Samaranayake, Jayatissa

Swimming against the current : an experience from Sri Lanka in upscaling and mainstreaming participation of primary stakeholders : lessons learned and ways forward

This paper describes an experience from Sri Lanka in scaling-up and mainstreaming participation of primary stakeholders. It first offers a typology of participation and discusses the participatory methodologies promoted in Sri Lanka. The process and strategy adopted in scaling-up and mainstreaming participatory processes in the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka are discussed, along with its successes and failures, drawing from experience with a project on rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure.

The Mahaweli Project: a quarter century retrospect and prospect. Dependency vs empowerment : developing a sustainable management system based on farmer participation.

The Mahaweli Authority Sri Lanka was established to implement the largest multi-purpose Integrated Development Programme ever launched in the country. It is responsible for engineering construction work as well as the establishment of human settlements providing irrigation facilities, social infrastructure, post settlement services, maintenance and management of the settlements and their infrastructure. The MASL system has traditionally had a topdown approach which has contributed to dependancy as well as incurring a high financial cost.