SRI LANKA IS famed worldwide for its glorious tropical climate, rich cultures and fertile soils. Yet today many small farmers struggle to make a living. As in most developing countries, policy-makers are under pressure to encourage their domestic agricultural sectors to become export-focused, and if a few farmers disappear through inefficiency, then this is the price of progress. But look closely, and you’ll find local organisations working with farmers to develop sustainable forms of agriculture that are highly productive and diverse, and instructive to us all. One such local organisation is the Sewalanka Foundation.

Irrigation channels and intercropping have transformed Jeyabalan’s.

Sewalanka is working in the north with more than 4,000 farmers organised in to several hundred self-help groups. This is region where the civil war caused deep disruption for two decades, and where, since the 2002 cease-fire, rural people are showing that they can create alternative futures for their communities. Head north for an hour from the ancient city of Anuradhapura, centre of a 1,200-year-old Buddhist dynasty, and you’ll come to Vavuniya, a small town supported by some of the best examples of sustainable farming.

We walk first across the farm of the Jayawardne family, abandoned since the conflict started. Now they have cleared two and half hectares of scrub, and planted a complex mix of perennials and vegetables. The papaya and banana shade the chillies, onions and aubergines, and the twenty-five cattle provide manure for the soil. The family have a shop in the village, and are proud that farmers’ groups are brought from all over the country to see what can be achieved. They say, “During the war, we didn’t know whether we’d ever be able to start life again, and yet we’ve now achieve so much.” Their spirit of cooperation is generous. “It’s important for us to work in groups. If we only develop ourselves, there will still be problems in the village. Our plan is to get everyone in the village working together.” In this way, small farmers can act like large farmers, and sell to traders on their own terms.

A FEW KILOMETERS away, Patrick Jeyabalan’s family have effected another remarkable transformation. They look on their one-and-a-half-hectare farm just two years ago, and have already paid off the loan. At that time, only one crop was grown – not an unsuccessful piece of land, but certainly not a very productive one. As we walk around the farm, bending beneath the bananas and hanging fruit, stepping over carefully staked vegetables, listening to the cries and calls of distant animals, we count thirty-eight types of crop. Here there are lime, lemon, coconut and guava; over there gourd, string bean, tomato, chilli, capsicum, onion and cabbage. There are groundnut and green gram, and manioc, sweet potato and maize for staples. Around the house are herbs and medicinal plants, and an enormous compost heap. Every corner of the farm is growing some-thing useful. Who says small farmers are inefficient and unproductive?

What is also significant is that we are in Sri Lankan’s dry zone. Here farming is tough – but these farmers are showing that ingenuity, hard work and cooperation can transform the land. They can do this with low-cost and locally available methods, and their soils are improving. The diversity of crops is good for their diets and for pest control, and also helps with year-round marketing. These farmers are telling us that efficiency in farming does not have to be achieved through monocultures and ever-increasing farm sizes. More importantly, they are showing us that having people on the land is a good thing.

With kind permission from Resurgence (issue no. 224 May/June 2005) www.resurgence.org. Jules Pretty is Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex.

>> For further information on Anuradhapura District activities please contact:
Mr K.L. Priyankara, District Director on 0)25 2221451