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The
Smallholder
Plantation
Entrepreneurship
Development
Program
(SPEnDP)
has
started
a
project
aiming
at
improving
the
livelihoods
of
marginalized
tea
smallholders
in the
mid-country
region
and poor
upland
food
crop
farmers
in the
intermediate
zone of
Moneragala
region.
Under
the
program
3,500
hectares
of lands
under
perennial
crops in
mid-country
and
3,800
hectares
of
rubber
in
Moneragala
District
will be
developed,
reported
Daily
News.
The
objective
of the
program
is to
encourage
the
partnership
of the
smallholders
in the
plantation
industry,
while
ensuring
sustainable
uplift
of
social,
economic
and
general
living
status
of
smallholder
families,
the
report
added.
Under
this
program,
over
1,647
hectares
have
been
newly
converted
to
rubber
cultivation
during
the last
two
years
and it
is
expected
to
extend
it up to
5,000
hectares.
Over 75
hectares
had been
covered
by Tea
re-planting
and
in-filling,
the
report
said.
The
program
covers
six
divisions
in
Kegalle,
Kandy,
Nuwara
Eliya
and the
entirety
of
Moneragala
District.
The
project
beneficiaries
include
8,700
households
comprising
39,250
persons,
the
report
further
stated.
The
SPEnDP
operates
under a
loan of
US$ 40.7
million
provided
by the
International
Fund for
Agricultural
Development
for a
seven
year
period.
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