World Bank Officials visit Farm Field School at Thirappane, Anuradhapura

 The World Bank Delegation led by Mr.  Sheu Salau, CO- Task Team Leader (TTL) of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) & Mission Leader visited the Farm Field School, which is being built at Thirappane, Anuradhapura, to inspect the ongoing construction work recently.  Mr. S.M. Seelarathne, Deputy Project Director-North Central Province accompanied the World Bank Officials to the construction site with the CSIAP staff. Instructions were given to complete the construction works in a very successful manner by Mr. Salau. The World Bank Delegation consisted of Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan, Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist.

Story and Photographs by Upali Rathnayake (Institutional Development & Capacity Building Specialist), NCP, CSIAP

Farmers in Giribawa Receive Over Rs. 14.8M Worth of Inputs for Home Gardening

The Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) has distributed agricultural inputs worth Rs. 14.8 million to farmers in Giribawa under the Contingency Home Gardening Programme, with the aim of enhancing home gardening production and strengthening household food security in the North Western Province (NWP).

Inputs Provided to Support Home Gardening
As part of the programme, essential inputs including seeds, compost, electric fence energizers, and parachute trays were provided to 150 farmers at a recent distribution event held at the Divisional Secretariat, Giribawa. These inputs are expected to support uninterrupted cultivation and promote nutritious food production at the household level.

Enhancing Food Security and Nutrition
The initiative is designed to improve food and nutrition security in areas where the CSIAP is implemented. In the Giribawa Divisional Secretariat of the Kurunegala District alone, approximately 3,254 farm families benefit from the programme, while a total of 15,762 farm families are covered under the Contingency Home Gardening Programme across the North Western Province.

Participation of Local Authorities and CSIAP Officials
The event was attended by Mr. H.M. Bandara, Divisional Secretary of Giribawa, along with eight officers from the Divisional Secretariat. Also present were Mr. A.P. Pradeep, Divisional Officer of the Rajanganaya Agrarian Service Centre, Mr. W.M.S. Wijesinghe, Deputy Project Director (NWP), and officers of the CSIAP.

Strong Multi-Stakeholder Engagement
Further highlighting the collaborative approach of the programme, the event saw the participation of 15 Grama Niladharis, 15 Agriculture Research and Production Assistants, 10 Economic Development Officers, 13 Samurdhi Development Officers, and the beneficiary group of 150 farmers.

Story and Photographs by Chamara Basnayake (Agriculture Facilitator), Rajanganaya ASC, NWP

The World Bank observes Pallai Kulam Tank being rehabilitated by the CSIAP in NP

The World Bank Officials visited Poonakary, Kilinochchi yesterday (25th) to observe Pallai Kulam Tank which is being rehabilitated by the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP). This mission was arranged to monitor the activities of the project implementation. Mr.  Sheu Salau, CO- Task Team Leader (TTL) of the CSIAP & Mission Leader, Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan, Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist of the World Bank, Eng. R.M.B. Rajakaruna, Project Director, Mr. George Babu , Provincial Deputy Project Director (Northern Province)  Subject Specialists and Officers of the CSIAP were on this mission.

Photographs by A.K.C. Amarathunaga, PMU-CSIAP

The construction work of the FFS at Thirappane is being completed

The Frame Field School (FFS) at Thirappane being built by the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) will be used to train farmers and give hands-on experience on CSA practices and technologies to the beneficiary farmers of hot spot areas in 11 districts of six provinces. The FFS is located at Mannakkulama Village of Thirappane in Anuradhapura District. Direct beneficiaries of the FFS are 2,700 selected male and female farmers and 150 extension staff of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agrarian Development. The FFS project costs Rs 117M and the Ministry of Agriculture is the primary agency responsible for executing the project which is financed by the World Bank.

Eng. R.M.B. Rajakaruna, Project Director, the CSIAP supervised the construction process of the FFS yesterday (24).

Photographs by A.K.C. Amarathunaga, PMU-CSIAP

The WB workshop on the restructuring of the Result Framework of the CSIAP

A special workshop began this morning (21) in the World Bank Office, Colombo to discuss the restructuring of the Result Framework of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) for the rest of the project period. This workshop was chaired by Mr.  Sheu Salau, CO- Task Team Leader (TTL) of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) & Mission Leader of the World Bank.

 Mr. John. C. Keyser, TTL  of the CSIAP , Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan, Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist of the World Bank, Senior Officials of Ministry of Agriculture, Department of External Resource and Department of Agrarian Development, Eng. R.M.B. Rajakaruna, Project Director, Provincial Deputy Project Directors and Subject Specialists of the CSIAP were present in this programme. Please click Images to see more photos of the workshop.

The World Bank Officials review the current progress of the CSIAP

The World Bank assesses the overall development progress of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) and its effectiveness in delivering project development objectives.  The World Bank Team headed by Mr. John. C. Keyser, Task Team Leader (TTL) of the CSIAP arrived in CSIAP’s head Office, Colombo this morning (20^th) to evaluate progress, review and get updated on the current status of the CSIAP. Eng. R.M.B. Rajakaruna, Project Director, CSIAP welcomed the World Bank Officials and presented the overall progress of the CSIAP. This meeting was also an opportunity for Subject Specialists in the Project Management Unit (PMU) to reflect on progress in each of their subjects and the overall performances of the CSIAP.

Mr.  Sheu Salau, CO- TTL of the CSIAP & Mission Leader, Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan, Environmental Consultant Ms. Sithara Athapatthu, Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist, Mr. Shanek Fernando, Social Development Specialist, Ms. Nadeera Rajapaksha, Environmental Specialist, of the World Bank, Provincial Deputy Project Directors, Subject Specialists and Officers of the CSIAP attended this meeting. The World Bank Officials outside Sri Lanka joined the meeting virtually too. Please click Images to see more photos of the event.  

Photographs by Gayani Dassanayake, PMU-CSIAP

The World Bank reviews the modernization of Agrarian Service Centers

The World Bank Team headed by Mr. John. C. Keyser, Task Team Leader (TTL) of the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture Project (CSIAP) discussed the current modernization process of 47 Agrarian Service Centers located in eleven districts where the CSIAP is being implemented. The main objective of the modernization of Agrarian Service Centers (ASCs) is to convert the Community Centre into a One-Stop Service Centre that caters for the real needs of the farming community in the area. This is considered as one of the biggest sub-projects, which comes under the CSIAP. It has many components and therefore this project will involve implementing major interventions with a view to developing the ASC as a One-Stop Service Centre, which provides modern services to the farmers to become resilient to the changing climate situation and thereby overcome the issues that hinder their productivity.

The following main areas have been identified as priority basis for the modernization of ASCs in all six provinces. The major 03 interventions are;

• Renovating, expanding and refurbishing existing 47 office buildings of the ASCs within areas of the CSIAP to function as attractive and productive One-stop Service Centers
• Establishing a full pledged ICT unit within each of the 47 ASCs with trained officials and the necessary equipment to provide required data related to weather forecasts, markets, and new technology for farmers under the digitalization of ASCs.
• Establishing a Farm Machinery Hub (FMU) in each of the 47 ASCs managed by the Agrarian Development Committee (ADC) of the ASC to prevent the exploitation of farmers from the middlemen and also to provide an opportunity for the ADC to develop the Agrarian Fund.

The review meeting held this morning (19th) at the Department of Agrarian Development (DAD) was chaired by Mr. A. H. M. L. Abeyrathne, Commissioner General of Agrarian Development. Mr. Vijayakumar Rajaratnam, Commissioner (Development), DAD pointed out the modernization process of 47 ASCs. Mr.  Sheu Salau, CO- TTL of the CSIAP & Mission Leader of the World Bank also commented on the ASC modernization process.

Consultant Mr. S. Manoharan, Dr. Athula Senarathne, Senior Agriculture Specialist of the World Bank, Mr. D.V. Bandulasena, Institutional Development & Capacity Building Specialist, Mr. Samantha Mallawaarachchi, IEC & ICT Specialist and Mr. Christy Perera, Agri-Business & Market Linkage Development specialist of the CSIAP were also present in this meeting.  Please click Images to see more photos of the event.