Low Agricultural Productivity Keeping Batticaloa Poor
Low Agricultural Productivity Keeping Batticaloa Poor
In considering issues of poverty in Sri Lanka, Batticaloa is conspicuous as a district that requires particular attention. In addition to being identified as the country’s poorest district in 2009/10, it is also one of two districts for which poverty statistics actually increased between 2006/07 and 2009/10.1 According to the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2009/10 of the Department of Census and Statistics, the poverty rate in Batticaloa district was five-and-a-half times higher than that of the Colombo district – 20.3% vis-à-vis 3.6%. A major contributing factor to this is the low agricultural productivity which the district continues to experience. This is of particular concern given that the majority of Batticaloa’s residents are engaged in agriculture – especially paddy farming. This article, based on a survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka in 20112, shares some thoughts on why Batticaloa’s agricultural productivity is low and is, in turn, keeping its people who are engaged in agriculture poor. The survey focused on two of the poorer and more remote DS divisions out of 14 DS divisions in the Batticaloa district – Manmunai West (Vavunathivu) and Kiran. In the survey, 1,545 individuals surveyed were above 10 years of age, and of them 37% were employed – a statistic which features a larger proportion of men than women. Around 24% of individuals were students. Nearly 10.5% were unemployed, a percentage that is slightly higher than the district’s average unemployment rate of 7.4%.3
Youth unemployment is relatively high in these two remote DS divisions – 84% of the total unemployed population is less than 30 years old and 31% per cent of the population aged between 10 and 30 years are unemployed. So, clearly, attempts at reducing poverty in this district must focus on strategies to raise employment levels.
Many in Batticaloa are ‘working poor’
A key
In considering issues of poverty in Sri Lanka, Batticaloa is conspicuous as a district that requires particular attention. In addition to being identified as the country’s poorest district in 2009/10, it is also one of two districts for which poverty statistics actually increased between 2006/07 and 2009/10.1 According to the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2009/10 of the Department of Census and Statistics, the poverty rate in Batticaloa district was five-and-a-half times higher than that of the Colombo district – 20.3% vis-à-vis 3.6%. A major contributing factor to this is the low agricultural productivity which the district continues to experience. This is of particular concern given that the majority of Batticaloa’s residents are engaged in agriculture – especially paddy farming. This article, based on a survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka in 20112, shares some thoughts on why Batticaloa’s agricultural productivity is low and is, in turn, keeping its people who are engaged in agriculture poor. The survey focused on two of the poorer and more remote DS divisions out of 14 DS divisions in the Batticaloa district – Manmunai West (Vavunathivu) and Kiran. In the survey, 1,545 individuals surveyed were above 10 years of age, and of them 37% were employed – a statistic which features a larger proportion of men than women. Around 24% of individuals were students. Nearly 10.5% were unemployed, a percentage that is slightly higher than the district’s average unemployment rate of 7.4%.3
Youth unemployment is relatively high in these two remote DS divisions – 84% of the total unemployed population is less than 30 years old and 31% per cent of the population aged between 10 and 30 years are unemployed. So, clearly, attempts at reducing poverty in this district must focus on strategies to raise employment levels.
Many in Batticaloa are ‘working poor’
A key