Quality planting material for higher revenue

As farmers began to realise that there were obvious benefits to using the now available new planting material, the demand for the tree saplings rose markedly, thus contributing to the success of the nurseries. Nevertheless, it was clear that the cash revenue of farmers would increase considerably if not only the quality of timber and fruit trees could be improved, but also if fruit and timber varieties were planted to meet market demands. The project partnered with national research institutions in order to develop varieties of fruit trees that are either heavy bearing, fast growing, drought- and flood-resistant, salinity tolerant, bear off-season and/or highly nutritive fruits.

These new varieties continue to be multiplied and sold by the private nurseries. Nurs-ery associations, the links between the nurseries and the research institutes, also handle quality control and the certification of the nurseries.

Effects of the Agroforestry Partnership by 2010

Effects on income generation: The establishment of over 7,300 private nurseries in 50 of 64 districts in Bangladesh created permanent jobs for over 10,000 people, and seasonal jobs for 25,000 persons, among them people living in extreme poverty. The nursery creates an average net annual income of around 70,000 Bangladeshi Taka (equivalent to 1,000 USD) per nursery.

Job opportunities for women: Almost 50% of the employees are women who now generate their own income in private nurseries. Although the income often does not exceed 1 USD per day, this is an important contribution to a poor family’s household. Women also play a significant role as managers in over half of the nurseries.
Effects on livelihood improvement: Better access to quality planting material helped an estimated two million households to diversify their production. In the past six years, eight off-season fruit varieties were developed and made available to small and poor farmers. Access to these varieties makes the farming households less vulnerable to losses of single crops or seasonal lean periods.

Effects at policy level: Through Switzerland’s involvement in the agroforestry sector, a National Nursery Guideline was endorsed in 2008 that provides a policy framework for the development and distribution of quality timber and fruit trees in Bangladesh. It mandates the Ministry of Agriculture to assure the quality of planting material and to maintain a functional development and distribution system.

Sustainability of effects

After 25 years of collaboration between Switzerland and Bangladesh in the sector, the two countries look back on a successful chain of interventions leading to a sustainable agroforestry production system. The private nurseries which sell planting materials on a commercially viable basis are its lifeblood. The poor farmers benefit from the access to quality planting material which provide higher yields and ensure a diversified income base. The national nursery associations guarantee the link to national research institutions and ministries. This commercial public-private partnership model is sustainable without external project support. Switzerland will hand over the project to the local authorities by 2012.