FAO UPDATESri Lanka & The Maldives

An ambulance boat, designed and produced by the Spanish funded Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme of FAO for the use of Kalpitiya Islanders will solve health care transport issues of this community. The SLR 1 million boat was officially handed over to the community leader s of Kalpitiya Islands on the 19 July 2012.

The Kalpitiya Islands are situated 40 kilometers off the Kalpitiya mainland, home to nearly 3,300 inhabitants. Due to the absolute absence of medical services in the K a l p i t i y a i s l a n d s , f i s h e r communities in these islands have no choice but to reach the mainland for medical care. A private party runs a passenger boat service which only makes one trip a day. If this boat is missed, the only way to get to mainland is to wait for a fishing boat which would make its next business trip to mainland, as hiring a boat for the purpose of medical care alone is unaffordable for the locals. The trip takes two to three hours depending on the type of boat they get to travel. Many pregnant mothers have given birth to their children while traveling on boat due to inability to find a boat on time. Moreover, the fishing boats , which they use for emergency travel, lack hygiene and do not have basic seating arrangements as they are fishing

I S S U E 1 3 , I S S N N O : 1 8 0 0 - 4 6 0 1

Inside this issue:

boats. Although the Navy provides assistance to the community with regard to transportation, this is not adequate to meet the existing need.

The RFLP ambulance boat, with steering facility at the front consists of a bunk bed, four seats and safety equipment. It also has navigation and side lights. Powered with 40 HP outboard engine, the ambulance boat will be able to reach the mainland crossing 40 km distance less than an hour's time. While providing a timely and speedy transport, it will also ensure safety and hygiene of i t s passengers.

Dr Champa Amarasiri addressed the audience and explained how this boat became a reality. Dr. Amarasiri appreciated the role that Navy plays at the moment by assisting to bring patients to Kalpitiya hospital. She also added "I would like to congratulate the community leaders like Niroshan who advocate and take efforts to take your issues into higher levels and get them solved.”

C o m m a n d i n g O f f i c e r M r Bovaththa in his address said, "We do not stop giving assistance. As Navy we treat everyone the same and for us your security is important. I inspected the boat and noticed that the boat its accessories are of high quality. It is

important that this boat is handled properly and with utmost care by a trained crew so its benefits will be for yourselves. I can look for the possibility of Navy to provide safe navigation training for the community who would undertake to operate the boat.”

Dr Prasad, The Medical Officer of the Kalpitya base hospital highlighted the importance of ambulance in a medical care perspective. "I consider this boat as a favour done for us because the sooner we receive a patient easier for us to provide medical care. Further, Kalpitiya Hospital is the only hospital in Sri Lanka where patients are received through a water access. Thus, this boat would be a tremendous help. Yet, w e d o n o t h a v e p r o p e r infrastructure like deck facility so we work with lot of difficulties when receiving patients. It is important that the boat crew should be provided with necessary first-aid training as different types of patients need different type of handling and care. I am very much willing to assist the project in providing first aid training.”

The agreement was presented to the community members, and further discussion took place on the boat’s operation and functions, costs and finances and security measures.

Kalpitiya islanders receive emergency boat through FAO

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 2

Kalpitiya islanders receive emergency boat through FAO

1

UN REDD programme launched in Sri Lanka

2

Promoting school gardening in the Maldives

2

Biomass energy for local industry

3

Strengthening the agricultural extension system through agro-enterprise development

3

Staff spotlight 4

Land tenure in the dry zone livelihood support and partnership programme districts

5

Useful links 5

Welcome onboard 6

Staff training 6

World humanitarian day celebrations 2012

6

Dr Champa Amarasiri addressing the audience

UN REDD programme launched in Sri LankaThe National Programme for United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN REDD) for Sri Lanka was endorsed at the eighth UN-REDD Programme Policy Board Meeting held 25 to 26 March 2012. The Policy Board approved US$4 million in funding for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) which will be channeled through the FAO Representation in Sri Lanka. This funding is critical to supporting the capacity of the national government to prepare and implement REDD+ strategies with the active involvement of local stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities.

The UN REDD Programme was established in 2008 to help developing countries in establishing a fair, equitable and transparent REDD regime. Sri Lanka was among the five countries that joined with observer status in 2009 and also among the first five countries that were requested to participate in the Programme in addition to the member countries.

The REDD preparatory plan (R-PP) preparation process in Sri Lanka was

commenced in November 2011 a n d w a s c o m p l e t e d i n February 2012, backed by collaborative support from FAO and UNDP. The R-PP preparation was a consultative stakeholder driven process coordinated by the Forest Department. This process and the R-PP identified the key activities necessary to steer the country through the Readiness Phase of the REDD+ Programme. Among the key activities identified are a comprehensive assessment of relevant policies and legislations, verification of underlying causes of deforestation and degradation, d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e R E D D + implementation framework , development of a reference emission level and determination improved forest monitoring systems for the country.

Sri Lanka, being a signatory to the Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, has expressed its commitment towards combating climate change, particularly by taking measures towards carbon abatement by preserving and sustainably managing its forest resources, especially since natural forests rich in biodiversity make up 30 percent of the country's total land area.

The Forest Department, Ministry of Environment has been earmarked as the focal point for REDD+ in Sri Lanka. Mr. Anura Sathurusinghe, REDD+ National Coordinator for Sri Lanka's Forest Department said "It's a new dawn, it's a new life for our forestry sector", after the Board's endorsement of Sri Lanka's National Programme. Currently, the National Programme is being finalized to address all comments and feedback provided by the Board and external r ev i ew er s a n d w i l l p r ov i de t he implementation plan for the Readiness Phase. As the Sri Lanka R-PP was put together in record time, the first step in the R-PP implementation process will be to develop a clear and detailed roadmap. Thereafter initial activities of the Programme is scheduled to start in October 2012.

Promoting school gardening in the Maldives

FAO and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) are together supporting small scale school gardening projects in 5 islands in the Maldives. Three of them are funded by the AFC and two are funded by FAO's Telefood Special Funds. The main objective of these five projects is to improve the availability and accessibility of locally produced foods to improve child nutrition. Surplus food harvested from the school garden will be shared with the local community. Another objective is to

provide students with an opportunity to learn about agriculture, food, nutrition, science, plant biology, natural resource management, and climate change through gardening activities.

The project specifically aims to improve soil fertility thereby improving the ability of the gardens to support the growth of fruits and vegetables for school children. The school children and community members will learn how to achieve by this regularly incorporating compost produced at the school to improve soil fertility and water holding capacity.

With AFC and FAO Telefood support, the school will be given a home gardening package which includes fruit tree seedlings, vegetable seeds, herbs, a set of tools necessary for cultivation, a water holding tank and two compost bins. Live and Learn Environmental Education-Maldives (L&L) will distribute the tools and provide instruction on gardening activities, nutrition and natural resource

management issues as part of a larger, s e p a r at e ly f u n d e d c o n s e r vat i o n agricultural program that is building capacity for sustainable agricultural production on the island.

The NGO Live and Learn visited five islands in Baa Atoll (Dharavandhoo, Maalhos, Kamadhoo, Kihadhoo & Kudarikilu) on the 14th – 16th of July 2012. During this visit, the Live and Learn team met with the school heads, Parent Teacher Association members and the students. The team introduced the school gardening project, its objectives and planned targets, and the materials to be provided under the project.

The management of the five schools agreed they will give their full commitment throughout the project. The teachers and parents are committed to work with the management of the school and with the students, and felt it would be a good experience for everyone to work together.

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Stakeholders met to validate the Sri Lanka proposal to UN REDD

Introducing the school garden project to the school heads and parent teacher

association members

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Biomass energy for local industryA climate change project funded by the Global Environmental Facility will support Sri Lankan industrialists to switch from fossil fuel to locally grown and processed wood to meet energy needs.

This project, jointly implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, will address current barriers that prevent industrialists from utilizing wood for energy; as opposed to expensive diesel and furnace oil, which are no longer subsidized by the government. To this end, the project aims to work with the Department of Forests, the Ministry of Coconut Development and private sector plantations to develop fuelwood plantations in marginal lands and as a viable intercrop for coconut, pepper and small holder tea. The project seeks work with private sector, especially small scale rural entrepreneurs to improve availability of wood-based fuel- wood pieces, chips, brickets etc- at a reasonable price and regular supply for industry. Thirdly the project aims to improve t e c h n o l o g y a n d o p e r at i o n s a n d maintenance related services for industries

to switch from oil to wood. Improvement of wood-burning thermal boilers and small gasification units is envisaged; with added technological solutions for wood handling, storage and transport.

The total value of the grant funding from Global Environmental Facility amounts to US$2 Million. Counterpart financing from Sri Lankan government and private sector is around US$17 million, indicating the high level of interest and priority for the project from industry and ministries.

Due to high fossil fuel prices, fuel wood demand in industry has shown an increase of about 28% in the period 2000 to 2007 (about 3.5% annually). Even larger industries, traditionally reliant on furnace oil, diesel or LPG are planning to convert their processes to use wood to improve their compe-titiveness. Industrial thermal energy can be regarded as one of the major thr us t a reas fo r f ue l switching (from fossil fuels to

fuel wood) as it offered the best economic justification. Another reason is formed by recent positive technological developments related to biomass conversion (such as introduction of gasification on the market) and crop production (with the Government declaring the fuel wood species Gliricidia as plantation crop). These developments have made the production possible of bio-energy at lower cost and with higher conversion efficiencies, which could compete with other commercialized energies, in particular the use of biomass gasifiers and efficient biomass-fired boilers.

The project will be jointly implemented and managed by UNDP and FAO.

Strengthening the agricultural extension system through agro-enterprise development

Extension programmes through the Department of Agriculture (DOA) have typically focused on production and productivity. With research showing that marketing extension is essential in a sustainable agricultural extension programme, FAO launched a project in partnership with the DOA in November 2010, with the objective of establishing marketing linkages and enabling farmers to produce on the basis of market demand. This extension system is being tested in pilot areas of the country.

Under this system, farmers are being engaged through meetings and training

programmes to develop farm business schools. Training manuals have been developed for farmers for this purpose. The Farm Business School (FBS) concept is a continuous process that will run over a period of a cultivating season or even beyond. After evaluating the progress at the end of the season, farmers will re-plan their activities for the next season. This is mainly to identify and overcome short comings during that particular season. This training method is completely new to the farmers as well as officers and it is based on the learning-by-doing concept. All the farmers in the FBS will learn the relevant lessons by doing it as a team and this will bring a novel experience to the farmers and will easily grab the ideas. Most of the lessons are done as role plays, dramas and stories by the farmers.

In 2011, the project has supported the training of 48 Agricultural instructors through a Training of Trainers (TOT) programme, who have in turn initiated 27 FBS in the piloted districts. To date, an estimated 540 farmers have been trained in FBS in the districts of Anuadhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Kandy, Matale, Nuweraeliya, Hasalaka, Moneragala and Badulla. In addition to

conducting the FBS training, the project is developing a database in respective pilot districts to help farmers, officers and buyers have access to marketing and business information.

Most officers and the farmers who underwent this training mentioned that this was a very important learning process and they believed that this will help them to gain the necessary marketing and entrepreneurial skills they need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of farming.

Following observation of the progress of the farmer training programmes, Provincial Directors and Deputy Directors requested FAO to train more officers on the FBS concept. As a result, FAO has trained an additional 108 officers to date. .These officers will establish new FBS classes in the field during the coming maha season in these piloted areas. Whereever possible, these farmer groups will be linked with the private sector to enable them to produce for the market. The DOA will monitor the progress of farmers in this concept and will decide if the new extension approach is acceptable and is preferred by farmers.

Plantation areal view Wood chips ready to burn

Conducting Farmer Business School in Nachchaduwa – Anuradhapura District

(100 percent women group)

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Staff spotlightIn this issue's staff spotlight, we interview Jessica Mitchell, Monitoring and Evaluation Intern in the FAO Colombo office.

I am currently completing my master's degree in International Development at American University in Washington, D.C. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) has been a particular interest of mine in my graduate coursework, and I was fortunate in one of my classes to get the opportunity to design an M&E plan for an HIV/AIDS care advocacy program for an NGO in Washington, DC.

Before coming to FAO, I worked in the Grants and Contracts department of a global health INGO called Population Services International, which implements reproductive health, malaria, tuberculosis, water sanitation, and social marketing programming.

This specific field monitoring internship was advertised to students in my master's program as part of a new partnership between FAO and my graduate school. I had just completed a program evaluation course and done some M&E work domestically, so I thought this internship would be a great opportunity to learn more about how M&E is implemented both within the UN system and in an international, post-conflict context. My previous work experience was in global health, so I wanted to learn more about agriculture and livestock programming. Of course, the opportunity to spend the summer in Sri Lanka was also one of the biggest motivators for applying!

1) Tell us a bit about yourself ?

2) What interested you to apply for an internship at FAO?

3) What has your internship and learning experience at FAO been like?

4) You recently visited FAO's field offices in the North and had the opportunity to talk to some of our key i m p l e m e n t i n g p a r t n e r s a n d beneficiaries – tell us a bit about this experience?

It's been great. The staff here at FAO in Sri Lanka have been very welcoming and generous with their time and expertise, so I have felt at home and was able to learn a lot here. FAO has given me the opportunity to work on substantive and challenging assignments and I have been able to put the M&E skills I gained in my graduate program into practice, as well as learn new skills. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country, so it has been a real pleasure getting to live here for the summer and having the opportunity to travel to different cities. I want to thank FAO and its staff for taking me on and making this such a good experience.

We met with 32 key informants to get feedback on FAO's water pump and poultry programs in the North. Many informants praised FAO's ability to provide services and inputs to people on a much larger scale than other implementing agencies working in the area. I enjoyed speaking with people who work on different aspects of these programs and was impressed with the amount of hard work that goes into reaching so many beneficiaries.

The best part for me was getting to meet with the beneficiaries themselves and see the water pumps and poultry in person. I really admire the progress that the beneficiaries have made in rebuilding their lives and livelihoods these last few years. I only wish I had the right language skills to speak with them directly, although we fortunately had the assistance of translators.

In development work, there is a lot of emphasis on donor, government, and implementing agency priorities in programmatic decision-making and sometimes the beneficiaries' priorities are not always taken into account. That's why I like M&E - because it gives beneficiaries a voice in programmatic decisions. So I was happy to see that FAO makes a real effort

to incorporate beneficiary feedback, and I enjoyed participating in the interviews and analyzing beneficiary survey results at FAO.

The room full of chicks! During a key informant interview in Vavuniya, we were able to go into this room with at least 100 newly hatched chicks. They were too cute, I wanted to scoop them all up and take them home with me! Luckily, I managed to leave the room without smuggling any chicks out.

Mostly though, I will remember the wonderful staff here at FAO, both in Colombo and the field. Everyone has been so gracious and no one made fun of me too much when I was new and didn't know how to do basic things yet (like how to eat a rambutan).

5) Would you like to share some of the memories of FAO and Sri Lanka you are going to take back with you?

Jessica befriends a fluffy chick on her field visit

Meeting with government partners

Interviewing beneficiaries

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Land tenure in the dry zone livelihood support and partnership programme districtsFAO has recently completed a project on land tenure, that has complemented the Dry Zone Livelihood Support and Par tner ship Project (DZLiSPP), implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture in the four dry zone districts Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Badulla and Monaragala. This project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), through the Government of Sri Lanka. The project undertook land tenure studies in the DZLiSPP area to support land tenure policy dialogues, and focused on assessing land tenure constraints and bottlenecks at the field level in the programme districts. The key lessons learned through these field activities will be used (a) to improve other programme activities to the extent that land tenure considerations may be relevant to their effectiveness; and (b) formulate policy dialogues with officials and others at the local and district levels, with the relevant Ministry of Lands. FAO was requested by the Government of Sri Lanka and IFAD to provide technical assistance in this regard.

The main objective of this project was to improve regional tenure security and strengthen regional capacity for land administration, in order to favor increased investment in off-farm and in-farm activities from both the DZLiSPP and the Government development projects in Badulla, Moneragala, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala. At the national level, the project will share lessons learned in the formulation of the national land policy, as proposed by the Mahinda Chintana (2006-2016).

The project addressed four main land

tenure problem areas identified by the government authorities were decreasing ho ld ing s i z e and f ragmentat ion par t i cu la r ly in i r r i gated lands , encroachment with reserve lands, informal land leasing and selling markets on land development ordinance (LDO) lands and i n s t i t u t i o n a l s u p p o r t o n l a n d administration at the district and divisional level.

Over 80,000 poor households in the four targeted districts have indirectly benefited from this project. In addition, District and Divisional level land officers and officials from the same districts benefited by the project's land administration capacity building activities.

The key stakeholders of this project are the Ministry of Agriculture Development, the Ministry of Land and Land Development, IFAD, and authorities and officials working on land administration, land titling and land registration issues in the target areas, at provincial, district and divisional levels.

The project has achieved the following outcomes:

Ÿ Land tenure constraints and bottlenecks in the project district a r e a s w e r e a s s e s s e d , a n d a consolidated report was produced and published in March 2012. Four policy dialogue participatory workshops carried out at district and divisional level in the four targeted districts, contributing to the land policy formulation and to the district strategies to solve land tenure problems

Ÿ District targeted interventions were piloted on key land tenure issues: land f r a g m e n t a t i o n , L D O l a n d s encroachment with reserve lands, informal land leasing and selling markets in LDO lands, and territorial planning, assisted technically by FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Land and Land Development and DZLiSPP staff

Ÿ Officers and officials working on land tenure and land administration issues at district and divisional level as well as decision makers were trained on land tenure issues

Ÿ Policy dialogue held through a national workshop and the development of policy briefs with project lessons learned contributed to the national land policy formulation and were d i s s e m i n a t e d n a t i o n a l l y a n d internationally

Ÿ Beneficiaries' impact assessment survey instruments were developed and can be used by the Ministry of Land and Land Development upon completed of the project

The above outcomes of the land tenure project will be used in formulation of a National Land Policy for Sri Lanka.

Participants at the policy dialog

Useful linksFAO at Rio+20

Infosylva

http://www.fao.org/rioplus20/en/

http://www.fao.org/forestry/infosylva/en/

The State of World Fisheries and A q u a c u l t u r e ( S O F I A ) 2 0 1 2 Presentation of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012 during the 30th Session of COFI - 9th to 13th of July 2012. Advanced Copy of the COFI 30 Report.

http://www.fao.org/cofi/cofi2012/en/

Joining FAO - Welcome!

A consultative workshop on “Defining an e-Learning Curriculum to support the Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure” was organized by the FAO HQ and held in Rome, Italy from 12 to 13 July 2012. Over 50 FAO technical officers from different regions of the world, including Thushara Ranasinghe (National Project Leader) from FAO Sri Lanka participated, to provide technical expertise and share experiences on land tenure, ensuring that the final curriculum can be adapted in both developed and developing countries.

World humanitarian day celebrations 2012

Defining an e-learning curriculum to support the implementation of the voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure

Cooperation with the European Commission as a donor

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FAO's Operations and Resource Mobilization and Operations Support Service (TCSR) organised a training programme on “Cooperation with the European Commission as a donor” at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok on 25 and 26 July 2012. Thirty FAO staff participated from the Asia Pacific region.

This training provided knowledge to the participants on FAO's resource mobilization strategy, FAO-EC cooperation, EU structure and EC funding instruments, the legal framework for FAO-EC cooperation, responding to EC calls for proposals, implementation of an EC-funded project and EC-funded project monitoring and reporting.

From the FAOR office in Sri Lanka, Dr Premalal Kuruppuarachchi Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) and Rohini Singarayer Planning, M&E Officer of Recovery Projects participated in this training. At present FAO implements two major EU funded projects in Sri Lanka. This training will help FAO Sri Lanka to enhance project implementation and monitoring of ongoing EU funded projects and to mobilize available EC funding sources in future.

Patrick T. Evans (FAO Representative) with Hon. Basil Rajapaksa (Minister of

Economic Development) and Mr Subinay Nandy (UN Resident/Humanitarian

Coordinator) at the FAO stall

FAO Representation : Tel: + 94 11 2588537/2580598 / Fax: + 94 11 2587990 / Email: FAO-LK@fao.org

“For a world without hunger”

Sangaran Balasingam,

National Project

Coordinator

Dr Shanmugaratnam

Mahadeva, Veterinary

Surgeon (Mobile Clinic)

Branavan

Paramasothymoorthy,

Field Mobiliser

Benedetta Casassa,

FAO Coordinator -

Maldives

Dr Thavananthan

Sivananthawerl,

Agronomist

Dr P. B. Dharmasena,

Irrigation/Water

Management Specialist

Dr Somasiri Dayaratne,

Team Leader -

Inception Mission

Thivanka Siriperera,

Intern (Ministry of

Fisheries)

The fourth annual World Humanitarian Day (WHD) was observed in Sri Lanka on 21 August 2012 at the UN Compound in Colombo, under the auspices of Hon Basil Rajapakse, Minister for Economic Development. The event was attended by senior government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, donors, staff of the UN and international and national NGOs.

The World Humanitarian Day was designated by the UN General Assembly in December 2008, in commemoration of the day when twenty- two humanitarian staff tragically lost their lives in an attack on the Baghdad headquarters of the UN in 2003. WHD is commemorated since then, to honor the humanitarian aid workers who have laid down their life in the line of duty. Many UN agencies including FAO, had stalls at this event showcasing the humanitarian assistance provided to the Government of Sri Lanka and its people.