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    Socio-economic Impacts of Forest Conservation on Peripheral Communities: Case of Knuckles National Wilderness Heritage of Sri Lanka
    (12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons, Cheltenham England, July 14-18, 2008, 2008) Wickramasinghe, Kanchana; Steel, Paul; Senaratne, Athula
    Forest conservation generates significant economic benefits to the society. However, the conservation strategies should pay necessary attention to the resultant socio­ economic aspects. Otherwise; conservation efforts affect the welfare of peripheral communities due to restrictions on their livelihoods. The present paper intends to assess the socio-economic impacts of declaration of Knuckles Conservation Zone (KCZ) on the livelihoods of surrounding communities, using data and information collected through a household survey, focus group discussion, interviews and observations. The Knuckles National Wilderness Heritage (NWH) is an important natural forest in Sri Lanka, due to its richness in biodiversity, uniqueness in habitat diversity and being a vital catchment to the main rivers. The forest has greatly been threatened by the promotion of cyltivation of cardamom, which receives high prices in the international market and shifting cultivation that has resulted in a sizeable decrease in the forest cover. With the declaration of KCZ, shifting cultivation and cardamom cultivation were banned and access to forest products was restricted. Consequently, although conservation activities generated considerable environmental improvements, they caused direct negative impacts on the peripheral communities. The quantity and frequency of forest products harvested has declined due to limited access to the forest, causing income losses and affecting food security. The dependency on non timber forest products (NTFPs) as a source of income is much low according to this study finding, but the forest had played a major role as a subsistence source of food, wood, fuel wood etc earlier. The annual income loss due to banning of shifting cultivation and reduced harvesting of NTFPs is estimated around US$ 150 per household. Promotion of ecotourism activities, which are already in place, and creation of proper marketing channels for agricultural products is recognized as alternative ways to increase income, thus to improve the well-being of households. Villagers could also be allowed to harvest selected NTFPs, provided that sustainability of the forest is not affected. Therefore a mechanism should be created that communities are compensated through alternative income sources rather than depending on monetary compensations from the government thereby setting a useful example for the future conservation strategies of the country and elsewhere.
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    Covid-19, poverty and Sri Lanka's social protection response
    (Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2021-11)
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    Microfinance in Sri Lanka: a household level analysis of outreach and impact on poverty
    (Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2005) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Wickramasinghe, Upali; Kumara, Thusitha
    Microfinance, one of the widely accepted instruments for poverty alleviation throughout the world, has been used in Sri Lanka spanning for over several decades. Despite the long history and the large number of institutions providing microfinance services particularly to the poor, there is limited knowledge on the impact of microfinance on poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. This study fills this gap by studying some important issues related to the microfinance sector: outreach of microfinance, role of informal sources of finance and the impact on poverty and welfare of households. Microfinance services in Sri Lanka have a wide geographical outreach but the extent of outreach of private operators including NGOs and commercial banks in rural areas is rather limited. Although the poor and the poorest groups have been reached by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), a significant proportion of their clientele seems to be from the non-poor groups. Microfinance has helped households in middle quintiles to increase their income and assets; helped the very poor to increase consumption expenditure; has inculcated savings habits among the poor; has worked as an instrument of consumption smoothing among almost all income groups; and has helped women to increase their social status and improve the economic conditions. The study also finds that the informal financial market is pervasive across districts and among different income groups. The study recognizes that financial services alone are not sufficient to raise the living conditions of the poor. To create sustainable micro-enterprise and other economic activities, it is important that MFIs facilitate or directly involve in providing 'credit-plus' services to their clients, particularly to those in low income categories. Development of rural infrastructure facilities is of prime importance to improve the outreach of MFIs in remote rural areas and encouraging the private and NGO sectors to involve more effectively in microfinance provision. The study also stresses the need to take into account the heterogeneity of microfinance clients and their needs in designing more effective microfinance instruments.
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    Impact of trade liberalization on poverty and household welfare in Sri Lanka
    (Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2005-09) Jayanetti, Sanath; Tilakaratna, Ganga
    It is argued that economic growth is a necessary condition for poverty alleviation while a liberal trade regime is a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth. However, trade liberalization affects consumers and producers differently. While tariff reduction on imports may bring welfare gains to consumers, there would be many producers who are adversely affected by such trade policy reforms. Hence, our attempt in this paper is to look at the impact of trade liberalization on poverty and welfare of households, with a special focus on the rice and potato sectors of Sri Lanka. Both a descriptive approach (for rice and potato sectors) and an analytical model (for rice sector) are used in this regard. The paper also analyses various trade policy reforms taken place during the last decade and, the extent and nature of poverty in Sri Lanka. The descriptive analysis showed various trade policy reforms in rice and potato sectors during the last decade and their implications. The results of the analytical model showed an overall welfare improvement to the country (in the short run) from a tariff reduction on rice. Net welfare effect for all the income deciles is positive. However, the extent of gain for low-income deciles is higher compared to richer deciles. District level analysis showed welfare gains for all the districts except for two large-scale rice producing areas of Ampara and Polonnaruwa. Moreover, Estate sector households had the highest positive welfare effect while the urban sector had the lowest (positive) effect. The rural sector showed a mixed effect depending on whether the households in the area/district, in general, are net producers or net consumers of rice. The paper stresses the need to eliminate ad hoc trade policies and move towards a low uniform ad valorem tariff rate for rice and potato. Moreover, it highlights the importance of having both the compensatory and the complementary policies to minimize the adverse effects of trade liberalization on households, particularly those effects on the poor