scholarly journals Resilience Thinking and Strategies to Reclaim Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Cascade Tank-Village System (CTVS) in Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Melles ◽  
Ethmadalage Dineth Perera
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Resource Limitations ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Resilience Thinking ◽  
Poor Access ◽  
Dry Zone

Cascading Tank Village Systems (CTVSs) of Sri Lanka historically provided a resilient community-based social-ecological water management system in the rural dryzone of Sri Lanka [1]. The CTVS has been described as the ‘lifeblood’ of communities in the rural dry zone [2] and as a globally important Agricultural Heritage System by the FAO [3]. After being abandoned for many centuries, their restoration is now being pursued by different national and international actors as a key to climate change mitigation and sustainable livelihoods for communities [4]. Rural livelihoods in the dry zone are at risk due to multiple factors, poor access and management of water, economic and health pressures, as well as resource limitations and degradation [5]. Despite recent efforts to restore CTVS systems, no social-ecological approach (SES) nor sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF) focused approach to ensuring resilient and sustainable livelihood outcomes has been taken [6]. As part of an on-going PhD project, this paper describes the background, current challenges and potential for an SES focused resilience thinking approach to CTVS combined with a focus on sustainable livelihoods for future sustainable livelihood opportunities and outcomes. The study finds current restoration efforts are at a crossroads between restoring the past (system adaptability) or transforming for the future. It introduces relevant SES and resilience thinking concepts and analyses the CTVS from this perspective. A particular contribution of this study is to point to the significant overlaps and complementarities in social-ecological (SES) resilience thinking and SLF approaches to analysis and proposals for resilient rural development. Employing resilience thinking principles it recommends strategies to create positive livelihood outcomes for communities and households. Keywords: cascading tank village system; sustainable livelihoods; resilience thinking; Sri Lanka; rural dry zone; community rural development

scholarly journals Resilience Thinking and Strategies to Reclaim Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Cascade Tank-Village System (CTVS) in Sri Lanka

Challenges ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Gavin Melles ◽  
Ethmadalage Dineth Perera
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Future Market ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Resilience Thinking ◽  
Poor Access ◽  
Dry Zone ◽  
Complex Adaptive

Cascading Tank Village Systems (CTVSs) of Sri Lanka historically provided a resilient community-based social-ecological water management system in the rural dry zone of Sri Lanka After being abandoned for many centuries, their restoration is now being pursued by different national and international actors as a key to climate change mitigation and sustainable livelihoods for communities. Rural livelihoods in the dry zone are at risk due to multiple factors, poor access and management of water, economic and health pressures, as well as resource limitations and degradation. Despite recent efforts to restore CTVS systems, no social-ecological approach (SES) nor a sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF)-focused approach to ensuring resilient and sustainable livelihood outcomes has been taken. As part of an on-going PhD project, this paper analyses the background, current challenges and potential for an SES focused resilience thinking approach to CTVS for future sustainable livelihood opportunities and outcomes. The study finds CTVS exhibit all the properties of a complex adaptive SES and that a resilience thinking approach centred on achieving sustainable livelihood outcomes for communities suggests deep institutional changes are needed. CTVS are at a crossroads between restoring the past (system adaptability) or transforming for the future, and a combination of legacy and future market orientation seems the best solution.

Social–ecological dynamics in irrigated agriculture in dry zone Sri Lanka: a political ecology

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 629-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sören Köpke ◽  
Sisira Saddhamangala Withanachchi ◽  
Ruwan Pathiranage ◽  
Chandana Rohana Withanachchi ◽  
Angelika Ploeger
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Dry Zone

Cotton production for the sustainable livelihoods in Punjab Pakistan: a case study of district Muzaffargarh

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahira Sadaf ◽  
Rakhshanda Kousar ◽  
Zia Mohy Ul Din Mohy Ul Din ◽  
Qaisar Abbas ◽  
Muhammad Sohail Amjad Makhdum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Cotton Production ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Livelihood Assets ◽  
Physical Assets

Purpose This study aims to analyze access of cotton growers to Sustainable Livelihoods Assets Pakistani Punjab. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the department for international development (DFID’s) sustainable livelihoods framework (DFID) (1999). Where data collection was done by using a well-structured questionnaire from 200 randomly selected cotton growers of the district Muzaffargarh. There are five livelihood assets (human assets, natural assets, financial assets, physical assets and social assets) in the SLF, this study has used three different indicators/proxies for each asset except natural assets, where four indicators were used to capture the salient features of the respondents’ access to that assets. Each indicator was given a weight by using the entropy technique to keep the consistency of the quantification. Livelihood assets indices were calculated in case of each livelihood asset for conducting Livelihood Assets Pentagon Analysis. Value of livelihood index ranged from 0–4. Findings Livelihoods Assets Pentagon analysis shows that cotton growers do not have proper access to all five livelihood assets. The asset with the highest capacity were social assets (sustainable livelihood index value = 0.3994), followed by natural assets (0.3294), financial assets (0.2511), human assets (0.2143) and physical assets (0.0897). Originality/value This study uses the SLF developed by DFID for analyzing factors affecting access to livelihoods assets of cotton growers in Pakistani Punjab. Sustainable agriculture and sustainable rural livelihoods lead to sustainable livelihoods where environment quality is taken into consideration. The study contains significant and new information.

scholarly journals RURAL LIVELIHOODS TRANSITIONS: TOWARDS AN INTEGRATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS APPROACH AND THE MULTI-LEVEL PERSPECTIVE

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid EL BILALI ◽  
Michael HAUSER ◽  
Sinisa BERJAN ◽  
Otilija MISECKAITE ◽  
Lorenz PROBST
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Livelihood Diversification ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Agricultural Transitions

In rural areas, especially in low and middle-income countries, livelihoods have to diversify to include new on- and off-farm activities. However, sustainable livelihood concepts have so far not sufficiently accommodated transition dynamics. Mostly, rural livelihoods and sustainability transitions are addressed separately in the scientific literature. The aim of this review paper is to explore opportunities to integrate the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) and the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on transitions. We provide an overview of the SLA and MLP. We then focus on the conceptual linkages between SLA and MLP, in particular regarding livelihood diversification strategies. Our review shows that the conceptual overlaps of the SLA and the MLP allow for a meaningful combination of both approaches to harness their respective strengths. Vulnerabilities from the SLA perspective (e.g. shocks, trends, changes) are considered at the landscape level in MLP. Policies, institutions, processes in SLA are part of ‘regime’ in the MLP heuristic. The livelihood diversification in SLA, e.g. the development of new on- and off-farm activities, can be described as niches in MLP. Some empirical work on agricultural transitions from the MLP perspective has adopted a territorial approach to take into consideration the pluri-activity of farms and the interactions between different subsystems (food, energy and tourism). This resonates well with the idea of livelihood diversification as a strategy in SLA. We conclude that integrating SLA and MLP will help to better understand livelihood diversification processes and we provide a preliminary proposal for a livelihood transition framework.

Medicinal plants and sustainable livelihood in Pauri district of Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India.

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (06) ◽  
pp. 4589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vardan Singh Rawat
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Skin Diseases ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Total Plant

The present study was conducted in the Thalisain block of Pauri Garhwal to document the medicinal plants used by the local communities. 53 plant species distributed in 38 families were documented. Of the total plant species 49% were herbs, 26% trees, 23% shrubs and 2% climbers. 16 different plant parts were used by local communities for different ailments. Medicinal plants were widely used by major sections of the community against common colds, cough, skin diseases, snake bite, fever, joint pains, bronchitis etc. Women and local healers called vaids have a vital role in environmental management due to traditional knowledge and use of plants as medicine with undocumented knowledge. It has been observed as one of the best option of sustainable livelihoods for the residents of the area.

A CONTRIBUIÇÃO DA ECOLOGIA POLÍTICA E DO SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS APPROACH NOS ESTUDOS AMBIENTAIS NO MEIO RURAL DO BRASIL: UM OLHAR SOBRE OS REASSENTADOS DE PETROLÂNDIA

GEOgraphia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (40) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Guilherme José Ferreira Araújo ◽  
Edvânia Torres Aguiar Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood Approach

A ecologia política e o sustainable livelihood approach são respectivamente abordagens teórica e metodológica voltadas para o debate sobre temas relacionados a desigualdade social e o estabelecimento de metas para o combate à pobreza. Ambas são recentes no campo da pesquisa científica. A ecologia política foi germinada no período das grandes conferências ambientais da ONU e o sustainable livelihood approach foi concebido durante a década de 1980 com vistas a entender os principais fatores que contribuem com a pobreza em áreas rurais de países africanos.  Este artigo tem o objetivo de desenvolver uma aproximação teórica entre as abordagens estudadas e dessa forma contribuir com as discussões sobre as desigualdades no acesso aos recursos naturais e os desdobramentos para a pequena produção agrícola no Brasil. Para o estabelecimento deste trabalho foi realizado um amplo levantamento bibliográfico para identificar os pontos que unem a teoria da ecologia política e a prática metodológica do sustainable livelihood approach. Em seguida foram elencados os principais problemas identificados nas pesquisas de campo em Petrolândia e estabelecida relações com as abordagens em questão.  Neste quesito foram analisados pequenos produtores de coco dos Perímetros Irrigados de Apolônio Sales e Icó-Mandantes. Nesses perímetros encontram-se agricultores com diferentes contextos socioeconômicos, porém com a mesma origem de reassentamento e subsídio estatal. Todos são oriundos de uma transferência forçada em função da construção da Usina Hidrelétrica Luiz Gonzaga. Neste sentido, o estudo pretende iniciar um debate sobre as principais razões dessas diferenças e visualizar prováveis soluções.     

Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species

Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1490 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J.MENDIS WICKRAMASINGHE ◽  
D. A.I. MUNINDRADASA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Morphometric Analysis ◽  
Mountain Region ◽  
Geographical Isolation ◽  
Morphological Comparison ◽  
Type Series ◽  
Dry Zone ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Wet Zone

Five new species of geckos are described from Sri Lanka by morphological comparison and morphometric analysis leading to review the genus Cnemaspis in the country. The type series of these species were identified from following localities: C. alwisi and C. kumarasinghei from the intermediate zone, C. retigalensis from the dry zone, C. molligodai from the lowland wet zone and C. samanalensis from the mountain region of the wet zone in the country. The high degree of endemicity (90%) shown by Cnemaspis in Sri Lanka could be attributed to geographical isolation. In addition, the taxonomic issue of C. jerdonii scalpensis is discussed and the species C. scalpensis is errected.

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