Strengthening resilience and food security through the development of agroforestry in post-war ...

170 Pages·2015·3.06 MB·English

Strengthening resilience and food security through the development
of agroforestry in post-war Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka

by

Hamsha Pathmanathan

A thesis
presented to the University of Waterloo
in fulfillment of the
thesis requirement for the degree of
Master of Environmental Studies
in
Environment and Resource Studies

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada 2014
© Hamsha Pathmanathan 2014
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including
any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners.

I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public.

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ABSTRACT

Kilinochchi is the largest agrarian region found in Sri Lanka. It is an area that has been greatly
affected by three decades of civil war, which led to the mass disruption of lives and livelihoods
within this region. It is estimated that over 300 000 individuals were displaced during the years
of war, and returning only now to their places of origin. Inadequate land policies along with the
lack of transparency relating to land administration have made inhabitants within the Kilinochchi
district apprehensive about their land ownership, and the security of their livelihoods. Farming is
the dominant form of livelihood within Kilinochchi. Farmers in this region primarily cultivated
paddy fields using extensive amounts of mineral fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Usage of
agrochemicals deviates from their traditional forms of cultivation prior to the onset of conflict
between the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan army. This
extensive use of agrochemicals within the region coupled with severe droughts has contributed to
the loss of nutrient resources in the soil, and has diminished food security within the region.
Sustainable land-use systems such as agroforestry can help to decrease farmer dependency on
agrochemicals for bountiful harvests, improve soil fertility and soil water retention, and also
increase food security within rural communities found in the district. This study conducted a
baseline survey to determine soil physical and chemical properties in order to implement
agroforestry systems in Kilinochchi’s dry zone climate. Implementation of the recommended
agroforestry model is an attempt to enhance livelihoods and food security for resource-poor
farmers and their families living in the region. The results indicated that the soils within the
research site were low in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, organic matter, and have near
neutral to alkaline soils, and slightly compacted soils, which signify low levels of fertility. The
vegetation survey indicated only 17 tree species existed on the research site. The low number of
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tree species at the research site is evidence of the massive deforestation events that occurred
during three decades of civil war. In addition, a qualitative study was conducted with farmers
living on land surrounding the research site in the villages of Kanakambikaikulam, Thiruvaiyaar,
Bharathipuram, and Malaiyaalapuram. The interviews revealed a wide variety of factors and
constraints that affected land management practices and strained farmers’ livelihoods, all of
which impacted food security in Kilinochchi. These constraints included limited or no access to
agricultural inputs (seeds and capital), lack of land tenure, water scarcity and poor soil fertility,
inability to hire laborers due to monetary limitations, inaccessible markets, and external exports
competing with local markets. There is presently no available information on the potential of
agroforestry practices to ensure long-term food security within the region of Kilinochchi. There
is also very little knowledge about integrating the rich traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of
the farmers with agroforestry practices. The collected data aims to fill these gaps in knowledge.
Essentially, the results from the baseline soil survey will be used to design a model agroforestry
system as a recommendation to help regenerate soil fertility, and help farmers create sustainable
agro-ecosystem management plans. The model agroforestry system will be designed to increase
crop yield without compromising the integrity of the agricultural fields for long-term food
security and livelihoods in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Maren Oelbermann for her guidance throughout my
entire writing process. Her feedback was invaluable in helping me strengthen my thesis.
I would also like to thank my committee members Dr. Naresh Thevathasan and Dr. Jennifer
Clapp for taking the time to read my thesis, and provide me with helpful comments and
feedbacks.

I am also grateful to the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka for allowing me to use their new
Agricultural campus in Ariviyal Nagar, Kilinochchi for my 2013-2014 fieldwork.

They say no building is strong without proper foundation, and in that manner I couldn’t have
finished this thesis without the help and support from my beloved friends and family.

I thank my sister, Srivathana Pathmanathan, and my parents for keeping me motivated through
this entire journey; for backing me up and supporting me in my decision to conduct research in
Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka. In the same vein, I couldn’t have finished my field work without the
support of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and Sathya sir in Jaffna. Their immense support and
dedication in helping me complete my field work was heart-warming, and I don’t have adequate
words to thank them enough. Especially, to Sathiya sir who would take days off from work to
help collect soil samples, to identify trees in the field, and conduct interviews with farmers in
Kilinochchi.

My love and thanks goes to Rani sithi and Mages mama for being home away from home.
Theepika Kirupakaran, Raj and Shyam Mahendran, and Tamilnilavan Sathiya for toiling away
day and night to dry, sift, prepare, and pack my soil samples for Canada.

However, my extreme gratitude and heartfelt thanks goes to my two wonderful research
assistants, Chandrashri Pal and Sadia Butt who have labored with me day in and day out to
develop this thesis to the potential it is now. I thank them for all the sleepless nights they spent
with me making sure my thesis had flow and clarity, for helping me bounce ideas, for suggesting
different perspective when my brain went completely blank. My sincerest thanks to Sadia, for
teaching me how to use ArcGIS to create the maps found in this thesis, and for all her
consultation on how to use the STATA statistical software. She was always a phone call away,
and ever willing to guide me through the process. However, my eternal thanks and gratitude goes
to Chandrashri, who accompanied me to Sri Lanka as my research assistant from day one. She
was there on the sunny days and the cloudy days. Her dedication to this research was immense,
and her support was never lacking. She was and continues to be always ready and willing to help
with this research any way possible. She is in all sense every researcher’s dream research
assistant, and I got incredibly lucky that she became mine.

Last but not least, I would like to thank:

Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananthan- for all his guidance, and the immense support he showed for my
research. I would also like to thank him for sending me all those articles written on the land
policies and economy Sri Lanka. I didn’t realize how contentious the topic of land was in the
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North until I read through those papers. Lastly, I would like to thank him for being ever willing
to respond to my emails and direct me to the right people if need be. This thesis would have been
much harder to write without his directions.

Dr. Usha Pillai-McGarry – for helping me understand the dynamics of northern Sri Lankan soils,
and for providing me with so many helpful comments, feedbacks, and guidance on
understanding soils.

Dr. Stanley Weeraratna – for taking an interest in my research, and for promptly responding to
the multitude of questions I had about soils and typical vegetation found in northern Sri Lanka.

Dr. Sharika Thiranagama – for giving me the opportunity to meet fellow researchers in Sri
Lankan studies, and for providing me with feedback and guidance on how to write the qualitative
component of my thesis.

Dr. Christopher Guna – for helping me convert the local Tamil names of trees surveyed in
Kilinochchi into their Latin counterparts.

Lastly, I would like to thank Patricia (Veena) Philip, Jacob Orlandi, and Jonathan Sampath for all
their help in preparing and analyzing my soils in the lab. Beverly Raimbault and Meaghan
Whilton for all their help and advice on using the elemental analyzer, and other equipments in
the lab. They made difficult times not that difficult at all.

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DEDICATION

This research has been life-changing for me. Sri Lanka is my homeland, and it pains me to see
how difficult life has become for farmers living in the north within Sri Lanka’s post-war context.
In that sense, I dedicate my entire research to all the farmers in Kilinochchi in hopes that it can
be used to improve soil infertility and alleviate food insecurity within their communities.
Farmers are the backbone of our societies, where would we be without them?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ....................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ v
DEDICATION .............................................................................................................................. vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. viii
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xiii
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
1. Background ............................................................................................................................. 1
Thesis Outline .......................................................................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 1: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Agricultural Practices in Northern Province of Sri Lanka .................................................... 6
1.2.1 Traditional Farming Practices of Sri Lanka ................................................................... 6
1.2.3 Traditional and Modern Practices of Rice Paddy Cultivation ...................................... 10
1.3 War and Land Degradation in Northern Sri Lanka ............................................................. 13
1.3.1 Ecological Effect of War on Forests and Biodiversity ................................................. 13
1.3.2 Role of Trees on Soil Integrity ..................................................................................... 14
1.4 The Role of Agroforestry Practices in Tropical Biomes ..................................................... 17
1.4.1 The Role of Agroforestry for Food Security in War-Impacted Populations ................ 17
1.4.2 Maintaining Integrity and Conservation of Dry Land Forests through Agroforestry .. 19
1.5 Land rights, Policy, and Legislations in Northern Sri Lanka .............................................. 20
1.5.1 Land Policies and the Thirteenth Amendment ............................................................. 21
1.5.2 Landlessness, Land Tenure, and Ownership ................................................................ 23
1.5.3 Competition for Land with the Nation State ................................................................ 25
1.6 General Research Objectives .............................................................................................. 27
CHAPTER 2: Regional Context of the Study Area and Experimental Plots ............................... 28
2.1 Regional Context and Study Area ....................................................................................... 28
2.2. Study Site ........................................................................................................................... 33
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Chapter 3: Soil Physical and Chemical Characteristics ................................................................ 38
3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 38
3.1.1 Research Questions and Objectives .............................................................................. 40
3.1.1.1 Research Questions.................................................................................................... 40
3.1.1.2 Research Objectives .................................................................................................. 40
3.2 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 41
3.2.1 Experimental Plot and Sampling Design: ..................................................................... 41
3.2.2 Soil Physical and Chemical Characteristics ................................................................. 42
3.3 Statistical Analysis .............................................................................................................. 44
3.4 Results ................................................................................................................................. 45
3.4.1 Soil pH .......................................................................................................................... 45
3.4.2 Bulk Density ................................................................................................................. 45
3.4.3 Soil Porosity ................................................................................................................. 46
3.4.4 Soil Organic Carbon, Soil Organic Matter, Total Nitrogen and C/N ratio ................... 46
3.5 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 48
3.5.1 Soil pH .......................................................................................................................... 48
3.5.2 Bulk Density and Soil Porosity .................................................................................... 51
3.5.4 Soil Organic Carbon, Organic Matter, and Total Nitrogen .......................................... 53
3.5.5 Soil Texture .................................................................................................................. 54
3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 55
CHAPTER 4: Tree Survey at the Ariviyal Nagar Research Site and Agrarian Households ........ 56
4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 56
4.1.1. Research Questions and Objectives ............................................................................. 58
4.1.1.1 Research Questions.................................................................................................... 58
4.1.1.2 Research Objectives .................................................................................................. 59
4.2 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 59
4.3 Results ................................................................................................................................. 60
4.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 67
4.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 72
CHAPTER 5: Agricultural Livelihoods and Land Management Practices in Kilinochchi .......... 73
5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 73
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5.1.1 Research Questions and Objectives .............................................................................. 76
5.1.1.2 Research Question ..................................................................................................... 76
5.1.1.1 Research Objectives .................................................................................................. 76
5.2 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 77
5.3 Results ................................................................................................................................. 79
5.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 83
5.4.1 Impacts of War on Land degradation and Soil Infertility ............................................. 83
5.4.2 Limited Access to Fertilizers and Natural Amendments .............................................. 86
5.4.2 Inability to Optimize Agricultural Potential of Land ................................................... 89
5.4.3 Inadequate Management of Soil and Water Scarcity ................................................... 92
5.4.4 Inability to Market Farm Produce ................................................................................ 94
5.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 96
CHAPTER 6: Proposed Agroforestry Systems the Ariviyal Nagar Research Site and Dry Zone
Kilinochchi .................................................................................................................................... 98
6.1 Agroforestry for Soil Remediation and Food Security in Dry Zone Kilinochchi ............... 98
6.1.1 Research Questions and Objective ............................................................................. 100
6.1.1.1 Research Questions.................................................................................................. 100
6.1.1.2 Research Objective .................................................................................................. 100
6.2 Materials and Methods ...................................................................................................... 100
6.3 Results ............................................................................................................................... 101
6. 4 Recommendations for Agroforestry Systems in Kilinochchi .......................................... 101
6.4.1 Mixed Cropping Agroforestry System (Rice bund planting) ..................................... 107
6.4.2 Living Fences ............................................................................................................. 110
6.5. Boundary Planting Agroforestry System ......................................................................... 112
6.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 115
LITERATURE CITED ............................................................................................................... 118
APPENDIX 1 .............................................................................................................................. 142
APPENDIX 2 .............................................................................................................................. 150
APPENDIX 3 .............................................................................................................................. 157

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