CSIAP is moving forward to boost the agricultural economy and living standards

Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe,
Deputy Project Director, CSIAP

CSIAP is moving forward to boost the agricultural economy of the country and uplift the living standards of farmers in climatically vulnerable hot spots areas of 11 districts of the country despite a critical situation where the whole country is facing due to the Covid19 pandemic said, Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe, Deputy Project Director, Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) with  excursive interviews with National electronic media.  

Expressing furthermore during the interviews with the SLBC, Lakhanda and Ruhunu Sevaya, Dr. Weerasinghe said that this project aims to improve the climate resilience of farming communities through increasing  productivity in climatically vulnerable Hot-Spot Areas identified in 11 districts of Sri Lanka.

In moving forward the project is implementing a program to increase other field crops production covering more than 3000 ac and 5000 beneficiary farmers in this Yala season in all 11 districts and the project will be implemented over six years (2018-2024), he further added.
Please click to listen: 
SLBC Sinhala Service, SLBC Tamil Service, SLBC English Service, Lakhanda and Ruhunu Sevaya.

The HSAADP is being reviewed by CSIAP with the World Bank

Hot Spot Area Agriculture Development Plan (HSAADP) of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) is currently being reviewed at the Uva Management Development Institute (UMDI), Passara. It has been decided that all the specialists of CSIAP must review the HSAAD plans developed by the consultancy firms to make certain that HSAADPs are well prepared, organized.  

Eng. Nadaraja Sivalingam, Project Director, CSIAP, is explaining the objectives of the HSAADP

The HSAADP is the key instrument of the CSIAP project which would identify necessary interventions to be carried out in Hot spot areas during the period of its implementation based on the HSAADPs developed. It is expected that the HSAADPs will propose productive, economically sound, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable interventions for the respective Hot spot areas assuring the improvement of agriculture livelihood of the community.

The Project Management Unit (PMU) of the CSIAP has organized this two-day training workshop for the specialists and officers of the CSIAP to furnish them with necessary understanding of reviewing the HSAADP with the assistance of experts from the World Bank. Representing the World Bank Mr. Seenithamby Manoharan, Task Team Leader  of CSIAP and Senior Rural Development Specialist,  Mr. Sarath Wickramarathne, Consultant, Dr. Gamini  Wickramasinghe, Consultant (Social Safeguard) also participated in this event.

The CSIAP Launches Cluster Village Programme in Eleven Districts

Dr. Weerasinghe conducting the session with Eng. Sivalingam, and Mr Manoharan seated beside them 

The Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) has initiated plans to launch a Cluster Village Programme in each district where the project is currently being implemented. This programme targets pre-determined hotspot areas across eleven districts, namely Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Monaragala, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara

Objective of the Cluster Village Programme
The main objective of the Cluster Village Programme is to develop model cluster villages in hotspot areas by promoting market-driven crop cultivation using Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices. The initiative aims to enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen farmer incomes, and improve climate resilience while ensuring the sustainability of natural resources.
 
Discussion with World Bank and CSIAP Officials 
A special discussion on the Cluster Village Programme was recently held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo 07, with the participation of World Bank officials and the CSIAP staff. The discussion focused on implementation strategies, institutional coordination, and expected outcomes of the programme.

The discussion was conducted by Dr. Priyantha Weerasinghe, Deputy Project Director of CSIAP, who facilitated in-depth deliberations on the proposed Cluster Village Programme. Dr. Weerasinghe outlined the programme framework, implementation mechanisms, and expected outcomes, while encouraging active engagement from both the CSIAP staff and World Bank representatives. The CSIAP team was led by Eng. Nadaraja Sivalingam, Project Director of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP), provided overall leadership and strategic direction for the discussion. Representing the World Bank, Mr. Seenithamby Manoharan, Task Team Leader of the CSIAP and Senior Rural Development Specialist, emphasised the importance of integrating climate-smart agriculture practices with market-oriented approaches to ensure sustainable livelihoods in hotspot areas.

Specific Objectives Discussed
During the discussion, several specific objectives of the Cluster Village Programme were outlined, including:

• Establishing 11 Climate Smart Production Villages, one in each selected district.
• Modifying 47 Agriculture Service Centers to function as efficient and effective one-stop service centers for farmers.
• Renovating water bodies in 11 selected villages to improve water availability and management.
• Establishing Haritha Uyana to promote environmentally friendly and green village concepts.
• Appraising and rewarding 11 farmers—one from each village—for adopting best Climate Smart Agriculture practices.
• Training 110 selected farmers from the 11 villages on entrepreneurship development using the Farmer Business School methodology.
• Forming 22 Producer Groups across the 11 villages and enhancing leadership and management skills of their leaders.
• Introducing 11 potential market linkage avenues to farmers through producer groups.
• Promoting five water-saving techniques and rainwater harvesting methods among farmers during the Yala season.
• Establishing 22 market-driven CSA crops in the 11 selected villages during the Yala and Maha seasons of 2020.

Representing the World Bank, Mr. Sarath Wickramarathne, Consultant, and Mr. V. Mohamed Ameen, Consultant (Financial Management) also participated in this event.

 

CSIAP and its objectives on SLBC

All three services of Si Lanka Broadcasting Corporation broadcasted the news of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) and its objectives in Sinhalese, Tamil and English.

Please click to listen: SLBC Sinhala service,  SLBC Tamil Service and  SLBC English Service

CSIAP and its objectives on the Sanhinda Live TV Programme of SLRC

Mr. Amal Arunapriya, Institutional Development & Capacity Building Specialist and Mr. Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) were on Sanhinda Live TV Programme on 21st Jan 2020 to talk about CSIAP and its objectives.

Please click to watch: Sanhinda on YouTube or Sanhinda on Facebook

There are four project components:
Component 1: Agriculture Production and Marketing (US$42 million). Subcomponent 1.1: Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Technology (US$21 million). Subcomponent 1.2: Marketing (US$21 million).

Component 2: Water for Agriculture (US$92 million). bSubcomponent 2.1: Rehabilitation of Irrigation Systems (US$86 million). bSubcomponent 2.2: Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation Systems (US$6 million).

Component 3: Project Management (US$6 million). Component 4: Contingent Emergency Response (US$0 million).

CSIAP and its objectives on the Saaratha Bahagira Live Radio Programme of SLBC

Mr. W. G. Gnanadasa, Senior Engineer and  Mr. Sisira Semasinghe, Agriculture Extension Specialist of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) were on Saaratha Bahagira Live Radio Programme of SLBC  on 07th Jan 2020 to talk about CSIAP and its objectives.

Please click  to listen: Saaratha Bahagira on YouTube or  Saaratha Bahagira on Facebook

The main economic project benefits are expected to come from (a) increases in the area under production and crop productivity through improved irrigations systems and farmers’ adoption of climate-resilient technologies; (b) diversification from food grains into climate-adaptive, higher-value agriculture; and (c) improved postharvest management, value addition, and marketing. In addition to the increases in productivity and production of higher-value crops, it is expected that establishing PGs and facilitating private sector links will lead to increased incomes of beneficiaries due to (a) higher prices for the agricultural produce through better aggregation and new market channels, also resulting from improved market information; (b) potentially reduced input prices resulting from procurement by the PGs in bulk; and (c) increased value addition through CSCs established by the PGs for postharvest activities, including aggregation, cleaning, grading, sorting, and processing.

HSAADP and Way Forward Activities in 2020 in Hambantota

A special meeting to discuss the Hot-Spot Area Agriculture Development Plan (HSAADP) and way forward activities 2020 was held at the Provincial Deputy Director Office (Southern) in Hambantota recently. This meeting was chaired by Mr. M. S. K. Suwandaarachchi, Deputy Project Director (Southern). On behalf of the World Bank Mr. Sarath Wickramarathne, Consultant, and Mr.V.Mohamed Ameen, Consultant (Financial Management) also participated in this event. 

The current status of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) taken place in the project area was also reviewed. Staff of each discipline working for Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) were also present.