Projects

USAID/CORE Supported Projects

Dairy Development Eluwan (Pvt) Ltd.

Pelwatte Dairy Industries Ltd. (PDIL), a subsidiary of Pelwatte Sugar Industries, is investing Rs1.4 billion on a state-of-the-art dairy processing plant and animal feed production factory in the Monaragala District. In 2009 USAID/CORE partnered with PDIL to develop a network of dairy producers in the Monaragala and Ampara Districts.

As part of a cost-share agreement training for the participating farmers on new methods and technologies is being provided.

Exposure visits were made to the Pelwatte Dairy Model Farm to demonstrate to the beneficiaries the best practices in housing, feeding, milkng and other dairy management practices.

An initial assessment indicates that farmers following technical directions provided during training have increased their milk yields by between 5 and 10%. In addition, these farmers have begun to share the best practices with fellow farmer society members.

Assistance to construct improved cattle sheds, purchase upgraded cattle and milk collection cans will be provided on a cost-shared basis. In addition

A sample of 30 farmers surveyed in the Monaragala District in mid 2009, indicates a production increase from 50 liters/cow/month to 76 liters/cow/month as a result of USAID/CORE interventions. This is indicative of a 79% increase in income from their previous earnings due to a 52% increase in yield and an 11% increase in price.
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USAID/CORE is working with five local entrepreneurs from the Monaragela District to establish a supplier network of 300 farmers to produce high-quality dehydrated lime and set up. Adamjee Kukmanjee and Sons Ltd will purchase 100% of the production of lime from these entrepreneurs. Adamjee, which exports dehydrated lime to the Middle Eastern markets, indicated interest in expanding its smoked lime program into the USAID/CORE target areas. (Sri Lanka has been exporting high quality dehydrated lime to the Middle East for the last several years, but has not been able to fulfill the market demand.) The project is also providing training on best crop management practices and assisting in the setting of five dehydration kilns for lime dehydration on a cost shared basis and with input from Post Harvest Technology Institute on the design of effective and efficient kilns.
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Anoma, a member of the Daya Group of Companies, identified the demand for red lady papaya both in the export and domestic markets and initiated a project in May, 2009 to meet this demand with high-quality sorted and graded papaya. USAID/CORE joined hands with Anoma to assist this project through a cost-shared grant to develop its out-grower program to a total of 3,000 farmers from the Ampara and Moneragala Districts.

Participating farmers are trained in papaya cultivation and Business Basics. Each farmer were given 50 seedlings after being trained. Incomes of the participating farmers are expected to increase by approximately 40%.

Women are playing a leading role in this project representing 41% of the total beneficiaries.

New Entrepreneurs
Five farmers in the Monaragala District have become entrepreneurs by collecting and selling papaya produced by the beneficiary famers in the area. They market the fresh papaya in the neighboring villages and in Colombo and its suburbs. One entrepreneur sells to the Cargills supermarket chain, while another entrepreneur has purchased a small truck to improve his collection and delivery of the fruit.

Further support will be provided to new entrepreneurs by providing plastic crates, facilitate bank loans, as well as work with them in developing business plans.
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With financial and technical support from USAID/ CORE, a new software product development center, Advanced Information Consulting (Pvt) Ltd., was established in Akkaraipattu, in the Ampara District. This is the first time a multinational IT company has opened a major production center in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province. The center will create employment opportunities for youth graduating from local educational facilities in the Eastern Province. This pioneering initiative, led by Kingslake Engineering Systems (Pvt) Ltd, through its subsidiary Advanced Information Consulting (Pvt.) Ltd. (AIC), will help build the professional capacity of youth living in a post-conflict environment. USAID/CORE assisted AIC by mitigating the risk of starting a private enterprise in a fragile region still recovering from the conflict.

AIC will recruit potential candidates to participate in a training program which will prepare the candidates to become professional software engineers. The participants will be trained on the latest technologies, presentation and communication skills and quality management. This will increase the participating youths' technological and commercial knowledge so that they can confidently face challenges in the industry, including those of local and offshore projects.

The project will employ youth from the Eastern Province who qualify and have graduated from educational institutes, such as the Eastern and South Eastern universities. This will ease the pressures on rural youth to migrate to the Western Province in search of employment. USAID's partnership with AIC will create a strong team of professionals in software product development.

At the start training activities for 9 recruits were completed by June 2010 and within three months of completing the training, the AIC team started commercial software development.
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With a domestic market share of over 40% for its McCurry brand name, Lanka Spices expanded its supplier base into the Eastern Province for the first time, in partnership with USAID/CORE in 2009.

USAID/CORE worked with three farmer societies in Gonagala, Mayadunee and Senagama to improve the quality of the turmeric by conducting business basics and technical training programs for 221 farmers in partnership with Lanka Spices.

Prior to the USAID/CORE intervention, over 50% of the farmers had virtually given up on growing turmeric due to the difficulty with selling their produce and receiving only LKR 90 per kilo. However, with this linkage to Lanka spices, 62 famers supplying turmeric received Rs145 per kilo and increased income by 62%. The increase in incomes has motivated all farmers to cultivate turmeric and participate in the program in the upcoming seasons.

In addition, the Gonagolla Farmer Society, the bulk supplier of turmeric, made a net profit of over Rs250,000 by adding value through further curing and processing. By end 2009 the society sold 528 kilos of tamarind at a premium price of LKR 27 per kilo and 1,906 kilos of turmeric to Lanka Spices, and another 800 kilos of turmeric on the open market.

Based on the successful market linkage established in 2009, Lanka Spice continues to purchase turmeric from the original beneficiary group. In mid 2010 a total of 507kgs of processed turmeric was purchased at a premium price of LKR 475/kg. This is the highest price these farmers have ever received for a kilogram of turmeric.
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Based in the Western Province, Alli Company (Pvt) Ltd, is a food processing company engaged in manufacturing all types of noodles, jams, cordials and chutneys, directly employing 475 persons. With an increase in demand for its products, especially noodles, Alli extended its supply base. USAID/CORE partnered with Alli in 2009, to implement a part of its black gram out-grower program and linked the company with farmers living in conflict affected areas bordering the North Central Province. An MOU was signed between the project and Alli. The project supported nearly 650 farmers through this linkage. Technical training was also provided to the participating farmers on land preparation and black gram cultivation and planting methodologies.

As a result of increased income due to the market linkage facilitated by USAID/CORE, several farmers have become debt-free for the first time in their lives allowing them to purchase motorbikes, build extensions to their houses, and provide their children with better education.
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JayKay is linked to two farmer organizations: KIRDO, which provides primarily fruits, and MVDO, which provides high quality B'Onion. USAID/CORE supported

USAID/CORE linked John Keells Marketing, the supermarket subsidiary of one of Sri Lanka's largest conglomerates, with the Kebethigollewa Integrated Rural Development Organization (KIRDO) in 2009, to obtain quality fruit and vegetables they could purchase from local growers for their supermarkets.

With this intervention farmers in Kebethigollewa in the Anuradhapura district were able to sell their produce at a guaranteed price directly to Keells. This also ensured a steady supply of quality products. Nearly 200 farmers in Kebethigollewa were linked through this project, while technical training were also provided to the farmers meet the standard quality requirements of Keells Supermarkets.

USAID/CORE also supported KIRDO to set up a Fruit and Vegetable Purchasing and Sales Centre titled "Ulpatha" in the Kebethigollewa town, which provided a mid point for the farmers to provide their produce instead of having to travel all the way to the John Keells Collection Center, which reduced their travelling cost.

In addition, big onion farmers in Galenbindunuweva were also trained in post harvest technologies with the support of the Manager of the Keells Collection Center, at the field level, to ensure quality parameters were met. Due to this training, rejection rates decreased to below 1% from 39%.

As a result of the market linkage established by USAID/CORE, fruit and vegetable farmers continue to supply produce to both JayKay Marketing and the KIRDO.
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In order to support a continuous income stream for farmers who participated in maize and black gram programs, USAID/CORE, in partnership with Adamjee, commenced a sesame cultivation/market linkage project for the Yala season in the Trincomalee and Anuradhapura districts.

Due to delays in rains ("thala wessa"), farmers hesitated to purchase better quality seeds offered to them on a cost shared basis. However, farmers who planted seeds they had in stock actively participated in post harvest training programs as well as the market linkage efforts.

Adamjee set up two collection centers in the Mahavilachchiya GN Division. They commenced purchases during the last week of June 2009. At the end of the reporting period, a total of 59 farmers sold 45MT of better quality sesame to Adamjee. As a result of the USAID/CORE intervention, the farmers increased their income by an average of 13% compared to the previous year.

Post harvest training resulted in farmers using improved methods such as threshing on plastic sheets to reduce contaminants. They also have a better understanding of the optimum time to harvest based on the color of the stalk. This has led famers to better meet the buyer's stringent quality requirements.

Some farmers who participated in the program sold sesame to other buyers or to their debtors to settle pending loans. Other farmers opted to stock the seeds with the expectation that the prices will increase in the coming months.
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Anuradhapura

USAID/CORE linked Plenty Foods, a subsidiary of Ceylon Biscuits Ltd (CBSL), with farmers in Kebithigollewa in Anuradhapura, a rain-fed farming area where most farmers find it difficult to cultivate during the 'Yala' season. The aim of this linkage was to encourage cultivation of soybean, a plant which does not need much water, during the 'Yala' season, as an additional source of income. Under this project USAID/CORE trained 40 farmers, of which 98% are women, on how to grow soybean. Plenty Foods provided technical training and signed a buy-back agreement with the farmers. In the village of Kinchuththuwa, about 20 of the women identified the most suitable land to pilot the soybean cultivation and cultivated jointly with the land-owner. Due to the successful completion of the pilot, the number of farmers participating in the next program is expected to double as farmers from other villages who were unable to participate have expressed interest in joining the program during the next 'Maha' season.

Successful implementation of the pilot project proved that the activity is sustainable and can be replicated. Plenty Foods appointed a permanent extension officer to expand the soybean project on its own in Kebithigollewa, Medawachchiya and Padaviya DS Divisions, supporting 200 farmers covering approximately 200 acres.

Trincomalee

In 2010 USAID/CORE in partnership with Plenty Foods introduced the cultivation of soybean for the first time in the Trincomalee District. The pilot commenced for 59 beneficiaries in the Thambalagamuwa, Moraweva, Nilaveli and Seruvila areas.

USAID/CORE aims at supporting 250 farmers through this project. The participating farmers will be trained on best cultivation practices.
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A subsidiary of AgStar Fertilizers (Pvt) Ltd which is a significant player in the fertilizer trade, has begun production of seed materials of paddy, selected varieties of vegetables and other field crops to cater to the needs of the local farmers. In 2009 AgStar, in partnership with USAID/CORE, began a vegetable seed production pilot project in the conflict affected area of Padaviya – the first time in over 30 years that a company is working with the farmers in the area. Based on a MOU with AgStar, USAID/CORE organized the farmers and provided technical training with the support of the Mahailuppallama Dry Zone Agriculture Research and Development Centre on quality seed production from basic seeds. Seed registration and certification was also carried out at the Department of Agriculture.

AgStar purchased 400kgs of cowpea, 203kgs of chili and 75kgs of green chili from 14 of the 73 farmers participating in the program. The total value of this sale was LKR 103,770 increasing an average earning of a farmer by LKR 7,412.

An unexpected drought and rain resulted in crop destruction for most farmers which led to lower than expected yields. Therefore, farmers opted to store their seed material for planting in the next season, rather than selling.

Only a limited acreage can be cultivated under irrigation during the Yala season due to lack of water. This forces farmers to share land, a system commonly known as 'bethma'. USAID/CORE capitalized on this constraint to encourage Tamil and Sinhalese farmers to share land and work together.

USAID/CORE worked closely with the USAID/SuRG project in identifying suitable farmer organizations to participate in the program.
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USAID/CORE joined hands with Deshan International Imports and Exports (Pvt) Ltd. in 2010 to provide support to establish a community based deep sea fishing operation and setting up a seafood processing facility in the Trincomalee district, through a cost shared grant. Through the project USAID/CORE is supporting over 400 fishermen from 9 fisheries societies in Trincomalee, by providing them training, creating market linkages and providing necessary equipment which will in turn lead to an increase in their incomes through increased harvest.

The National Institute of Fisheries and Nautical Engineering (NIFNE), Cod Bay will partner with USAID/CORE to provide training on long-line fishing, use of navigation and satellite equipment to locate schools of fish, and post-harvest handling practices. USAID/CORE believes that this effort will increase value addition of the existing range of seafood products and enhance investment in the Eastern Sri Lanka.
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In 2010 USAID/CORE began working with 400 farmers, in Trincomalee, under it mushroom cultivation project. Almost all of these them are cultivating mushroom for the first time as a means to increase their farm income. Most beneficiaries are women (66%) because the cultivation is generally treated as a home gardening initiative.

In Sri Lanka, mushroom is mainly cultivated by small scale farmers using family labor. Most of the beneficiaries cultivating mushroom own limited extents of land and had been significantly affected by the conflict. Currently there is a high demand in the local market for fresh mushroom to produce mushroom based value added products in Trincomalee and the supply is insufficient to meet this demand. Mushroom production is one of the best opportunities to generate a reasonable income to the households with limited land. The expected outcome of the initiative is to sustainably increase incomes of participating households by 25% - 30%.
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USAID/CORE partnered with CIC Agribuisness (Pvt) Ltd in 2008 to develop a dairy farmer network. A number of 352 farmers from 11 farmer societies were trained as a result, on cleaner milk production, calf management, pasture management, feeding and breeding. Under the project USAID/CORE also supported the launch of the Curd and Yoghurt Factory in Punanai, Batticaloa. Subsequently, the project was transferred to the USAID/PEER Program.
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USAID/CORE partnered with Adamjee Lukmanjee & Sons in 2009 to expand their maize supply base. Through this effort, the project aimed to increase incomes of farming communities in the Trincomalee District. Maize seeds were distributed among the farmers. Despite adverse weather conditions, including heavy rains during the planting season, land preparation and drought during the maha season, a considerable number of farmers were able to cultivate successfully.

Six post harvest training programs were conducted for 111 maize farmers in seven villages. This training contributed to increased production and higher quality crops that meet buyer standards, thus mitigating the negative effects of the reduced crops caused by adverse weather conditions.

Adamjee purchased a total of 119,000 kgs of maize at an average market price of LKR 25/kg from 173 farmers. This resulted in an additional income of LKR 4.9 million for participating farmers.
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EOAS Ltd, Sri Lanka's leading exporter of essential oils and oleoresins, initiated an out-grower program in partnership with USAID/CORE in the border village of Mahavillachchiya in the Anuradhapura district. The program trained 95 farmers and provided Vetiver plant tillers. In preparation for the first harvest the beneficiaries were also trained on harvesting and drying techniques. EOAS also has an organic certification program with the farmers.
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