Business and Economics
In a bid to help the agro sector in the rural villages of the North and East, Leprosy People Association in partnership with Kavarikala Mandrem (KKM) and The Leprosy Mission of England and Wales (TLMEW) has launched a series of projects.
KKM is currently providing financial support every month to selected under-privileged families who are actively involved in agriculture cultivation under their ‘Food for Work’ program.
Leader of the Leprosy People Association in Vavuniya, M. Amarasihgha, said that their aim is to assist agriculture cultivators to move from Micro to SME level.
“Our focus in on home gardeners who are currently involved in green grain, soya beans, vegetables, Ladyfingers, brinjal, tomatoes, bananas and kurakkan cultivations and we provide them high quality seeds at low price and also offer financial support to expand cultivation after each harvesting season.”
The Sri Lankan Chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO), the world’s largest peer-to-peer network of entrepreneurs, is inviting young Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to seize the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and elevate their business ventures by entering the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) 2022-2023 competition season.
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) is the premier global competition for students who own and operate a business while attending college or university. The competition helps budding entrepreneurs unlock their full potential as they embark on their entrepreneurial journeys and build their ventures. Nominees compete against their peers from around the world in a series of local and national competitions in the hope of qualifying for the Global Finals.
The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) has stepped forward with funding to help 6,000 vulnerable Sri Lankan families struggling due to the ongoing economic crisis through the ‘Say We Care’ initiative which will be delivering much-needed food essential packs across the island.
The initiative will distribute relief packs that will last approximately two months among some of the hardest-hit communities in the most vulnerable parts across the island. The vulnerable families in nine districts, namely Gampaha, Kalutara, Colombo, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Mannar, Vavuniya, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya. These families have been identified through a screening process with the assistance of Implementing Partner Sevalanka Foundation, a Voluntary Social Services Organization under the Ministry of Social Services and various local government authorities in each region.
The economic crisis has negatively affected many urban, suburban and rural low and middle income families across the island. Amidst such a backdrop, in September 2022, a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) revealed that an estimated 6.3 million people in Sri Lanka are facing moderate to severe acute food insecurity and their situation is expected to worsen if adequate life-saving assistance and livelihood support is not provided.
The vulnerable groups in the community specifically targeted by this project include pregnant and lactating mothers, children (with forms of under nutrition including particularly malnutrition), persons with disabilities, single-parent families/women-headed households, low-income households, households with large number of dependents, heads of households without livelihoods, and households heavily reliant on unskilled and daily labourers.
