FAO assistance for resettled farmers in Mullaitivu

Mullaitivu bore the brunt of the final days of the conflict.

When 43-year-old Nagesvaran finally returned to his village of Mangalaaru South, Mullaitivu in June 2011 with his wife Vasanthaleela and five children after spending two years in Menik Farm, he found that his house was partially destroyed and his land barren. A full time paddy farmer before he was displaced, Nagesvaran had no income and no means to resume cultivation in the five acres of abandoned paddy after his resettlement.

However, he was able to begin a new chapter in his life after becoming a beneficiary of the FAO Seed Paddy project for resettling families in Mullaitivu.

FAO's Seed Paddy program during the Maha 2011/12 season was funded by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and USAID, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Land, Livestock and Irrigation of the Northern Province as the key implementing partners.

Nagesvaran received 15 bushels of seed paddy from FAO in November 2011, along with some agricultural tools including tarpaulin sheets, a bush knife, a mammoty and a rake.

He has just harvested his first crop in several years and managed to sell 120 bags of paddy while reserving 20 for consumption. Moreover, he cultivated ground nut in a half-acre patch, for which the ground nut was also granted by FAO under separate funding from the Kingdom of Norway.

Nagesvaran's dream is to rebuild his house through a loan and repay it by the income generated through rice and ground nut harvests.