Abstract:
Southern Province Rural Economic Advancement Project has developed 10 out of
the 29 weekly-fairs in Hambantota District. This study attempted 1. to assess the
impact of development of weekly fair on rural farmers, and 2. find out the farmers’
perception on fair development. Weerakatiya and Angunukolapalassa fairs were
selected randomly. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from
farmers. Descriptive methods, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and Sign Test were
used to analyze the data.
Fair development has affected positively to increase the market opportunities for
farmers, cultivation extent in the surrounding area, selling quantity, number of
buyers, welfare and infrastructural facilities of the both fairs. However, the toilet
and waste disposing facilities were not improved up to acceptable level at
Agunukolapalassa fair. Further, farmers did not satisfy with parking and storage
facilities. Most of the farmers have highly satisfied with Weerakatiya fair structural
because it had complete stall with roof, cement floor, surrounding wall with
electricity. The ideas on planning, space for future expansion, sufficient facilities for
storage, parking, welfare and infrastructure at fair premises need to be discussed
with beneficiaries before developing a weekly fair.
