Alongside the Work, Employment, Regulation and Governance (WERG) research group at Central Queensland University, SFCP helped complete a baseline survey in Ramu Upazila, Bandarban, to identify agro-products suited to small-scale entrepreneurs in the region.
The study examined the shift away from traditional jhum (shifting) cultivation toward cash-crop farming in the hill tracts, along with the transportation, marketing, and technology-adoption barriers indigenous growers face within a semi-feudal local economy. Pairing academic research with on-the-ground stakeholder input, the survey lays groundwork for policy and support programs tailored to indigenous agro-entrepreneurs in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.