Perspectives on impacts of water quality on agriculture and community well-being—a key informant study from Sri Lanka

dc.contributor.authorThoradeniya, B
dc.contributor.authorPinto, U
dc.contributor.authorMaheshwari, B
dc.date.accessioned2023-04-24T03:02:32Z
dc.date.available2023-04-24T03:02:32Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractIntegrated management of water quality is critical for sustaining food production and achieving overall wellbeing of a community. Further, understanding people’s perceptions and engagement can play an important role in achieving water and food security. The main aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of community and other stakeholders as to how water quality impacts on agriculture, livelihood and community well-being within rural farming communities of two dry zone districts of Sri Lanka. The study adopted ‘key informant interviews’ as the methodology to investigate community and other stakeholder perspectives to collect primary data over a period of four months. The interview contents were then examined using a frequency matrix and graphed using an Excel graphing tool. The raw text was also analysed to understand the broader patterns in the text. A fuzzy logic cognitive map (FCM) was developed using the relationships between various concepts and linkages provided by the key informants. All key informants were concerned with the quality of drinking water they consume and the water used for their food preparation. Key informants representing the farming community indicated that the use of poor quality groundwater with higher levels of hardness has made growing crops difficult in the region. The key informants also identified extensive and ongoing use of agro-chemicals and fertilisers as a major source of pollution in water bodies in both spatiotemporal scale. Based on key informant interviews, possible initiatives that can help improve surface water and groundwater qualities for both drinking and agricultural use in the dry zone of Sri Lanka can be categorised into four broader themes, viz., provision of filtering/treatment systems, reduction in the use of agro-chemical and fertilisers, education of community stakeholders and support of alternative options for portable water supplies. The study indicates that in the key informants’ view of groundwater and surface waters’ continued deterioration in the absence of a proper governance structure, a majority of farmers will have restricted access to good quality water to meet daily and agricultural needs, and this will affect the health of the elderly and children in the area. Further, a majority of key informants were of the view that management of surface water and groundwater should be a shared responsibility between the government and the community in the region and appropriate policy initiatives that will improve water literacy at all levels are mandatory to address future water quality challenges.en_US
dc.identifier.citationThoradeniya, B., Pinto, U., & Maheshwari, B. (2019). Perspectives on impacts of water quality on agriculture and community well-being—A key informant study from Sri Lanka. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(3), 2047–2061. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0493-1en_US
dc.identifier.databaseSpringeren_US
dc.identifier.issn1614-7499(Online)en_US
dc.identifier.issue3en_US
dc.identifier.journalEnvironmental Science and Pollution Researchen_US
dc.identifier.pgnos2047–2061en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/20923
dc.identifier.volume26en_US
dc.identifier.year2019en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSpringer Science+Business Mediaen_US
dc.subjectGroundwateren_US
dc.subjectSurfacewateren_US
dc.subjectSri Lankaen_US
dc.subjectWater qualityen_US
dc.subjectCommunity educationen_US
dc.subjectHealth and well-beingen_US
dc.titlePerspectives on impacts of water quality on agriculture and community well-being—a key informant study from Sri Lankaen_US
dc.typeArticle-Full-texten_US

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