Forefront of Recovery? A Sub-Sector Analysis of the Post-Tsunami Seafood Export Industry of Sri Lanka

Tsunami catastrophe has had devastated ten main fishing districts of the country and which account for 72% of the marine landings. The tsunami affected areas are very important for commercial tuna fisheries and fish landings (except shrimp aquaculture), fleet operations and livelihood of fishermen. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of tsunami on seafood export industry of Sri Lanka and to formulate the sub sector analysis for the sustainable livelihood of the stakeholders of the seafood industry. Drawing on questionnaire based surveys of 9 villages in 3 districts, the paper elucidates how fishers, traders and export-processors managing the post tsunami situation to the recovery. Human and social capital building capacities of the sub-sectors were in similar level. The physical capital status of the export-processors was better than the producers and traders while their financial capital access was poor. The damages to domestic fleet strength (about 75%) and poor demand on fresh fish were resulted slower rehabilitating of fishing operations and especially low tuna supply. The impact of shocks and trends had similar low figures for traders and export-processors but higher for producers while impact of seasonality was negligible compared with others. The changes of policies (100m buffer zone), institutions and processes (except scrapping the import duties) have little impact on export-processors compared to producers and traders. The damages to the Maldivian fleet operations have also badly affected to the tuna re-export, dry fish and Maldive fish exports sector. Traders and export-processors have better livelihood strategies than the fishers. Export-processors in west, north-west coasts are operating in their full capacity to fill the supply gap while south cost is more focusing on one-day operating small fleets with long-line tuna fishery for export

Export Oriented Tuna Industry in Sri Lanka: An Analysis of the Sources of Export Success

Tuna, after shrimps, forms the most valuable seafood product in both export and domestic market in Sri Lanka. The first section of this paper discusses the present status of tuna industry in Sri Lanka and the behavior of export markets. Secondly, this paper analyzes the impact of technological innovation, effort in international business, manager’s perception on obstacles to export and utilization of public instruments on export performance of permanent and sporadic tuna exporters. Results of the empirical study suggested that 96% of export performance of tuna exporters was explained by tested independent variables. Permanent exporters were engage in technological innovation in greater intensity than sporadic exporters. Especially, permanent exporters put more effort in international business than the innovation. Considering the manager’s perception, external to the country barriers were made big burden on export performance while sporadic exporters have to suffer a lot. The behavior of public instruments was neutral on the improvement of export performance. Trade promotion instruments were the widely used tool among permanent exporters and sporadic exporters were less familiar with these tools

Influence of actual environmental factors on shrinkage behaviour of concrete containing mineral compounds

This study was carried out to check whether the shrinkage can be reduced by using mineral admixtures and the shrinkage behavior of concrete containing mineral admixtures in actual environmental conditions. Since there are several environmental factors affecting on this shrinkage of concrete. Observation of shrinkage cracks in concrete structures is the most important aspect. Other than the observed data, it was necessary to get the predicted measurements of shrinkage from specific codes and models. But all these equations and models have been modeled in specific environmental situations. For most of them temperature and relative humidity values have taken as constants or under the control lab conditions. These codes or equations don’t represent the exact situation for the structures in the local environmental conditions. Therefore in this study, one of the main aims is to find out, which model or code equation gives the most relevant relationship for the shrinkage strain in structures under actual environmental conditions

Retail Trends and Urban Regeneration in Jaffna Peninsula

Department of Agribusiness Management, Sabaragamuwa University, Belihuloya, Sri Lank

dentification of Loss Hot Spots of the Post-harvest Chain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case of Banana and Mango Supply Chain

Banana and mango are the main types of fruit crop cultivated in Polonnaruwa District. Income generated from commercial level fruit cultivations help farmers to manage their household economy. COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, curfew, restricted movements and closure of public markets and economic centers significantly damage the fresh produce supply chains of the country, especially in key farming areas like Polonnaruwa. Present study was conducted to identify the loss hot spots of the papaya and mango supply chain during COVID-19 pandemic, measure the economic loss and find out the social consequences of it. A total sample of 75 respondents, including farmers, collectors, wholesellers, transporters, and retailers randomly selected from three Divisional Secretariats (Madirigiriya, Hingurakgoda, Thamankaduwa) of Polonnaruwa District. Data were analysis by using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Primary data were gathered through a field survey using a structured questionnaire, focus group interviews, in-depth interviews, and participatory observations. Both banana and mango supply chains were shorter, fragile and concentrated regionally. Regional public markets and dedicated economic centers were connecting regional supply chains into national level. Mango supply chains showed two different structures; most common one has similar structure of banana and the other type ended up with exporters. Closure of market operations crippled the regional supply chains and farmers unable to sell their products. Postharvest losses were high at farm gate, farmers hardly receive any income. Limited number of farmers was able to sell fruits to mobile vendors at very low prices. Some had to throw their rotting crops into piles of rubbish with miserable, which could not be sold because of restrictions on circulation. In addition to that collapse of the tourism industry, the majority of wholesale buyers reduced average purchases and tried to get the harvest from farmers at a lower price. New retail formats were born during the pandemic and most common were the mobile retailers. Household economies of the farmers faced severe financial crisis and issue were doubled with the extra financial requirements for the children’s online education. Resources waste reached to the highest level and farmer debts reached to alarming levels. Keywords: Post-harvest chain, COVID-19, Banana and mang

Role of Cultural Values on the Consumption of Timber for Architectural Purposes

Cultural values play a unique role in consumption decision of goods and services in general. This study aimed to identify the impact of cultural values on consumption decision of timber for the architectural purposes, especially on house construction in Sri Lanka and dilemma between physical properties of timber and cultural values. The sample included a range of professional carpenters (12), contractors of housing projects (08), timber stores owners (05) and consumers (30) engage in house construction. Story telling exercise was performed with aged and experienced carpenters, timber stores owners and contractors to obtain the insights on cultural values associated with the selection of timber for architectural purposes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by telephone with individuals selected for relevant practical knowledge of cultural values associated with various types of timber. All interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed into qualitative tool. Local knowledge, traditions and experience were key tools in interpretation of various cultural values attached to the types of timber. Cultural histories, stories, experiences and recommendations of adults and the trustworthy carpenter heavily influence the purchase intention of the consumers. Intangible benefits such as religious, social, and cultural values associated with different timber types were influential in consumer decision. Moral and spiritual wellbeing were influential compared to economic benefits. Little or poor consumer knowledge on identification of timber types and heavy dependency on carpenters and contractors on identification of timber pushes consumers towards irrational purchase decisions. Super luxury, luxury and special class timber were usually replaced by the substitutes. Keywords: Architectural purposes, Cultural values, Timber consumptio

Contribution of Woodlands for Rural Livelihoods: A Study in Agro-ecological Zones IM2b (Belihuloya) and DL1a (Kaltota)

Woodlands support rural livelihoods by providing means of income generation for the rural inhabited close to these woodlands. The objective of the study was to identify the contribution of woodlands for rural livelihoods and thereby to generate an initiative to conserve woodlands by the village community themselves. Data were gathered using an initial transaction walk, a series of focus group discussions with elder farmers of the area, and digital storytelling technique. Story telling activity allowed participants to express their views on the subject freely while the session was recorded by the researcher. A structured questionnaire was used to verity the qualitative data gathered. 10 individuals from each Agro-ecological zone was selected for data collection. Natural woodlands and forest plantations contributed significantly in managing the household economy (by selling timber for construction work, firewood for tea factories, selling underutilized fruits/wild bee honey, Apis dorsata honey, sand mining, eco-tourism), established family food and nutrition security (natural fruits/vegetables/green leaves/yams etc. and sources of wild collected meat), and provides a source of medicinal herbs used in indigenous medicine, promotes psychological wellbeing (providing playground for kids/youngsters to play, bonding among women while collecting firewood), supports crop cultivation (source of timber for making agricultural tools and equipment, i.e hoe, mammoty, sickle, etc.) and supports in carrying out other household chores (firewood for cooking, making tooth brushes and tooth picks, making kitchen utensils; wooden spoons, motor and pestle, landscaping with wild ornamental plants). Wood species identified from each woodland for timber purposes were recorded and classified under the categories of super luxury class, luxury class, special upper class, special class, class 1, class 2, class 3 and class 3 lower grade. The challenge of maintaining food and nutrition security during the pandemic was made easy by the woodlands. A single woodland renders multiple functions owing to the high crop richness and diversity. Keywords: Crop diversity, Rural livelihoods, Timber, Woodland

Catch Diversity of Small Scale Lobster Fishery in Southern Coast of Sri Lanka

The lobster fishery is one of the well-established, highly valued commercial fisheries on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka. There are five spiny lobster species, Panulirus homarus, P. longipes, P. ornatus, P. versicolor and P. penicillatus are recorded in the Southern coast of Sri Lanka. However, the heavy fishing pressure and other anthropogenic interventions have caused a significant depletion of some of these species. Therefore, in order to identify the vulnerability of the lobster species, we studied the species, gender and sexual maturity compositions of the lobster catch with the data collected from nine different lobster landing sites along the southern coast of Sri Lanka during 2019 and 2020. Minitab and MS Excel software were used for the descriptive statistical analysis. According to the results, the dominant species in the sampled landings was P. homarus, with the average percentage of 73.16% in 2019 and 84.65% in 2020. However, least abundant P. ornatus species’ average percentages were 0.74% in 2019 and 0.27% in 2020. Moreover the results reveals the male:female 1:1 sex ratio of the lobster catches as 1:0.9 in 2019 and 1:0.89 in 2020. Most importantly, among all females, there were 43.01% in 2019 and 37.31% in 2020 percentages borne eggs while 48.53% in 2019 and 47.03% in 2020 percentage of females were identified with tar spots. Therefore, considerable caught of tar spotted and egg bearing female lobsters might be a major cause of lobster stock depletion in Southern coast of Sri Lanka. Thus present study would be a preliminary guide for the future studies on sustainable lobster fishery management approach. Keywords: Lobsters fishery, Southern coast, Panulirus homarus, Tar spots, Sri Lank