CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The share of forest in gross domestic products (GDP) of
Pakistan was only 0.6 percent in the year 2004-05. In this period, the forest
area was 4.04 million hectares out of total land area of 79.61 million
hectares. The forest cover in Pakistan, thus constitutes only 5.07 percent of
its total land area, and is relatively low as compared to other Asian
countries. For example in Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Japan and India, natural forest
area is, 50.4, 42.2, 36.4 and 24.2 percent of the total land area in these
countries. Pakistan is a forest-poor country with only 0.03 hectares of forest
per capita as compared to the world average of 1.0 hectares (Government of
Pakistan, 2005).
Due to rapid growth in population, demand for wood and other
forest products is increasing. The state forest in this country is thus,
insufficient to meet the timber and fire-wood requirements for growing
population of the country. In the domestic production of forest products, these
requirements are met through agroforestry, which refers to the plantation of
forest trees on agriculture land. Collective name for land use systems and
technologies where woody perennials (trees, shrubs, bamboos, etc.) are
deliberately used on the same land management unit as agricultural crops and/or
animals, either in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence
(ICRAF, 2006).
In Pakistan, the state forests contribute only 14% of timber
and 10% of firewood whereas 46% of timber and 90% of firewood requirements are
being met by agroforestry (Government of Pakistan, 2005). Acacia
nilotica (Babur) is the most common forest tree species grown under
agroforestry in Sindh. The other tree species include Eucalyptus
camaldulensis, Neem, Talhi and Kandi etc. Acacia nilotica
provides timber,
mining-props, and fire-wood. Its timber is commonly used for
manufacture of low cost furniture, doors, windows, carts and other household
articles. Its fire-wood is used by rural households and firms. Eucalyptus
camaldulensis is mostly used as a low cost timber, chipboard manufacture
and pulp making.
Marketing structure and its efficiency determines how the
consumer rupee is distributed among producers and different middlemen. The high
marketing margins to middlemen may result in inefficient production due to the
lower returns to the producers and/or higher consumer expenditure on the
products. For improving the production efficiency and lowering the consumer
expenditure, there is need of detailed investigation of marketing structure and
margins of agroforestry products.
Marketing structure and channels of agroforestry products are
totally different from other agricultural products due to bulkiness and high
weight of wood and other forest products. The previous studies in Pakistan have
focused on marketing of vegetables, poultry and fruits. Khair et al.
(2002) found that apple producers were merely getting 31% of consumer
rupee, while the rest was going to different middlemen, thus showing an
exploiting and inefficient marketing setup. Further they indicated that reasons
for these high marketing margins include large number of market intermediaries,
expensive packaging material, and high cost of transportation, illegal import
of apples, and the lack of capital. In previous studies, no attempt had been
made to study agroforestry marketing channels and margins earned by each
intermediary. Therefore, this study conducted for detailed investigation of
marketing of agroforestry products in Sindh.
Objectives:
The main goal of the study was to explore market structure and
marketing margins of agroforestry products in four districts of Sindh, namely:
Hyderabad, Matiari, Sanghar and Badin. The specific objectives of the study
were:
· To investigate the market structure and marketing
channels of agroforestry products in Sindh.
· To estimate marketing costs, marketing margins, and price
spread of major agroforestry products in the selected districts of Sindh.
· To identify marketing issues and suggest policy measures
for agroforestry products in Sindh.
Although this study was limited to four districts of Sindh,
namely Hyderabad, Matiari, Sanghar and Badin but the results of this study
would be helpful for the government to design policies that will increase well
designed and perfect marketing system in Sindh as well as in Pakistan, and will
encourage farmers to plant more forest trees on their land.
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