Suchergebnisse

Underserved settlements pose challenges to urban planning and development in developing countries, while they provide affordable shelter and a livelihood to a large proportion of the urban poor. Most definitions consider an underserved settlement to be a community of several housing units, failing to recognize that housing conditions vary by housing unit within the area. This study employed the criteria of structural quality, living area, land tenure, improved drinking water, and water for other purposes, improved sanitation, electricity, kitchen, and clean fuel to identify the underserved settlements and assess their housing deprivations. A housing unit-level field survey, field observation, focus group discussions with representatives of community-based organizations and ground-level officers, and interviews with administrative officers of government institutions, local authorities, academics, and social activists were employed to gather primary data for this study, while secondary data was gathered from government departments. The Slum Severity Index adopted in the study measured the degree of deprivation on a continuous scale. Arc GIS 10.4 was used to create maps that depict the spatial distribution and housing deprivation of underserved settlements. According to the findings, 100% of settlements lacked access to drinking water, 81.23% lacked adequate living space, 58.99% lacked land tenure, 42.35% lacked housing structure, 23.45% lacked water for other purposes, 15.70% lacked sanitation, and 0.76% lacked electricity. Overall, 42.35% of settlements lacked more than three of the aforementioned criteria, and 0.76% of settlements lacked all of them. The study's conclusion emphasized the importance of assessing multiple housing deprivations via the Slum Severity Index to attain sustainable development goals and establish cities free of underserved settlements.

Traditional Knowledge is an experiential knowledge built by people within a long duration and this knowledge has been decaying with time. Traditional soil taxonomies or classifications are most important in the process of identifying soil degradation. Therefore, this study was focused to ascertain the traditional knowledge used in identification of soil erosion and classification of soil in the Knuckles range of Sri Lanka. Seven Grama Niladhrari Divisions out of 56 laid in Knuckles range were selected as the study area. Out of 346 families living in the study area, 120 families were selected by employing simple random sampling method. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, observations and transect walks while international and local soil classification methods were applied for scientific validation. In this study four (04) traditional methods used to classify the soil was identified. Based on 6 different indigenous criteria, three (03) main soil types and 15 sub soil types were identified. Further, types of components existing in each indigenous soil type were identified using a soil index which comprises of 16 type of materials while nine (09) soil samples and nine (09) soil profiles were scientifically validated through international and local soil classification. The traditional soil taxonomy found in this research can be applied for identifying and minimizing the degradation of soil and securing the quality of the environment. Comparative studies between the scientific and traditional science like this would expose and disseminate more and more possibilities on future studies.

The most recent catastrophe, COVID-19 changed the lives and the livelihoods of the people in the world and in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this study was to identify the nature of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial assets of the community engaged in six (06) livelihood types and the measures taken by the government and social organizations to mitigate the impact. A total of 64 families representing the livelihood types in two Grama Niladhari divisions in the study area were selected for the sample by employing stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected through questionnaire survey and informal discussions while the data analysis was mainly done through Chi Squared Analysis. The study confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected on the income generation and savings of the community in the study area. Further, 13% (out of 16) and 07% (out of 14) of households engaged in agriculture and fisheries respectively has earned a monthly income of over 150,000 while no household in all categories has earned a monthly income of less than 5,000 before the COVID 19 pandemic. However, the monthly income generation of 82%, and 57% of households who engaged in tourism and both fisheries and self-employments has significantly dropped to less than 5000/= respectively during the COVID 19 pandemic. Also, the pandemic has adversely affected the income generation of the households in fisheries, tourism and self-employment sectors compared to agriculture sector. Savings of the same categories was also reduced due to the pandemic. The study further ascertained that the government and social organizations have taken several measures to provide essential items to cope with the economic impacts of COVID 19. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v07i01.12

The most recent catastrophe, COVID-19 changed the lives and the livelihoods of the people in the world and in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this study was to identify the nature of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial assets of the community engaged in six (06) livelihood types and the measures taken by the government and social organizations to mitigate the impact. A total of 64 families representing the livelihood types in two Grama Niladhari divisions in the study area were selected for the sample by employing stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected through questionnaire survey and informal discussions while the data analysis was mainly done through Chi Squared Analysis. The study confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected on the income generation and savings of the community in the study area. Further, 13% (out of 16) and 07% (out of 14) of households engaged in agriculture and fisheries respectively has earned a monthly income of over 150,000 while no household in all categories has earned a monthly income of less than 5,000 before the COVID 19 pandemic. However, the monthly income generation of 82%, and 57% of households who engaged in tourism and both fisheries and self-employments has significantly dropped to less than 5000/= respectively during the COVID 19 pandemic. Also, the pandemic has adversely affected the income generation of the households in fisheries, tourism and self-employment sectors compared to agriculture sector. Savings of the same categories was also reduced due to the pandemic. The study further ascertained that the government and social organizations have taken several measures to provide essential items to cope with the economic impacts of COVID 19.

Rubber farming in Moneragala District has been introduced to enhance the socio-economic status of households of smallholders. Four focus group discussions and six qualitative case studies were conducted to assess the impact of rubber farming on their household level in 2020. Rubber smallholders were selected for the focus group discussions, using stratified random sampling technique and each discussion was comprised of twelve rubber smallholders. Data was collected using interview criteria which was developed and evaluated prior to its use with the expert team. The rubber smallholders were asked a series of semi-structured questions according to the interview guide by the researcher until theoretical saturation is obtained. Then a set of codes and categories were developed according to the grounded theory approach. Qualitative case studies were carried out with six rubber smallholders who were randomly selected from different land categories. A structured direct interview schedule was used in gathering data from rubber smallholders according to eleven criteria which were developed in collaboration with the expert team. It was highlighted that continuous household income from rubber farming has contributed to meet the expenses of education of children, medicine, food, purchasing agricultural and non- agricultural vehicles and renovation of living house with sustainable household income and regional development in Moneragala. In addition, it has generated new employment opportunities and new source of income for other labourers. Hence, expansion of rubber farming into non-traditional rubber growing areas in the country can be recommended in order to improve the socio-economic status of smallholders.