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| Sunday, 6 April 2003 |
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Rural products showcased in Colombo by Elmo Leonard 'Isuru Fair', an exhibition of rural products from Galle, Matara, Kandy and Puttalam was held in Colombo last week.
The fair had around 100 stalls. The produce came from 'Isuru beneficiaries' from the four districts, who worked themselves out of poverty by utilising the Small Farmers and Landless Credit Project initiated by the Central Bank (CB) in 1990. This is the only poverty alleviation program undertaken by a central bank in any part of the world, CB Deputy Governor W.A. Wijewardena said. An Isuru beneficiary from Puttalam, L.P. Simon, said that many rural poor, including himself, thought that they were destined to be poor for life. Besides the Isuru credit scheme, the only credit available for the rural poor is from "Poli Mudalalies", village money lenders who charge 25 per cent interest per month. Manique Seneviratne from Kandy said as village girls destined to poverty, they were timid, and it was only after they earned a little money through self-employment, following involvement with the Isuru scheme, that they got the courage to speak to the media. The rural exhibitors met a few wholesale buyers, and hoped to meet a few people who could export their produce. The products included jaggery, curd and treacle from the South, cadju nuts and cadju nut mixes, Maldive fish, dry fish, lime pickle, spices, grain, tea leaves, fruits and vegetables, herbal drinks, plants, cane products, reedware, lace, woodware, wall hangings, traditional handicrafts, garments for ladies and gents, brassware, household products, mats and coir products. Chandrika Wijesinghe said that though the income of some people went up with the introduction of the open economy in 1977, the earning power of others remained static. Those who receive Isuru funds have to form groups of five persons, and identify the type of business they would want to engage in. If one person in the group falls ill, the others would plough his or her land or look into his or her farm, so that the group continues to show profits. Some of the self-employment activities under the scheme are paddy and other crop cultivation, livestock including cows, buffaloes, goats, poultry and piggery, cart and bicycle repairs, drying fish, lace, artificial flowers and soap making. Small industries such as brick making, garments, confectionery, pottery, coconut toddy, rice milling, weaving, batik, cashew processing, blacksmithery, handlooms, stone carving, cane processing, joss stick manufacture, handicrafts, shoe making, leather products, envelop and toy making and beedi industry. CB's Deputy General Manager (Isuru scheme), A.G.U. Thilakaratna said loans worth Rs 927 million had been disbursed by end-December 2002. The average loan was Rs 11,899. There were 3,748 villages in operation under this scheme, with 13,946 groups, making the number of beneficiaries 82,312. There were 58,679 female beneficiaries and 23,633 male beneficiaries. The recovery rate was 98 per cent. A request was made by people from the North and East to bring the Isuru scheme to them. The recovery rate from those regions would be 100 per cent, Wijewardena said. |
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