The Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture (PGIA) of the University of Peradeniya decided to commence a new program of academic publications to encourage the academic staff associated with the PGIA to publish their research and teaching material and to make these available to students and a wider community of persons interested in these fields of study. The expected outcome is for the faculty to increase their research output and for students to have greater access to reading material for their postgraduate studies. This book ‘Leading Issues in Rural Finance’ is the first in a series of research studies.