Smallholder farmers' agricultural support services system in northern Sri Lanka : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Extension at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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dc.confidentialEmbargo : Noen_US
dc.contributor.advisorReid, Janet
dc.contributor.authorGeretharan, Thivahary
dc.date.accessioned2021-10-13T19:25:00Z
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-09T21:35:02Z
dc.date.available2021-10-13T19:25:00Z
dc.date.available2022-05-09T21:35:02Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractSmallholder agriculture is argued to be a key driver in the recovery and overall economic growth for rural populations in developing countries. There is little understanding on the agricultural support services accessed by smallholder farmers in the northern Sri Lankan context and what influence their access and why those support services are accessed by farmers. Further, little is known about how various agricultural support service providers are providing services to smallholder farmers in this context and what influence their provision. The research reported in this thesis examined and explored the smallholder farmers’ agricultural support system in the northern context of Sri Lanka. The aim of the study was to contribute to enhancing the provision of support services to smallholder farmers in northern Sri Lanka. A single case study design was employed, and data for the study were collected primarily from semi-structured interviews. Secondary data were gathered from relevant documents. The data collected through interviews and documents were analysed using qualitative data analysis. This research highlights that smallholder farmers are willingly, openly and without distrust engaging in relationships with commercial service providers despite having only limited experience in these types of interactions. Farmers value the standard of service but also seek to supply produce to a commercial trader with a well-recognised reputation. The service providers the farmers interact with are also linked to the particular farm enterprise they are engaged with and farm enterprises are differentiated on gender. The study further found that Government providers with no commercial interests are collaborated with providers with commercial interests associated with their interactions with smallholder farmers. In northern Sri Lanka it appears Government services are in no way seen as competitive with commercial service providers, rather for those commercial service providers who do not or are not in a position to provide certain services provided by Government they link farmers to Government to access these services. This linking to services adds value to the relationship between smallholders and commercial service providers. The insights gained from the study into what support services are accessed by smallholder farmers and why are they accessing and how are agricultural support service providers providing services to smallholder farmers need to be considered when designing policies and development programmes to enhance the support service provision in the northern context as well as other parts of Sri Lanka.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10179/17087
dc.publisherMassey Universityen_US
dc.rightsThe Authoren_US
dc.subjectAgricultural servicesen
dc.subjectFarmersen
dc.subjectServices foren
dc.subjectFarms, Smallen
dc.subjectSri Lankaen
dc.subject.anzsrc300208 Farm management, rural management and agribusinessen
dc.titleSmallholder farmers' agricultural support services system in northern Sri Lanka : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Extension at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealanden_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
massey.contributor.authorGeretharan, Thivaharyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineAgricultural Extensionen_US
thesis.degree.grantorMassey Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
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