Chittagong Llniversity Studies, Part II : Science' Vol 21(l)' 81-86' 1997 IMPACT OF FOREST BASED COTTAGE INDUSTRY ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT oI' SANCLA'OnSH : THE CASE OF FATICKCIIHARI isnNa uNDER cHITTAGoNG DISTRICT SHAKIL AKHTER, ARIF MOHAMMAD FAISAL' TAPAN KUMAR NATH AND M. JASHIMUDDIN Institute of Forestry and Environmental sciences, university of chittagong, chittagong - 4331' Bangladesh ABSTRACT Theimpactoffbrestbasedcottageindustryonruraldevelopmentinacottageindustryricharea of chittagong districr was ,"";;;;;1. fh" ,tudy i"u"uled that forest based cottageindustries provide considerable off-farm ".provrn-"nt and income to the local economy and thus enhances rural development'Mostofthe"nt."p."n"u.,wereilliterateandpoorlandholder.Majorityof,theenterpnses were family based. Among ,* ii"" p."a*u encountered, ihaluni provided abott 437o of total monthly net income to the entrepreneurs However, average monthly incomefrom thesefive products was estimated at Tk. 2059-which plays significant role in promotinghousehold income' DB{{ er-4R qFtr TF< Frgclq q-{sl< "|€l8-dT1{<qfiv-ilae Tfr< FllE< evR "ffIrEIF{tT-fl qc{rq t qft*'{ *qrn' q{ *, ."fifrS" TF" fis + qff- t"frF* gR-<RV's Fmq q<( *1rs< EI$FI "rff E-in-{*' g<rRs +r-< cfl1-s I <Fclfrfi< qR-;$Qqftmi *s(W qFu xrde , qtfoqq <r<cr q&. |4 "tR+< trR-+ r ffi so,{ r{,u '.s dqq <e 8s% A! jfi,s F1n,f qN$ slr |{R R1", *1 ffi qqt {ce {tfr"s 'lV Strl \ocb Dlsl q6{ al[rF {l a6'a6-a rqa6a sfu T-{FEtE"l(qFr YR-{t <tc{ | INTRODUCTION In the agrarian economy of Bangl4desh, about 56.6Vo of rural householdsare effectively landless [1]. So, the rural plople seek supplementary employment opportunity for the enhancement of their income on a sustainable basis to support their livelihood [2]. In developing countrieslike Bangladesh, the forest basedcottage industry is one of the major sourcesof off-farm income to rural population . About 97Vo of enterprises under this category of industry are located in rural areas and they account for l3%o of total manufacturing group [3]. They contribute to agriculture, smooth out seasonal production/income cycles, provide goods and _services to the p-oorer strata of society, which the larger industries fail to accomplish and introduce vital skills into rural areas. They also conserve scarce managerial abilities and promote indigenous enterpreneurial caPabilities. very small size of enterprises, heavy reliance on entrepreneurs for family labour' technological simplicity of operati,ons, low capital intensity, limited industrial and managerial skills, seasonality of activities and rural locational bias are some of the major characteristics prevailing in this industry [4,5]. Small enterprisesappear to be relatively more accessibleto the