Australia aids North

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Australia aids North
12 Oct 2010 - 09:04
The Australian High Commissioner Kathy Klugman handed over seed storage facilities to the Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, to help store seeds for planting in the upcoming Maha cultivation season in northern Sri Lanka.
The Australian Government contributed approximately Rs 40 million towards the World Food Program’s Storage and Post Harvest project for the temporary containers and to fund repairs of existing storage containers in the Northern Province.
Australia’s contribution recognizes the critical need to help resettling populations in the north to re-establish their livelihoods and get back on their feet.
In this way, Australia recognizes the importance of helping farmers to protect both seed and the harvest to ensure a good Maha season. WFP has worked with the Government’s Agriculture Ministry and with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to identify the most critical storage needs for the north.
The resulting project will renovate or establish new storage facilities for paddy and other agricultural inputs in the four northern districts of Mannar, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.
This contribution builds on earlier Australian assistance valued at Rs 600 million to procure large quantities of paddy seed and other inputs to distribute in the north to accelerate the agriculture recovery process.
Packs of seed paddy, other food crops and tools are already being distributed through the FAO to over 25,000 families in the Northern Province.
It is estimated this will be enough to replant between 70,000 and 100,000 acres of land.
The Australian Government’s contribution will support Sri Lanka Government’s efforts to promote the full recovery of the agricultural sector in the Northern Province and help farmers to re-establish their incomes.
Australia hopes that this together with other support provided by the Government and by other donors will contribute to ending food dependency in the north and to a fast recovery through a successful Maha season.
Australia provided approximately A $ 75 million (Rs 7.5 billion) to Sri Lanka in its financial year ending June 30, 2010. This included about A $ 57 billion (Rs 5.7 billion) in emergency and humanitarian assistance to support the Government and people of Sri Lanka in northern recovery efforts in partnership with UN agencies. Courtesy:dailynews.lk