GENDER ROLE IN HOME GARDEN MANAGEMENT IN THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY: A CASE STUDY IN BANDARBAN HILL DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

This study was conducted on the Murong community in Bandarban Hill District of Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh in order to ascertain the gender role and the level of indigenous knowledge in the management and utilization of plant resources of home gardens. The study revealed that women play a vital role in all activities of home garden management. There was a variation in the selection and preferences of plant resource component based on nature of utilization by gender. Women prefer plant resources to meet household requirements rather than cash crops which are absolutely considered as men’s domain. Besides, women’s indigenous knowledge was significantly higher than that of men with respect to multiple uses of non timber forest products. However, domestication of a huge number of wild species of different habits in their home garden is also mainly done by women.