Sri Lanka to get $125 mln credit to modernise agriculture

Sri Lanka has signed a US$125 million credit with the World Bank to help the country modernize its agriculture sector. Sri Lanka aims to make the sector more efficient and attractive as a modern business, more responsive to consumer demand, and more environmentally sustainable and resilient to climate change, the bank said in a media statement.

Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives and R.H.S. Samarathunga, Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance signed the project on behalf of the World Bank and the Government of Sri Lanka. She said, "Sri Lanka's history is deeply rooted in agriculture and its paddy cultivation tradition. Past practices can inform the future by preserving and building on the country's farming traditions. There is now space to diversify and promote high-value, export-oriented food crops."

She added, "This shift is crucial for income growth, poverty reduction, reducing inequality and better nutritional outcomes. The new approach corresponds directly with World Bank Group's twin goals."

The project will support value chain development to promote commercial and export-oriented agriculture, with focus on higher value agriculture products, such as fruits and vegetables. It provides investments to improve productivity and diversify production patterns through modern agriculture technology demonstrations in key areas and supports new institutional arrangements through farmer organisations and farmer-agribusiness partnerships. It will also support agricultural policy development to help the Government determine the sector's future direction.

It will be implemented through the Ministry of Primary Industries, the Ministry of Agriculture, and five participating provinces: Northern, Eastern, Central, North-Central, and Uva.

Beneficiaries include an estimated 30,000 smallholder farm households, who will benefit directly from a small matching grants programme and agriculture technology demonstrations. Another 20,000 farm households will be supported through technical and business training and through professional farmer organisations that will help them become more effective and business-oriented enterprises.

Idah PswarayiRiddihough, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives and R.H.S. Samarathunga, Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance signed the project on behalf of the World Bank and the Government of Sri Lanka.