The Impact of New Processing Plant of North Lanka Family Food (Pvt.) Limited (MA’S Foods) on the Farmer Community in the Northern Region
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Date
2018-11
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Publisher
Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka
Abstract
MA’S Foods, one of the leading firms in Sri Lanka’s food processing industry, has built its new processing plant in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka which is an area that was seriously affected by the civil war. This plant is operated under North Lanka Family Food (Pvt.) Limited (NFF) focusing on developing the livelihood of the farmers and citizens in the Northern Province. Resettled Northern farmers who restarted cultivations are having issues on potential markets and quality of their outputs due to various reasons. MA’S Foods has started a project to source approximately 150 farmers across the province, and train them on sustainable farming practices for a period of two years, with a goal to eventually help them obtain organic and fair trade certification.
The main objectives of this study is to undertake the baseline survey in order to get a detailed understanding of the current situation of the farmer community in the province, specifically the ones identified to be a part of the organic & fair-trade certification program and to collect data necessary to monitor changes in market access, changes in employment opportunities & adaptability of sustainable farming by Northern farmers. Moreover, key informant interviews were conducted with relevant officials to get diverse views and concerns. Socio-economic conditions of both farmer groups are almost similar with a considerable level of poverty among sample farmers. Survey could identify few bottlenecks faced by these farmers such as, difficulties in getting fertilizer subsidy & bank loans due to lack of land ownership, water scarcity during dry months, droughts and poor access to inputs and services. Modern farming techniques and value addition in agriculture is rarely practiced in these areas.
Therefore the study could identify the need of training and awareness programs on sustainable farming including adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and proper post-harvest operations to ensure the quality of the product throughout the value chain. Training with financial support and linkages to markets is essential. The private sector companies could cooperate with the state institutes such as the Department of Agriculture, Institute of Post-Harvest Technology to provide relevant technical support required for the farmers to implement good agricultural and post-harvest practices as well as to use new technologies to move upper levels of the value chain.
Description
14/11/2018/29
Keywords
Agriculture, Exports, South Asia, Agri-food trade, food safety and quality