Sri Lanka
USAID Complex Crises Funds Reinvigorate Agriculture in Sri Lanka
Farmer-returnees empowered to develop livelihoods, support their families, and participate positively in their communities.
Recently, I visited one of the agriculture programs supported by USAID in the northern region of Sri Lanka where the most intense fighting took place between the Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). More than two years later, the destruction from the last military offensive was still palpable. As we made the long drive north from the capital city of Colombo to meet our beneficiaries, we knew we had arrived in Mullaitivu when the landscape changed. The unpaved, bumpy road into the town was lined with bullet-ridden and bombed out buildings.
For over twenty years, Sri Lanka was entangled in a brutal civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE. The conflict saw widespread destruction of property, the planting of millions of landmines, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Northern Sri Lanka. An estimated 70,000 people were killed in the violence. In May 2009, the Sri Lanka military declared victory after crushing the last resistance of the LTTE.
In Northern Sri Lanka, the final military offensive resulted in nearly 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who were confined to closed camps. Not only were the entire communities of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu displaced during the final stages of the conflict, they lost all of their productive assets, most homes were destroyed, many family members perished, and anything of value was looted.
In 2010, a year after the military defeat of the LTTE, the government began the resettlement of the IDPs in Kilinochchi and parts of Mullaitivu known as the Vanni. With little advance notice, hundreds of families were returned to their villages. But their homes were destroyed and their lands decimated during the fighting. Over 80 percent of the returnees were farmers, and their only means of livelihood was agriculture. With an urgent need to provide assistance to help resettle the IDPs and restart their livelihoods, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided resources through its Complex Crises Fund (CCF) to support a one-year program implemented by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Established in 2010, the CCF was created as a flexible resource to enable the U.S. Government to respond quickly during critical windows of opportunity and/or unforeseen political, social, or economic challenges that threaten a country’s stability or help create the conditions necessary for longer-term development. Generally speaking, the CCF is contingent upon an unanticipated urgent need or a significant triggering event that requires an immediate, robust response. In Sri Lanka, the goal was to restart and restore livelihoods for these highly vulnerable returnee populations. The timing of the request was critical because the Maha (planting season) was within weeks.
The activity focused on resuming basic farming and agricultural production in order to maintain community stability during the resettlement process. As a result of USAID’s program, nearly 120,000 acres of rice paddy seed were planted in the Vanni region. The beneficiaries included approximately 68,000 people, of which approximately 25 percent were single female heads of household. The agriculture assistance was coupled with training sessions on how to care for livestock as well as harvesting and planting techniques. The district agrarian training centers were also refurbished to ensure a safe and suitable community meeting place.
The CCF resources accomplished far more than just agriculture production and crop yields. It provided the foundation for a disenfranchised and highly vulnerable population to restart their life.
Reconciling the Sri Lanka of the Past and Present
One of the highlights of my recent trip through South Asia was returning to Sri Lanka. The entire journey through the subcontinent was intense, with meetings scheduled back-to-back from 7 A.M. well into the late evening, including working lunches and dinners. Yet despite the busy schedule, it was a wonderful opportunity to see up close both the immense challenges on the ground and just some of the ways USAID is addressing them.
USAID Asia Bureau Deputy Assistant Administrator Denise Rollins visits a grape farmer in Sri Lanka, where USAID is investing in supply chain infrastructure to improve the productivity and profitability in fruit and vegetable cultivation. USAID has a number of programs in Sri Lanka to both address the direct humanitarian crisis of the country’s internally displaced persons and to foster long-term interethnic reconciliation and cooperation. Photo: USAID
Sri Lanka was more of a homecoming for me. I visited Sri Lanka in 1979 to attend a wedding of close friends – a British bride and Sinhala groom. Their close friends were Tamil, from the north, and we continued the celebrations in Jaffna, during my three-week sojourn to Sri Lanka. Jaffna was once the center of Tamil life, and full of excitement and prosperous. Since the civil war erupted in 1985, Jaffna sadly had been closed off to most foreigners.
During my recent visit, I was really looking forward to seeing a revived and rebuilt north. The government is rebuilding the infrastructure, but clearly nearly 30 years of war has left the population in the north severely traumatized. Most striking was the impact on the women and their families. Thousands of war widows are unable to reclaim family lands because they lack the documentation required to prove ownership. As a result, even if they find land to settle on, they are prohibited from farming because they lack title to the land. Poverty is extensive in these communities, and it impacts even male-headed families.
Although the government is providing jobs through infrastructure development, the jobs employ men imported from southern Sri Lanka, and not Tamils from the north. In addition, large contingents of military soldiers are now embedded in massive camps dotting the landscape. This has led to a breakdown in the social fabric, where survival requirements have pitted women-headed households with no employment opportunities against an influx of male soldiers and day laborers. As I met with villagers to discuss their plight, my visit to Sri Lanka some 35 years ago became a distant past, with the country I was seeing now bearing no relation to what I saw in1979.
USAID has run a number of programs in Sri Lanka to both address the direct humanitarian crisis of the displaced persons, as well as to foster long-term interethnic reconciliation and cooperation. In the past, we’ve supported efforts to counsel widows and children affected by the trauma of war.
One USAID project assisted such widows by providing chickens as a source for family consumption and for sale. Now we are part of a public private partnership with a garment company to deepen interpersonal bonds among workers from several ethnic groups on the factory floor as part of the interethnic reconciliation process.
I’m hoping programs like these continue to provide support and raise awareness over the continuing humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, and particularly in the north. While I can’t return to 1979, I do hope one day to return to the lively and thriving Jaffna I remember.
From the Field
Our weekly feature highlighting upcoming events at USAID Missions around the globe.
In Indonesia, the U.S. government, through a USAID Development Credit Authority facility, will provide a guarantee to a new student loan program funded by the Putera Sampoerna Foundation and two financial institutions, UBS AG and Raiffeisen Bank International AG. The program will provide student loans over a 20-year period for Indonesian students, including those interested in studying in America. Making available student loans will give Indonesian students of all economic backgrounds the financial means necessary to pursue their educational goals.
In Male, Maldives, USAID/Sri Lanka will launch an Enhancing Climate Resiliency and Water Security project. The project will target assistance to two islands in the north of the country, with the goal of making them climate resilient islands. The project will help island residents improve their knowledge and ability to protect their islands’ natural resources, and over the long-term reduce their vulnerability to climate change.
In Uganda, we held a ground-breaking ceremony for an integrated cancer training and treatment facility on the grounds of the Uganda Cancer Institute. Ugandan Vice President Edward Ssekandi and Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate and director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute along with David Eckerson, USAID-Uganda Mission Director, led the ground-breaking ceremony for an integrated cancer training and treatment facility on the grounds of the Uganda Cancer Institute at Mulago Hospital. USAID has awarded grants valued at $1.4 million to Seattle, Washington-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to aid in the construction of the first American cancer clinic and medical-training facility. When completed, the new facility will significantly increase patient access to cancer diagnosis and treatment while furthering study of cancers in Uganda. NTV Uganda, Uganda’s leading TV station, aired the ground-breaking ceremony at Mulago Hospital. Check out the clip on YouTube.
From the Field
In Batticaloa, Sri Lanka we held a friendly cricket tournament between youth from the East and South to mark International Peace Day.
In Jaffna, Sri Lanka we opened a collection center and distributed “freezer trucks” to farmers as part of USAID’s public-private alliances program. This hand over of equipment, tools and grants will improve productivity and profitability of fruit and vegetable cultivation in the conflict-affected Northern Province. These partnerships will not only provide employment to young men and women in the conflict-affected districts but also offer training and social integration among members of diverse ethnic groups.
In Vavuniya, Sri Lanka under our Office of Transition Initiatives program, we will hand over a large truck to recently resettled farmers in the North in a bid to enhance their marketing potential and to foster relations between the North and the South. Farmers will also receive water pumps and sprinklers on a credit basis.
In Iraq, as part of an ongoing effort to improve local governance and build local capacity, we held a competition for the best District Council website. The websites will evaluated based on their content quality and quantity, layout/ organization, update frequency, and objectivity/reliability.
In Jordan, as part of our water resources management program, we began work at a new wastewater treatment plant. Jordan is one of the ten most water-deprived countries in the world. The treatment plant will help improve the health and environmental conditions of the surrounding areas.
In the Ukraine, we will hold a 10th Anniversary celebration of Telekritika, a key media watchdog in Ukraine and a long-standing USAID partner. The celebration includes award ceremony to honor TV producers and TV journalists whose activities represent the highest ethical reporting standards to strengthening independent media in Ukraine.
From the Field
In Serbia, we held a launch event for an environmental joint initiative to reform waste management practices and achieve a sustainable long-term solution for waste management. The initiative is designed to strengthen the work of civil society organizations who are focusing on this issue. The group consists of five core members: the Center of Modern Skills, Young Researchers of Serbia, Yurom Center Nis, Group 484, and the European Movement in Serbia.
In Iraq, to commemorate International Literacy Day, we handed out 1,200 certificates to women who have graduated from the Women’s Awareness and Inclusion Program. The program provides basic literacy courses for women in south Iraq. Over 23,000 women have participated in the program to date.
In Sri Lanka, we opened a garment factory as part of USAID’s Public Private Alliances program that allows USAID to work collaboratively with the private sector to create job opportunities, jump start economic growth in former conflict areas and help build lasting peace. This partnership will not only provide employment to young men and women in the conflict-affected district of Ampara, it will also promote training and on the job interaction among members of diverse ethnic groups in the area.
From the Field
In Liberia, we held a signing ceremony for the signing of the new Education Reform Act, an historic moment for Liberia’s education sector. The signing of this act has a number of implications, chief among them are that by law all basic education (up to grade 9) in Liberia will be free and compulsory, as well as the formation of county school boards that will promote community ownership of, and responsibility for schools and their effectiveness.
In Sri Lanka, the first thirty fish farmers have signed agreements under USAID’s public private alliance to create a new sea bass cage farming initiative. The sea bass cage farming initiative is part of a public-private alliance between Aqua N’ Green and USAID called the Integrated Aquaculture project (IAP). The IAP will help approximately 1,300 small farmers in the Northern and Eastern provinces, over 50% of whom are women, raise and sell sea bass, mussels and oysters on a guaranteed price basis to Aqua N’ Green. Once fully underway, 200 jobs are expected to open up in a fish hatchery, fish cage farming, feed mill and a fish processing plant to be built soon.
In the West Bank, three school bag distribution events were held in the northern, central and southern West Bank. These events provide school bags and other school equipment to needy Palestinian children in advance of the new school year. It is also serves as a goodwill gesture during the Muslim holiday Ramadan.
From the Field
In Sri Lanka, we are holding our annual multi-religion and multi-ethnic festival. After nearly 30 years of conflict, the festival is meant to give members of these previously conflicting groups a chance to meet and know each other in order to foster reconciliation and respect for diversity.
In Afghanistan, we will hold the Afghan Women Judges Association (AWJA) Conference. The AWJA is an alliance of women judges that provides legal training to women judges, runs legal aid services for women, and promotes legal rights awareness to women and girls. This the first time that the Supreme Court in Afghanistan has recognized the Afghan Women Judges Association Conference’s validity and extended its blessing to its formation.
In Kyrgyzstan, we will give the final presentation on the results of research analysis conducted on economic recovery and the future of southern Kyrgyzstan. We will present findings of a survey conducted with numerous entrepreneurs in volatile areas of southern Kyrgyzstan. The event will also include a facilitated discussion of the existing barriers for business expansion in the south as well as the potential opportunities for economic development in the future.
Supporting a Sustainable Economy in Northern Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, USAID is supporting activities that increase economic opportunities, enhance respect for human rights, strengthen rule of law, improve responsive governance, and foster political reconciliation. In recent years Sri Lanka has gone through major transitions. More than two decades of fighting prevented Sri Lanka from reaching its potential. The goal of this work is to help members of all ethnic groups rebuild their local communities, find jobs, and participate in the country’s development.
Our USAID Mission in Sri Lanka has recently forged four new business alliances with Sri Lankan private companies, under USAID’s Public/Private Alliance (PPA) Program. These partnerships are expected to create 10,000 full-time jobs in northern Sri Lanka. By helping to create jobs, USAID is assisting communities who have suffered through decades of conflict to have sustainable income and increased business opportunities.
Participants at work in a mobile training center for construction craftsmen in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.
An alliance between USAID and a Sri Lankan construction consortium will establish seven mobile training centers for construction craftsmen in the Northern Province. Training will be provided to 5,000 people over a period of six months including three months of on-the-job training.
Another alliance has been established with a leading garment textile firm in Jaffna which manufactures and exports denim textiles. This alliance will create 1,800 full-time jobs over three years.
To help young people affected by conflict get jobs, build greater capacity and fill workforce gaps, USAID is teaming with leading English language training companies to establish professional IT and English skills development training centers in each of the five districts in the Northern Province. Courses in Business Process Outsourcing and English Language Skills will be offered at no charge to over 3,000 under- and unemployed students who will then participate in on-the-job training programs with private firms. This program will be working with the marginalized population in Jaffna who have, for the last 26 years of conflict, not been exposed to even basic IT technology.
USAID is working with a major garment manufacturer to expand its operations to northern Sri Lanka. This alliance is expected to initially employ 750 full-time staff and market its finished apparel to international clothing firms. Emphasis will be placed on supporting widows, single mothers, and families with disabled members.
“I am confident these new alliances together with the previously established alliances will be significant catalysts to spur development in the North,” says USAID Sri Lanka Mission Director Rebecca Cohn.
Addendum: The USAID-supported project in northern Sri Lanka to provide IT training to under- and unemployed Sri Lankans affected by the country’s long conflict, will not include training in Enterprise Java. USAID’s partner in the project, a Sri Lankan company, initially requested to teach Enterprise Java to students that may qualify. However, after conducting due diligence, the partner found that the training programs must focus on fundamental computer skills, as the majority of prospective trainees lacked even basic experience with computers. Thus, training provided under the USAID-funded project will focus exclusively on building basic IT competencies. The reference to “Enterprise Java” in the Embassy’s press release was inadvertently included as a holdover from initial discussions.
