First centre set up:

Cocoa processing at rural level

The country's first-of-its-kind Cocoa Processing Center was established in the rural village of Ulpotha in Matale recently, under Etimos Lanka (Pvt) Ltd's innovative project "Micro Finance meets small producers in Sri Lanka."

The project "Micro Finance meets small producers in Sri Lanka" was launched by Etimos Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, recently with the aim of supporting and investing in small producers by assisting them with investing in technology in order to increase capacity and production.

With the identification of Sri Lankan cocoa as one of the world's best, Etimos Lanka (Pvt) Ltd partnered with Istituto Co-operation Economica Internazionale (ICEI) and two Cocoa Producers' Associations named Palapathwela and Yatawatte to form Co-operation for Industrial Development Lanka (Pvt) Ltd (COOP-ID), a company focused on processing of cocoa beans.COOP-ID was established to organize and conduct meetings with cocoa producers and their producer partners, introduce farmer and technology training and liaising with the agricultural departments with the main objective of reviving the dying cocoa industry in Sri Lanka.

COOP-ID, meanwhile, is looking at increasing cocoa production in the country by extending new cultivation to other areas such as Moneragala. The Organisation also hopes to facilitate other agriculture base products like onion farming, vegetable and fruit cultivation, horticulture and paddy cultivation.