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Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 06.13 GMT |
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UN assists
agribusiness |
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Nearly
58,000
farming
households
in Sri
Lanka
are
expected
to
benefit
from a
United
Nations-funded
programme
designed
to
improve
their
livelihoods,
boost
their
incomes
and
enhance
their
participation
in the
marketing
and
selling
of their
products.
The $25
million
loan
from the
International
Fund for
Agricultural
Development
(IFAD)
will
enable
the
country’s
National
Agribusiness
Development
Programme
to help
small
producers,
women,
landless
households
and
young
people
in rural
areas.
Among
the
programme’s
goals
are to
increase
the
incomes
of
smallholder
farmers
by 20 to
30 per
cent and
help
farmers
become
directly
involved
in
processing
and
marketing
their
products
such as
fruits,
vegetables,
spices,
cereal,
milk and
dry
fish.
The
programme
will
provide
business
expertise
so that
farmers
can take
part in
joint
ventures
as equal
partners
with the
private
sector,
an IFAD
press
release
said.
“They
will
have
access
to
financial
resources
so that
they can
take
advantage
of
emerging
opportunities,
building
their
own
processing
capacity
and
having
better
access
to
markets.
Increased
on-farm
productivity
will
lead to
better
farm-gate
prices
for
their
produce,”
the
Rome-based
agency
noted.
According
to IFAD,
Sri
Lanka
was the
very
first
recipient
of an
IFAD
loan
which
was in
April
1978,
and
since
then the
agency
has
funded
15
projects
in Sri
Lanka
for a
total
investment
of more
than
$217
million.
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