Experiences from the FAO People's Participation Programme in Sri Lanka - Who Participates? PP 2













Table of Contents


PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION
2

Based on the work of
Inge Jungeling

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 1994

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

M-64
ISBN 92-5-103465-6

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

© FAO 1994

This study is based on a sample survey, conducted in 1988-89, of 132 male and female beneficiaries of the FAO People's Participation Programme project in the Matale district, Sri Lanka. It examines the socio-economic characteristics, resource base and activities of the sample population, and from this analysis a number of tentative conclusions are drawn regarding the impact of the project in improving the conditions of the rural poor in this district.

This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software and careful manual recorrection. Even if the quality of digitalisation is high, the FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.


Table of Contents


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LIST OF ACRONYMS

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

The People's Participation Programme
Research in the People's Participation Programme
Outline of the paper
Purposes of the Research
Research Methodology
Reliability of the data

CHAPTER 2. The Research Area: Description and Agricultural Background

Location of the Research Area
Settlement and Landrights
Farming Systems
Government Services in Agriculture
Abundance of Rural Organizations

CHAPTER 3. Social Profile of the Small Farmer Groups and the Group Members

Gender
Education
Age, Marital Status and the Family lifecycle

CHAPTER 4. Resource Base of the Project Beneficiaries

Housing
Occupations
Savings and access to Credit
Membership of Rural Organizations

CHAPTER 5. Cultivation: Practices and Resource-Base

Group members involved in cultivation
Landholdings
Crops cultivated: subsistence crops and cash crops
Labour assistance and agricultural labourers

CHAPTER 6. Small Farmer Group Activities and their Effectiveness

Group Membership
Group Activities: Emphasis on Cultivation
The Group Fund: the Importance of Informal Loans
Participation in activities initiated by the project
The Role of the Village Board
Benefits derived from being member of a small farmer group

CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

ANNEX TABLES