Durham E-Theses Sowing New Ideas: An investigation of anthropology's contribution to rural development in S.E. Sri Lanka Marzano, Mariella How to cite: Marzano, Mariella (2002) Sowing New Ideas: An investigation of anthropology's contribution to rural development in S.E. Sri Lanka, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4184/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Sowing New ideas: An Investigation of Anthropology's Contribution to Rural Development in S.E. Sri Lanka fVSariella Marzano Department of Anthropology University of Durham The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Submitted in fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of PhD ^ 1 2002 Mariella Marzano Abstract Sowing New Ideas: An Investigation of Anthropology's Contribution to Rural Development in S.E. Sri Lanka This thesis is a study of rural development resulting from ethnographic research carried out in the villages of Mediriya, Therrapahuwa and Walamatiara in Moneragala, Sri Lanka. As rural villages are being drawn into increasingly complex relations governed by forces of globalisation, this study develops an understanding of the significance of these interactions within the context of development. In Sri Lanka, current (worldwide) concerns for 'sustainable' development based on 'participation' in order to alleviate 'poverty' and 'empower' local people, must be examined against a historical backdrop in order to appreciate the significance of rural intervention today. I examine issues of knowledge and power emphasising how a variety of stakeholders negotiate, manipulate and form relationships in order to gain access to resources. This thesis tackles development issues on multiple levels. As part of a DFID (Department for International Development) funded natural resources project, focussing on the high density intercropping of banana with rubber, my role was to provide an in-depth study of livelihood strategies and factors influencing farmer decision-making within home gardens and smallholdings. I reflect on the advantages of Indigenous Knowledge Research, which provides a greater insight into how local people identify and tackle problems than previous 'top- down' efforts. However, the fine line between involving local people in development and 'extraction' are also highlighted. My experiences of working within a multidisciplinary team prompted me to reflect on the whole context surrounding the research process and consider the role of anthropology in development. It is argued here that while the involvement of anthropologists in development is not without its dilemmas, anthropology can usefully contribute using a holistic approach to examine the processes of development, placing natural resources research within a wider social and political context and highlighting the difficulties involved in trying to understand something about Others. ii Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people who helped me during my fieldwork and after my return to Durham. I owe special thanks to my supervisor Professor Paul Sillitoe for his continuous support and encouragement. I also extend my heart-felt gratitude to the people of Mediriya, Therrapahuwa and Walamatiara for their friendship, patience and generosity. I am especially indebted to Dr Attupattu, Mr Senananyake and Nireka for their practical support, Bandara Menike and Kusumu for their wonderful company, Jaya for always making me laugh and Chandra and achchi for their kind hospitality, putting up with my menagerie of stray 'pets' and for always making sure I never went hungry, plus many others for helping with my research. Many thanks are also due to Sunil, Lakshman, Wasantha, Sunethra, Dharamasiri and Clare in Sri Lanka for 'being there'. In Durham, I would like to thank, Sal, Kanthi, Pat Barber and Andrea for their advice and unwavering support and encouragement. In Banchory, I am indebted to Lesley, Louise, Malcolm, Denise and Dave for their practical, technical and moral support. Special thanks go to my partner, Gavin, who came to Sri Lanka with me, and spent ten months taking on the role of 'house husband' so that I could get on with my work. Finally I would like to thank my family, especially nan, my greatest champion, who sadly died in July 2002. My research was funded by the Department of Anthropology and the Department for International Development (Plant Sciences Research Programme 7212, administered by the Centre for Arid Zone Studies). iii Declaration This thesis derives from work undertaken by the author under the supervision of Professor Paul Sillitoe in the Department of Anthropology, University of Durham. The material included here is original and all other work used is acknowledged at the relevant places in the text. Some parts of the material have been published under the author's name and this publication is listed in the bibliography. This thesis is approximately 80,000 words in length. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without their prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. iv CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 The Anthropology of Development: Some Theoretical Reflections 9 Anthropologists in Development 13 Teamwork in Development 15 The Researcher in Development 22 The Project 34 Concluding Remarks 39 2. THREE VILLAGES IN MONERAGALA: Medirya, Therapahuwa 42 and Walamatiara Uva Province and Moneragala District 43 The Villages 49 Sri Lanka and Politics: Brief Overview 57 The Political Environment in Moneragala 61 The Villagers 64 Networks of Kin 69 Caste 72 Buddhism 77 Astrology, Deities and the Supernatural 84 Livelihoods 93 Farming in Sri Lanka: Brief Overview 100 The Land 105 Farming the Land 124 3. INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENT 139 What is Indigenous Knowledge 140 Some problems with Indigenous Knowledge Research 142 Indigenous Knowledge in the Field 147 Factors affecting decision making 160 Indigenous Knowledge and Mixed Cropping 161 Intercropping with rubber 170 Indigenous Knowledge in Development: Some Issues 181 4. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 185 What is Development? 187 What is Poverty? 196 Development in Sri Lanka - Post 1977 203 Moneragala - Post 1977 208 Problems with Sustainable Development 214 Agricultural credit 216 Extension services 218 Devolution of power 219 Politics and Partisanship 222 V Conclusion: Aiming for a Sustainable Development? 226 5. POWER AND DEVELOPMENT 230 Power and Knowledge 232 Empowerment 241 Building on Social Capital: An Empowering Process? 245 Community Co-operation? 257 The Researcher Power and Knowledge 265 Conclusion 269 6. PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT 273 Participation - What is it? 274 Participation Rural Appraisal - Learning from Villagers? 278 What happened? 281 The Problem of Participation 287 Participation in the villages 289 Sustainable development through participation 294 Participation or Participant Observation? 296 Who participates? 300 The Way Forward? 305 8. CONCLUSIONS 308 Anthropological Contributions to Development 311 Indigenous Knowledge Research 312 Participatory Development 313 The Project: Lessons learned and Further Questions 317 Concluding Remarks 322 Appendix 1: King DutugSmunu 326 Appendix 2: PRA Exercises in Mediriya, Therrapahuwa 328 and Walamatiara BIBLIOGRAPHY 342 vi ILLUSTRATIONS MAPS Map 1: Location of Sri Lanka in Asia 2 Map 2: Sri Lanka 3 Map 3: Moneragala District 44 Map 4: Badulkumbura Division 45 Map S: Therrapahuwa G.S. Division 46 Map 6: The Villages of Mediriya, Therrapahuwa and Walamatiara 47 TABLES Table 1: Sample Households 65 Table 2: Kin Terminology 70 Table 3: Cash Crops 107 Table 4: Herbs and Spices 113 Table 5: Trees found in the Home Garden 113 Table 6: Trees that have Cash Potential 114 Table 7: Wild Species 122 Table 8: Medicinal Plants 122 Table 9: Seasonal Calendar of Household One 130 Table 10: Soil Terms 148 Table 11: Banana varieties 171 Table 12: Stakeholders in Moneragala 213 PLATES Plate 1: Buddhism 51 Plate 2: Wells 54 Plate 3: Rubber latex 55 Plate 4: Midwfe 55 Plate 5: Weddings 73 Plate 6: Buddhist monks and Buddhism 81 Plate 7: Astrology and ritual healing 85 Plate 8: Devali 86 Plate 9: Weaning ceremony 87 Plate 10: Kihamma ceremony 88 Plate 11: Paddy terraces 108 Plate 12: Millet (harvesting and drying) 109 Plate 13: Maize 110 Plate 14: Brinjal and Okra 111 Plate 15: Chillies and manioc 112 Plate 16: Rampe and niviti 115 Plate 17: Gottukola 116 Plate 18: Dadap 117 Plate 19: Coconut and pepper 118 Plate 20: Horse radish tree and jak 119 vii Plate 21: Arecanut and betel leaves 120 Plate 22: Banana 121 Plate 23: Rubber 123 Plate 24: Sugarcane 128 Plate 25: Kalugala 129 Plate 26: Pests 134 Plate 27: Brinjal on Therrapahuwa