The Mahaweli Development Project and the ‘rendering technical’ of agrarian development in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Mahaweli Development Project (MDP) is the largest irrigation-based agricultural development program in Sri Lanka and one of the largest agriculture-related programs in the world. However, despite promises of success and overly optimistic prognostications as to the future performance and potential of the MDP, the project has increasingly come under criticism in the new millennium for its failure to achieve intended irrigation targets and for its overall underperformance. The object of the present study is to critically evaluate the value-oriented narrative that has been put forward by planners of the MDP to explain these failures via a thorough examination of policy documents and on-site field research. This study finds that reasons cited by planners of the MDP to account for its underperformance, including a lack of motivation, knowledge and organization among farmers and the scarcity of water, are often technical in nature and that the official narrative selectively omits certain key questions related to political-economy. Using a theoretical framework shaped by the work of Tania Li and James Ferguson, the present work examines why the planners of development projects ‘render technical’ the problems related to program implementation and the implications of this tendency.

Multi-Decadal Forest-Cover Dynamics in the Tropical Realm: Past Trends and Policy Insights for Forest Conservation in Dry Zone of Sri Lanka

“…Intensive, state-subsidized socio-economic development projects targeting rapid agrarian development in the DZ were observed both within and prior to our timeframe of interest is the likely primary cause of forest cover loss [56][57][58]. The political and socio-economic movements underlying these developmental schemes transformed the farming practices of the DZ from a subsistence economy founded on local markets into a competitive commercial enterprise centering the national market [59]. In tropical countries with agrarian livelihoods and extractive farming systems, rural populations heavily rely on limited natural resources, which ultimately leads to forest degradation.…”

“…Incepted in 1961, Mahaweli Development Program (MDP) marks a cornerstone in land-use land-cover transformations in the DZ of post-colonial Sri Lanka that resulted in unprecedented extents of deforestations [56,57]. The multipurpose intents of this program included the generation of hydroelectricity, tank-based culture and capture fishery, farmland irrigation, providing lands to the landless, and creation of job opportunities through the agrarian economy [56,57,59]. Although major groundbreaking actions in the MDP were limited to the 1970-1990 period, including the construction of seven multipurpose reservoirs, the legacy effect continued to foster tremendous transformations of natural forest cover in the DZ, particularly because of the increasing population that demanded more lands for farming, settlements, and infrastructure development [71,72].…”

“…This accentuated the mass migrations into the DZ, increasing demand for land for settlements, farming, and infrastructure development. The initial settlements soon led to substantial population growth in the DZ, future exacerbating pressure on dry-zone forests [59]. In addition to ecological damage, the MDP has been severely criticized for the ineffective and ill-structured institutional organization, short-sighted political economy, acceleration of the original 30-year plan into a six-year timespan, and compromising environmental integrity and sustainability over accelerated economic growth [59].…”

“…The initial settlements soon led to substantial population growth in the DZ, future exacerbating pressure on dry-zone forests [59]. In addition to ecological damage, the MDP has been severely criticized for the ineffective and ill-structured institutional organization, short-sighted political economy, acceleration of the original 30-year plan into a six-year timespan, and compromising environmental integrity and sustainability over accelerated economic growth [59]. Massive deforestation resulting from MDP has subsequently culminated into prolonged regional water shortages, soil erosion, reduced reservoir capacity, increasing effects of climate change, and outbreaks of vector-borne diseases [72][73][74][75].…”

Scale-related governance challenges in the water–energy–food nexus: toward a diagnostic approach

“…Experience from cases In the Mahaweli River Basin in Sri Lanka's dry zone, rural dwellers face multiple, partly overlapping or contradictory incentives for agricultural activities from various governance levels and sectors, leading to malfunctions in the water allocation system and detrimental effects for rural livelihoods (Perrone and Hornberger 2016;Withanachchi et al 2014;Paranage 2019). These conflicting incentives, on one hand, stem from the already fragmented governance system for the water allocation and the management of environmental issues.…”