Alternative Strategies for Poverty Alleviation during the Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka: Insights from Literature for Policy Level Recommendations

Poverty is one of the central issues of mankind, which can cause severe consequences,
including hunger, diseases, political violence, and even civil wars and terrorism. According to research data from the World Bank, 25% of people in Sri Lanka live under the poverty line by 2022. In the decades after the independence, the Sri Lankan government has focused on social welfare strategies in fields such as free education, health services, food rationing, land reforms, and subsidies for agriculture. Social welfare policies implemented by the government have been successful in reducing the poverty level. However, the literature reveals that despite all these efforts to alleviate poverty, governments have been unable to achieve the required status through these programs. On the other hand, currently, Sri Lanka is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history, which requires quick and solid policy reforms in every sector, including welfare and poverty. The state will no longer be able to facilitate most of the social welfare programs as it was before. Thus, poverty alleviation programs are expected to face challenges such as fiscal deficits. Moreover, the economic crisis has made people's lives worse. As per the World Bank data, an additional 2.5 million people have fallen into poverty in 2022, meaning that the number of people who need assistance is increased. This situation forces the government to seek new possibilities and alternatives to reducing poverty. This work aims to address the above gap by researching the alternative and supplement strategies that can be used in poverty alleviation policy in Sri Lanka. A range of earlier studies on causal theories of poverty and poverty alleviation strategies were critically analyzed to identify the challenges and possibilities in existing poverty alleviation program in coping with the economic crisis. Based on the study, four policy-level recommendations are presented as alternative strategies with identified policy tools for each strategy: improving the behavioural insights of people, enhancing good governance in poverty alleviation programs, focusing on the capability approach of poverty alleviation, and strengthening the participatory approach. Further, the strengths and challenges of these policy recommendations will also be discussed.