Boost for Boralanda

Cargills partners IFAD, Ministry of Agriculture Development in initiative to expand outgrower network towards smallholder farmer empowerment

Cargills (Ceylon) PLC in partnership with the IFAD-funded Dry Zone Livelihood Support & Partnership Programme under the Ministry of Agriculture has expanded its outgrower network to Boralanda with the launch of its latest fresh produce collection centre in Wangiyakumbura in the Badulla District.

The Collection Centre brings together the produce from several villages around Boralanda. The target beneficiaries are the smallholder farmers in the region with a land in extent of less than an acre.

P. Kandewela, IFAD District Programme Manager for Badulla, noted that farmers in the region had been facing severe difficulties due to fluctuating supply across seasons and challenging market conditions.

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Yapa Abewardana, Uva Provincial Council Leader of the House Hema Ratnayake and Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Karunathilake at the launch

“The marketing of their produce is largely controlled by middlemen who do not invest in value addition and have little interest in farmer needs and aspirations. Prices would increase during the off-season but 40% would go waste during the glut.

The farmers have little knowledge about new farming techniques and post-harvest technologies and have no access to credit or inputs,” he explained.

Dry Zone Livelihood Support & Partnership Programme National Project Coordinator NavarantneWalisundara said that the project had invested over Rs. 4.5 million to construct a building for the collection centre. This will enable the farmers to link up with Cargills and market their produce at village level.

“Apart from the market opportunity, the other benefits derived through this project, especially the farmer community fund raised by Cargills for the benefit of farmer welfare and children’s education, would certainly make a very sustainable Private-Public Partnership venture,” he added With the intervention of IFAD and the Ministry of Agriculture, Cargills has now come forward to offer these farmers a guaranteed market and a higher price. “Our method of establishing partnership with farmer communities is not simply to be a purchaser,” explained Dr. Jagdish Katyal, Director/Consultant, Cargills Agribusiness.

“We guide the farmers to orient their produce to the market, provide them with inputs and technical assistance.

In other locations too we have facilitated credit. And to bring in further empowerment at community level, we would be launching a community development fund,” he added. Explaining the community development fund, Keerthi Gunasekara, Unit Manager Cargills Agri Business, said: “We have initiated farmer community development funds in other locations as well, where 50 cent per kilogram of vegetables purchased from our farmers goes back to the village.

This fund is used to provide scholarships for needy children from the community, to provide resources for learning and advancement, to meet basic community infrastructure needs such as utility connections, community centres, libraries, etc. Our objective is to encourage the communities that work with us to charter their own course of development. This approach makes our efforts more sustainable and creates value well beyond our supply chain.”

Commenting on the partnership with IFAD and the Ministry of Agriculture, Haridas Fernando, Deputy General Manager, Cargills Agribusiness, said: “This is a very good example of effective private and civil society partnership where together we have created sustainable value for the community. We are much appreciative of the role played by IFAD and the Ministry in supporting the establishment of this model by way of networking with the farmers and providing land and facilitating the building for the collection centre.” Cargills, focusing on rural development, involves its direct investment in and engagement with the agriculture sector. The company’s investments have improved livelihood of rural Sri Lankans and made economically meaningful, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible ways, according to Abdul Imtiaz Wahid, Managing Director of Cargills.

“Through our retail chain and now with our manufacturing facilities, we have created a revolutionary shift in taking the market to the farmer. Today we have taken a step further by taking the development to communities through community funds,” he added.

“Our agribusiness team works directly with farmers to overcome challenges, providing knowledge and resources to help farmers to succeed.  Across Sri Lanka, thousands of farmers have participated in Cargills productivity and product quality enhancing programs. We are committed to expanding this program to a larger farmer base island-wide to help improve efficiencies and increase income, thereby enhancing agriculture and improving livelihoods,” Wahid concluded.