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Rural livelihoods in Sri Lanka: an indication of poverty?
Author(s) -
Marzano Mariella
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.927
Subject(s) - livelihood , sri lanka , vulnerability (computing) , poverty , psychological intervention , agriculture , economic growth , development economics , rural poverty , rural area , rural development , business , socioeconomics , economics , political science , geography , psychology , computer security , archaeology , psychiatry , computer science , law , tanzania
In rural Sri Lanka the demands of using appropriate methodologies for identifying poverty and subsequently persons who may or may not benefit from development interventions are challenging and made more difficult when considering the villager's own perceptions of what it means to be poor. Investigations into livelihoods can promote an awareness of the nature of activities that people engage in and the resources they are able or would like to access with the associated conflicts over entitlements. In a village setting the hierarchical nature of these strategies may highlight people's vulnerability. This has further implications for development in Sri Lanka where decisions over the allocation of agricultural assistance, particularly at a local level, is often biased towards those who focus entirely on agriculture and thus are considered to be ‘real’ farmers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.