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Do rubber-based agroforestry practices build resilience upon poverty incidence? A case study from Moneragala district in Sri Lanka

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Abstract

Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plays a vital role in livelihood development of smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka. However, farmers have to bear the absence of cash inflow during the 6–7 years long immature period. Therefore, most of the farmers adopt rubber-based agroforestry as a subsidiary source of income. This study focuses on the analysis of poverty incidence in the presence of different rubber-based agroforestry practices in Moneragala district, Sri Lanka. It uses the official poverty line for this district defined by the Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka to determine the poverty level of households. The study employs binary logistic regression to analyse the poverty incidence with selected household socio-economic variables and rubber-based agroforestry practices. Household characteristics, including education, other agricultural income, and non-farm income show a significant relationship with the reduction of poverty while the larger household size contributed to higher poverty. Probability of reducing poverty is highest in dairy cattle farming (97%) followed by groundnut (89%), pepper (85%), and cocoa (84%) agroforestry practices and they were found to be significant in poverty reduction at the household level. The study implies that rubber-based agroforestry options must be revitalised according to the poverty reduction abilities. At the same time, extension intervention with suitable institutional arrangement should address the need for rubber-based agroforestry practices, including banana, maize, and passionfruit. Findings of this study are, therefore recommended that government agencies should further focus on existing policies to introduce commercial crops to enhance the productivity and profitability of rubber lands. It is necessary to focus on the agricultural support programme for encouraging farmers to adopt groundnut, dairy cattle, pepper, and cocoa rubber agroforestry practices.

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Notes

  1. Agro-ecological zones represent a particular combination of the climate, soil and relief. An agro-climatic map consists with the areas where the integrated effect of climate is uniform throughout the area for crop production superimposed with soil and terrain. Resulting map explains the agro-ecological regions and Sri Lanka is divided into 46 agro-ecological regions.

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Acknowledgements

Authors wish to acknowledge Rubber Development Officers (RDO) in the Moneragala District, Sri Lanka for assisting in data collection. We appreciate the Farmers of the study area for their unreserved support during the survey.

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  1. Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Dartonfield, Agalawatta, 12200, Sri Lanka

    J. K. S. Sankalpa, Wasana Wijesuriya & P. G. N. Ishani

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  1. J. K. S. Sankalpa
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  3. P. G. N. Ishani
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Sankalpa, J.K.S., Wijesuriya, W. & Ishani, P.G.N. Do rubber-based agroforestry practices build resilience upon poverty incidence? A case study from Moneragala district in Sri Lanka. Agroforest Syst 94, 1795–1808 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00502-9

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