens as an alternative

source of biomass fuel.

Materials and methods

Study area

For this study the Noakhali district was

selected purposively and the Sadar (also known as

Sudharam) upazila (administrative unit, sub-district)

was selected randomly from a list of six upazillas (i.e.

Begumganj, Chatkhil, Companiganj, Sadar, Senbagh

and Subarnachar) comprising the district.

Geographically the upazila lies between 22034/ to

22054/ N latitude and 90053/ to 91018/ E longitude

and is crossed by mighty Meghna river (SRDI 1999).

The Bay of Bengal borders the upazila on its southern

edge (Figure 1). The upazila is devoid of any kind of

public forests except some mangrove plantations in

the coastal areas, and is famous for its homestead

forest resources. The field survey was conducted in

Lalpur village of Binodpur union within the upazila.

Field techniques

Several field visits were arranged in the

study area for data collection between January to

August 2006. We followed a multistage random

sampling technique to locate the village and

households, with households as the ultimate

sampling unit. Households were categorized into

three distinct land holding categories through a

preliminary socio-economic survey, i.e. landless to

marginal household (<0.50 ha), small household

(0.51-1.00 ha) and medium to large household (1.00>

ha). Both agricultural lands and homesteads were

considered for this classification. Thirty households,

taking 10 from each of the land-holding categories,

were chosen randomly for the final study (Table 1).

Information regarding the homegardens and

household fuel consumption patterns were obtained

by interviewing the selected households and by

undertaking field visits to the respective

homegardens. For interviews we used a semi-

structured questionnaire where details about the

household’s homestead situation (i.e. homestead

size, species composition etc.), species preferences

and quality, fuel consumption pattern, quantity

S.A. Mukul et al. Homegardens can help save forests in Bangladesh

P a g e | 20 Int. J. of Res. on Land-use Sust. 1: 18-25 | 2014

Figure 1. Forest coverage in Bangladesh (highlighted in green) (left) and location map of study area in the

country (right) (Source: Banglapedia)

Table 1. Classification of the households and sampling intensity

Land

holding

category

Average

homestead

size

(decimal)

No. of total

household

(N)

Percentage

HH sampled

(%)

Landless

to

marginal

07 49 20

Small 15 52 19

Medium

to large

24 21 48

consumed (kg month -1 household-1), sources of

biomass fuel etc. were reco rded. Additional data

regarding each household’s demographic and socio-

economic status were also gathered. On each topic

households were free to express his/her vi ews.

Results

Structure and composition of the homegardens

The average homegarden size of the

households’ belonging to landless to marginal, small

and medium to large land holding categories in the

study area were, 0.07 (±0.01) ha, 0.14 (±0.04) ha and

0.19 (±0.01) ha respectively. Species compositions in

each homegarden varied according to the socio-

economic status of the owner. However, it was

observed that wealthier households’ homegardens

were richer in plant diversity than that of other

households. About 37 tree species, 4 palms, 3 grasses

and 3 species of shrubs and herbs were found in the

homegardens of the area. Plant species that were

used as a source of biomass fuel include: Acacia

auriculilformis, Aegle marmelos, Albizzia lebbeck,

Albizzia procera, Albizzia saman, Alstonia scholaris,

Anthocephallus chinensis, Areca catechu, Artocarpus

heterophyllus, Artocarpus lakoocha, Averrhoa

carambola, Azadirachta indica, Baccaurea ramiflora,

Bambusa balcooa, Bombyx ceiba, Borassus flabellifer,

Butea monosperma, Cassia fistula, Citrus acida, Cocos

nucifera, Delonix regia, Dillenia indica, Diospyros

discolor, Diospyros embryopteris, Elaeocarpus

robustus, Erythrina variegata, Eucalyptus

camaldulensis, Ficus roxburghii, Garcinia cowa,

Lannea coromandelica, Mangifera indica, Melia

azedarach, Melocanna baccifera, Moringa oleifera,

Musa spp., Odina wodier, Phoenix sylvestris,

Phyllanthus acidus, Psidium guajava,

Schumannianthus dichotoma, Swietenia macrophylla,

Syzygium cumini, Syzygium grandis, Tamarindus

indica, Terminalia catappa, Typha elephantine and

Homegardens can help save forests in Bangladesh S.A. Mukul et al.

Int. J. of Res. on Land-use Sust. 1: 18-25 | 2014 P a g e | 21

Zizyphus mauratiana. Figure 2 below shows the vertical

composition of species in the homegardens in the area.

Figure 2. Vertical stratification of a homegarden in

the study area (top); and a typical homegarden edge

dominated by palms and tall species (bottom)

Biomass fuel used by the households

Fuelwood was the most commonly used

biomass fuel by the respondents – it contributed

around 56% of total households’ fuel consumption.

Other kinds of fuel used by the households were fallen

leaves, dung cake and dung sticks, crop residues and

others (e.g. bio-gas, saw mill residues). Household fuel

consumption is shown in Figure 3. Household fuel

consumption patterns differed considerably according

to their wealth status and the seasons, which

influenced the access of households’ to different kinds

of biomass fuel (Table 2). Wealthier households were

more likely to use fuelwood, on average 24.0

kg/month, thereby constituting the highest share in

their fuel consumption. Poorer households, on the

other hand, mainly used dried fallen leaves and dung

cake/ sticks as their fuel for cooking. Agricultural crop

residues, like rice husks and straw were also used

extensively by households after the harvesting of these

crops took place. Household usage of leaves as fuel

increased during the winter season due to greater

availability, whilst the use of firewood went down

during the monsoon due to their incombustibility as a

result of the higher moisture content.

Figure 3. Energy use in the study area by consumption

Sources and preferences of biomass fuel

Homegardens were a major source of biomass

fuel for 87% of the respondents in the area, and

contributed about 58% of the households’ total fuel

consumption for domestic cooking and other purposes.

In fact homegardens were a major source of biomass

fuel for households from all three land holding

categories (Table 3). Households were also found to

collect biomass fuel from neighbors (16%),

government’s fallow land (14%) – mainly from road-

side plantations and nearby markets (Figure 4).

Households belonging to the landless to marginal land-

holding category collected a considerable amount

(20.2%) of fuel from public and fallow land and from

neighbours (15.0%). Households in this category also

purchased 20.4% of their domestic fuel from markets.

The most preferred fuel species, parts consumed and

their abundance in local homegardens are listed in

Table 4. In general, households were most likely to

prefer the species that were lighter in weight and had

higher calorific value.

S.A. Mukul et al. Homegardens can help save forests in Bangladesh

P a g e | 22 Int. J. of Res. on Land-use Sust. 1: 18-25 | 2014

Table 2. Monthly household biomass fuel consumption (in Kg)

Land holding category Fuel type

Fuelwood Dried leaves Dung cake Crop residues Others

Landless to marginal 15.8 (±3.49)

8 (±3.46)

6.3 (±1.34)

4.6 (±0.97)

2.1 (±0.74

Small 16.40 (±3.24)

9.50 (±4.33)

5.90 (±3.35)

0.80 (±1.14)

0.60 (±0.70)

Medium to large 24.00 (±3.40)

3.00 (±2.16)

1.50 (±1.96)

0.50 (±0.71)

0.20 (±0.42)

Table 3. Biomass fuel sources (in terms of % share) of different households

Land holding category Source

Homegarden Neighbour Market Public/Fallow land

Landless to marginal 58.7 (±8.84)

15 (±6.68)

6.1 (±3.21)

20.2 (±4.49)

Small 58.8 (±8.80)

17.2 (±8.28)

11.4 (±4.33)

12.6 (±8.80)

Medium to large 56.1 (±6.23)

15.1 (±10.7)

20.4 (±5.40)

8.4 (±6.92)

Table 4. Preferences for species as biomass fuel

Botanical name Local name Parts used Occurrence Preference*

Cocos nucifera Narikel Petiole, Fruit +++ +++

Albizzia spp. Koroi Leaves, Wood ++ +

Areca catechu Supari Petiole +++ +

Terminalia catappa Katbadam Leaves, wood +++ ++

Mangifera indica Am Leaves, wood ++ ++

Bombyx ceiba Shimul Wood ++ +++

Erythrina indica Madar Wood ++ +++

Bambusa spp. Bamboo Sheath, twigs +++ ++

Typha elephantina Hogla Grass +++ ++

Oryza sativa Dhan Husk, Straw +++ +++

* Ranked by respondents as: +++ high; ++ moderate, and + low

Figure 4. Different sources of biomass fuel in the study area

Collection and storage of biomass fuel

In general, women and children were

responsible for the collection of biomass fuel in the

area. No systematic method of biomass fuel collection

was evident. When harvesting from their own

homegardens, households usually preferred the parts

of the plant that were defected or had no alternate

use. Biomass fuel was stored by households during the

rainy season for future use. However, there was no

specific place for storage - any vacant area with a roof

served for storage purposes. Households used any

location close in proximity to their residence during the

dry season for storage purposes (Figure 5).

Discussion

The findings of our study are coherent with

the findings of several other authors who have also

conducted their studies in similar regions in Bangladesh

(see for example: Miah et al. 1990, 2003; Jashimuddin

et al. 2006). In their studies, Miah (2003) and

Jashimuddin et al. (2006) also found that homegardens

Homegardens can help save forests in Bangladesh S.A. Mukul et al.

Int. J. of Res. on Land-use Sust. 1: 18-25 | 2014 P a g e | 23

Figure 5. Stack of firewood for future use (top) and

straw collected from paddy for multiple application

(bottom)

were a major source of household domestic fuel.

Fuelwood was the most common form of biomass

derived from homegardens, representing over half of

households’ biomass consumption. Miah et al. (2003,

2011) also reported similar trends in the Chittagong

and Noakhali districts of the country.

In Bangladesh, 39.5% people are still relying on

woodfueld for domestic cooking purpose (FAO 2014).

An estimated 88% of all wood products in the country

are still drawn from homegardens (Poffenberger 2000),

suggesting that homegardens and trees outside of

forests generally act as a major source of biomass fuel.

Biomass fuel is also preferable to fossil fuels when

considering climate change regulations (Koh and

Ghazoul 2008). In countries like Bangladesh, biomass

fuel is also more affordable for rural households who

have limited access to advanced technologies for

cooking and other domestic purposes (Chowdhury et

al. 2011).

In tropical developing countries where the majority of

forests are poorly delineated and/or unregulated,

unsustainable biomass fuel collection may lead to

deforestation and forest degradation (Mukul et al.

2014). Biomass fuel collection from forests also

involves gathering of litter from the forest floor, and as

a result there is often complete removal of young

seedlings and saplings, aggravating forest degradation

through nutrient depletion, soil erosion and poor

regeneration (Sherstha 2005). In Bangladesh, like many

other tropical regions, an increasing focus on the the

importance of conservation has resulted in stricter

forest protection regimes. Consequently, household

access to state forests is becoming increasingly limited

(Uddin et al. 2013). In many forested areas, however,

traditional forest uses are still common and are sources

of forest conflicts (Mukul et al. 2013; Mukul 2014).

Under these circumstances, homegardens can

undeniably help to reduce pressure on existing public

forests and thus enhance forest conservation efforts.

Conclusion

As alternatives to biomass fuels are still scarce

in tropical developing countries, forests are still a vital

source of biomass fuel. Our study clearly demonstrates

that in areas where household access to public forests

is limited and/or forests are scarce, homegardens can

play an important role. However, the promotion of

homegardens is not a long-term solution in the fight

against deforestation. In areas where unsustainable

harvesting is leading to forest loss and degradation,

homegardens can act as an initial alternative to

biomass harvesting from forests. Governments can

allow land-less and marginal people to have access to

plantations in governments’ fallow lands and public

areas - including roads, railways and canal banks. It is

recommended that fast growing species with high

calorific values and substantial growth and branching

capacity are used in such plantations.

Acknowledgement

An abridged version of this paper has been presented in the Swedish Bioenergy Conference held in Jonkoping, Sweden. The authors would also like to thanks Dr. Johan Vinterback (Swedish Bioenergy Association) and Dr. Hubertus Pohris (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany) for their valuable comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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