Sewalanka Foundation works with returnees to re-start their agricultural plots

Over the past year, Sewalanka's Sustainable Agriculture Program has continued to focus on institutional capacity building of farmers' organisations in Ampara, Vavuniya, Hambantota and Monaragala.

Through field days and study visits, farmers analyzed problems, shared ideas, and developed action plans. According to the needs identified by these farmers' organisations, Sewalanka has helped form linkages with research institutions, commercial banks, input suppliers, and markets.

In the Wanni region, the second phase of the Integrated Food Security Project (IFSP) was approved as the first phase neared completion. Many resettled households have established nutritional homegardens and have diversified their production through intercropping techniques. With Government extension services limited due to the project's location in an LTTE-controlled area, Sewalanka field staff are playing an important advisory role.

Sewalanka has also coordinated exchanges and field visits with Sinhalese farmers in Vavuniya South, and continues to provide micro-irrigation services to improve water management in this dry zone region.

Sewalanka staff in the south continue to work with tea smallholders in the buffer zone of the Sinharaja rainforest reserve. On the Kalawana side of the forest, activities have focused on soil conservation, composting and homegarden development. On the Deniyaya side, the Sinharaja Conservation Committee has improved market access by bringing tea smallholders together to transport their tea directly to the factories. In both areas, farmers have established nurseries to produce seedlings for tea intercropping, homegarden regeneration and reforestation initiatives.

In the country's plantation region, Sewalanka's Hatton Plantation Workers Development Centre continues to expand and improve. Run by a small dedicated team of women since 1994, the project aims to improve the lives of estate workers through credit and savings programs to support farming and homegardening ventures, as well as by providing IT development for the plantation's young, and a water supply and sanitation program.

Environmental Conservation

In 2004, senior Sewalanka staff formed an Environmental Committee to integrate environmental components into all programs, share best practices across regions, and promote new conservation initiatives.

The following initiatives have focused specifically on environmental conservation:

>	Solar power and mini-hydro installations
>	Sinharaja youth art program and field guide
>	Mangrove reforestation in Ampara
>	Unawatuna eco-development fund and waste management program

>	Reforestation and medicinal garden development in the Sinharaja buffer zone.

For more information, contact Dr Lionel Weerakoon or Ms Amanda Kiessel, Sustainable Agriculture Advisors.

Sustainable Agriculture Division related newsletter articles
>	Sustainable agriculture in Anuradhapura
>	IFSP Train the Trainer course on agricultural issues
>	North East Agricultural Research Study
>	Sustainable Agriculture Field Day