One-Village-One-Product: A Countryside Capitalization Approach to Alleviate Rural Poverty in Sri Lanka

This study used a qualitative approach to investigate the potential of implementing the One-Village-One-Product countryside capitalization model in the Ridigama village. In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observations of the research team were mainly used in collecting data for the study. Research findings indicated that the village and the villagers are ominously dependent on the Ridi Viharaya, which is the main religious monument in the village.  The village is abundant with natural and socio-cultural capital that can be used when implementing the model. Moreover, the willingness of the people in developing the concept and mainly the leadership of Mahanayake Thero of Ridi Viharaya were the main strengths possessed by this village in this regard. These findings led to the articulation of the One-Village-One-Product model considering Spiritual Tourism as the core of it. Finally, the findings of the study strongly recommended implementing the model with five key trust areas, namely; spiritual wellbeing; conservation of ecosystem/biodiversity; conservation of historically build environment; conservation of social-culture; and quality of tourism.