Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
5-7-2026
Year of Publication
2024
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Document Type
Master's Thesis
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Geography
First Advisor
Dr. Nari Senanayake
Abstract
Conserving water for irrigation of crops has become a concern in the dry zone of Sri Lanka due to changes in climate patterns. In response, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has developed climate-resilient water management projects designed to build climate-resilience and water management practices among farmers. One such program called ‘Wew Gam Pubuduwa’ disseminates climate smart home gardening techniques, where women farmers receive sprinkler and drip irrigation systems, seeds and fertilizers, as well as training on water management methods. This study draws on a feminist political ecology framework to analyze the experiences of women home gardeners who participate in the ‘Wew Gam Puduwa’ project in the area of Palugaswewa located in Habarana, Sri Lanka. By integrating qualitative interviews and mental mapping methods, I examine how these development projects reconfigure forms of social and ecological difference and resource and water access. Through this analysis, I demonstrate how the concepts of climate resilience and water conservation are made fuzzy, as a result of the project bringing together multiple conflicting goals and objectives. Further, I explain how development interventions have reinforced the commercialization agriculture and farmers’ integration into global commodity chains, while creating uneven water and resource access outcomes among farmers.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.94
Funding Information
1. Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, 2023
2. Food and Agriculture Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers, 2023
Recommended Citation
Bathige, Nethmi Sachithma Perera, "GENERATING CLIMATE RESILIENCE OR INTENSIFYING VULNERABILITIES? A FEMINIST POLTITICAL ECOLOGY ANALYSIS OF CLIMATE RESILIENT AGRICULUTRE PROJECTS IN SRI LANKA’S DRY ZONE" (2024). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 99.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/99
