Lanka meets its development goals - Patrick T. Evans

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that despite the damage caused due to the recent bad weather conditions, Sri Lanka is on a much better footing than other countries to face the global food crisis.

The FAO Representative in Sri Lanka and the Maldives Patrick T. Evans told Sunday Observer that the government was keen on addressing the future food crisis under the Mahinda Chinthana, which has focused on supporting local production of food items and reducing the dependency on imports.

"The government is targeting some 23 crops to achieve self-sufficiency and boost local production. Therefore, Sri Lanka is on a much better footing compared to many other countries which depend largely on imports. Food security-wise, this country is in a good shape", he said.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

Q: Sri Lanka is moving fast towards rebuilding the country. How do you see the government's efforts to achieve its targets after ending the war against terrorism?

A: It is very positive and the focus is now more towards infrastructure development - roads and bridges-, electrification etc. Wherever you go - from the East to the North you see development projects. But it was very unfortunate that Sri Lanka had to experience adverse weather conditions that brought huge damage. The FAO is yet to assess the damage to the infrastructure, livelihood, agriculture and production. However, things were progressing until there were floods. They had the highest paddy harvest in the country's history until rains started last month. Now we don't know how much has been lost.

It is optimism right now because they try to recover from a decades long conflict, in which lots of people suffered. They moved forward to rebuild their lives and also the country.

Q: Will Sri Lanka's economic and political stability help the FAO to divert more funds to develop the country ?

A: What the FAO is doing at the moment is planning programs for different sectors - agriculture, livestock, poultry and, fisheries. A meeting was held with the key people in the agriculture sector to plan on how best we could work with the government to meet its priorities for the next five years. We are doing it sector by sector. The FAO will do its best to assist the government to revive agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors.

Q: With serious concern given to the Northern development by the government, how do you assess the existing situation in the Northern region?

A: The situation was encouraging The East had a very high paddy production and a bumper harvest in Yala in 2010 and Maha this year. The economic impact is outstanding. The FAO is rehabilitating 55 small and medium level irrigation tanks and helping to rehabilitate irrigation structures, regain abandoned paddy lands and also helping people to get back on their feet to make them economically strong. We work with the UNDP and ILO in integrated development programs for the communities, who have returned to their villages in Batticaloa after the conflict.

The agricultural production in Trincomalee and Batticaloa was destroyed due to recent floods. The FAO has to wait for a couple of weeks to access the damage and to see what production is surviving.

Some crops like green and black gram and cowpea are badly damaged due to inundation. Paddy can survive and come out of inundation but other crops which are flowering and seeding might fall.

Q: Does the FAO have special relief measures to help flood victims ?

A: Yes, we have some projects where we work with the European Union. The FAO has extended the project up to June and the EU agreed to continue till end of November. We are looking at getting additional funding. Right now we are planning to buy small packages with nine different varieties in each pack so that people can start cultivation with reduced moisture before the scheduled yala season and also the other crops- green and black gram, cowpea and peanut. We are trying to buy seed from seed suppliers. The major challenge will be the Yala season.

However, we are planning for the Yala season and expect a good harvest in the North. In the East, over 500 tanks have been damaged and we need to find out how many tanks have been damaged.

Q: The FAO has been helping the IDPs throughout and how do you see the progress in resettlement in the Northern region?

A: We have distributed seed paddy worth of over US$ 3.5 million in the last season. Over 110,000 acres of abandoned lands in Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Vavuniya and Mannar have come back into production after the displaced people returned from the Manik Farm welfare centre in Vavuniya and they expected a harvest of 317,000 bushels. Over 200,000 acres have been cultivated in the North. We have provided other crop seeds and putting all inputs in place to revive the agriculture sector in the North to restore the livelihoods of the resettled people. The FAO is now in the process of providing 5,000 water pumps and this would be completed in mid March. The farmers have called for water pumps as they can start cultivation in the Yala season.

The FAO is also putting up agri-wells and small canals. We are working through the government and seeds are provided at a 50 percent subsidized rate. It is a critical situation that these people had only one agricultural harvest in the rain fed Maha season and we need to develop the second season so that those farmers would be able to generate income for their families and rebuild their houses.

The FAO's focus has been shifted from providing seeds as we have to do so much for providing seeds in the Maha season.

The FAO should be moving more on to livestock, fisheries and horticulture. We have to graft trees such as mango which people need to grow in their home gardens. The FAO is engaged in the coconut sector, which was largely destroyed during the conflict and was subsequently abandoned in Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu districts.

The FAO is also engaged in developing inland and marine fisheries. We have done an assessment over a two-month period with the International Agriculture Development Authority to prioritise the needs in the sector and support the fisheries sector to expand production in Kilinochchi.

The FAO is also assisting to improve storage and management of inland fisheries while upgrading 12 landing sites to develop the marine fisheries sector in Mullaithivu and Mannar. We are now rebuilding the Fisheries Department office in Mullaithivu.

The FAO will also raise more money through the Joint Appeal of the government made two weeks ago . To support marine fisheries development we need to look at putting resources together to repair the fishing gear including boats.

We engage in different activities such as poultry to ensure food security of the resettled people. We are buying and delivering month old chicks to households and rounding up stray cattle and distributing them among the people. We have rounded up some 7000 cattle and distributed them among the people.

The FAO is helping to improve chilling facilities in Mullaithivu so that milk production could be improved.

Q: While some people have criticised the resettlement program, the government completed by 90 percent of it. Do you show any lapses in the process?

A: Everything is moving as past as possible. Initially there were many thousands of displaced people in welfare centres due to the security situation, de-mining and clearing of unexploded explosives.

In October 2009, the FAO, which studied the resettlement process with other UN agencies, revised the support to those people for their safe return.

We have started providing agricultural support and had distributed seed paddy in October 2009 for the Maha season among the people, who had no places to live. The entire resettlement process progressed gradually until end of 2010.

The majority of the people are back in their homes except for only 15,000 whose lands are being de-mined. Lots of resources have gone to de-mining which is a slow process as the Eastern side of Mullathivu was strewn with landmines as the end battle took place there. Once those areas are cleared and made safe for people to return, the Manik Farm welfare centre will cease operations. This is the only technical issue at the moment.

This year people should move from food aid to food production. I hope flood damage in the North and the East is not too serious but the people have lost other field crops.

The FAO provided the seeds for 18,000 acres of black and green grams and peanut cultivation. They have lost quite a lot of them.

The Provincial Secretary whom I met last week told me that he expected 75 percent of harvest from the 15,000 acres of the total cultivated land of 200,000 acres. This will help families to get back on their feet. At the same time we are transporting horticulture plants and distributing fruit trees such as mango.

What I am trying to do is raising money for the East through the Flash Appeal with all other UN agencies. A sum of US $ 50 million was asked for urgently as the flood situation had gone from bad to worse.

We get money through the Central Emergency Relief Fund and they gave us US $ 500,000. Before Neil Buhne left he signed for another US $ 100,000 for purchase of seed for the East.

We plan to distribute them among the flood affected people in the next couple of weeks. We receive money from Australia and Austria. We will utilize this money to get the people back to production. The project that the FAO has a project for US $ 600,000 for the Yala season in the East and priority is given to provide seeds.

Q: What is the FAO's commitment in poverty eradication in Sri Lanka ? What are the areas that the government needs to look into in reducing poverty?

A:The FAO is working with the government and all UN agencies within the UN Development Assistance Framework. We are looking at planning a framework for the next five years.

This country is doing well in meeting development goals and it is becoming a middle income country now. The per capita income has doubled during the last four years and it will double again in the near future.

There are pockets of poverty, especially in the plantation sector. This is an area we are working with the government to address poverty issues. The poverty level has come down significantly over the years.

With a well educated population, lots of resources and very dynamic markets and trades the North and the East are developing and becoming a part of the economy after ending the 26 year old strike. A plenty of changes are taking place and tourism is past catching up. With the ICC World Cup there will be lots of people focusing on Sri Lanka. Now every thing is in place in Sri Lanka and it can expect progress in all the sectors soon.

Q: You said there are some pockets of poverty in Sri Lanka. What are the districts that need attention ?

A: When looking at different districts and poverty indicators it is observed that, the plantation sector which is always struggling needs attention. Badulla and Monaragala districts are coming up in a big way. The FAO is engaged in some projects to improve livelihood. We are doing some land ownership projects to give them proper land documentation to make the process easy for them to get Bank loans.

Overall, the economy is getting stronger and stronger. The growth rate is very high. If you take Colombo district you see roads are being constructed, the marine drive is being extended and new walk ways are being put up along the railway tracks. This trend can be seen everywhere in the country. Infrastructure is being developed and it will be a strong foundation for everything else.

The country needs more outreach in the agriculture sector. I think there should be a system to reach out to the farmers to provide them more information on a better production systems at household level, better value addition and better marketing partnerships with private sector and better linkages to the producer to the private sector.

We are working in Peradeniya with the government agencies to promote agriculture outreach for agro enterprise" development. We are also working with the dairy sector to improve cattle and water buffalo breeding to increase milk production. They need to meet the required dairy production domestically by 50 percent.

Q: The government aims at making Sri Lanka, the Wonder of Asia. Will it be a possible target at this rate ?

A: Sri Lanka is a small country with beautiful scenery, beaches and a rich cultural history. There is so much in such a small package here. It is easy to market this country as a tourist destination. Sri Lanka was very popular in 1970s as a nature tourist destination. The conflict moved off from the main destinations over the past several years but it is coming back.

Q: Is Sri Lanka prepared for a global food crisis in the coming years ? Will food prices see a further escalation worldwide?

A: It now shows an upward trend. In Sri Lanka the government is paying close attention to address the global food crisis. The Mahinda Chinthana has very much focused on supporting producing goods locally and reduce dependency on imports. President Mahinda Rajapaksa had announced that the government they would be providing the fertilizer subsidy to all the farmers affected by the floods in half a dozen districts.

The key is to maintain diversity in the production system, so that you can produce more locally. The government is targeting some 23 crops to achieve self sufficiency and to boost local production. Therefore, this country is on a better footing than many other countries which really depend on imports. With a dynamic fisheries sector which harvests 300,000 tonnes annually Sri Lanka can reach its targets easily. The Ministry of Fisheries is working to increase the fish harvest to 600,000 tonnes per year. Food security-wise this country is in quite good shape. Lots of countries suffer due to food crisis connected to oil prices, which is going up now. Globally there are lots of problems due to changing weather patterns, - drought in Russia had affected the wheat production and they have stopped wheat exports.

The main thing is to be open and not put up barriers to trade in food commodities. Globally the production is quite good, in rice wheat and sugar driving up the food indexes. Here, the local vegetable prices are high due to bad weather conditions and it has affected the production in Nuwara Eliya and Kandy. But it can be balanced gradually.

Q: How do you explain your experience in Sri Lanka and its people ?

A: I am very fortunate to be here at this point of time when people are enjoying peace at the end of a decades long conflict.

Everywhere in the country people are now experiencing peace with reconciliation and development. The country has moved from conflict to peace. There are lots of work in rebuilding livelihoods. I personally feel there are interesting challenges even for us. The FAO is closely working with the government to address the needs of the people.

People in Sri Lanka are optimistic, hard working and forward looking. All are sending their children to school despite hardships and waiting to re-establish their lives. It is the time of hope now.