LIVING WITH DROUGHT: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Drought is one of the challenges because of climate change in Sri Lanka. This study is to identify the socio-economic impacts of the drought. It makes use of secondary data collection techniques as well as of the research mainly focused on social, economic, environmental and psychosocial impacts of drought in the society. Such as: affected farmers in the drought period, loss of quality of land, searching for water for farming, increasing suicide rates, poverty, increasing demands on government aid programmes and community impacts, impact on children’s education, microfinance and other bank loans, depression, stress, stigma, and psychosocial issues worsen their values and status, late marriages, chronic kidney diseases, water needs negatively impact on women. Therefore, a sustainable development process, and a change from a tradition of responding to a culture of resilience, should be commenced to implement mitigation programmes that would reduce these climate change impacts.