Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: The Impact of the Apparel and Textile Industry on the Eradication of Poverty in Sri Lanka

Poverty eradication is the first goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set to be achieved by 2030. As a developing country, Sri Lanka is committed to achieve these goals and to become a sustainably developed country. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the deepening economic crisis have created a serious challenge in achieving these goals for Sri Lanka. In this context, the apparel and textile sector, one of the largest contributors to the economy, has a great role to play. The creation of direct and indirect employment and the increase in incomes and savings of households are among the significant impacts of the apparel and textile industry on the economy. However, a thorough assessment of the impact of the apparel and textile industry on poverty reduction proves challenging within the extant scholarly literature. This important gap sheds light on the aims of our study, which are to (i) investigate the impact of the apparel sector on the reduction of income poverty in Sri Lanka, (ii) explore the potential impact of the apparel and textile industry on eradicating multidimensional poverty in Sri Lanka, and (iii) examine the role of the apparel sector on fostering female empowerment in the country. This research is based on primary data, which is collected from employees in the apparel sector through a survey questionnaire. The sample size is 185 respondents who are workers in the apparel sector, covering large, medium, and small-scale apparel and textile firms island-wide. In addition, secondary data is collected from various sources. Based on the gathered data, a detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis is conducted to test the validity of the hypothesis that the apparel industry helps to reduce poverty in Sri Lanka. The findings indicate that over one-third of the sample lives below the income poverty threshold, with nearly 20% experiencing multidimensional poverty. Evidently, the apparel and textile industry significantly contributes to reducing both income and multidimensional poverty in the country.