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                                                                                                       September 17, 2009



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Sri Lanka’s 30-year war between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
devastated nearly two-thirds of the population of its Northern and Eastern provinces. Most
aspects of life suffered—people were displaced, institutions disintegrated, and essential irrigation
schemes were damaged. People could no longer access markets as they once had and the
transport of goods virtually came to a halt. Once-industrious communities that had produced lush
harvests of rice, vegetables, fruits, and other crash crops lost their comfortable lifestyles and
became impoverished.




The IDA-financed Second Northeast Irrigated Agriculture Project launched in 2004 with the
objective of helping conflict-affected communities in the Northern and Eastern provinces and
adjoining areas to restore their livelihoods, enhance agricultural production, increase incomes,
and build capacity for sustainable social and economic integration. The project was restructured
in 2007 and named The Reawakening Project to adopt a community-driven development
approach. Communities were then given the responsibility to plan, design, and implement small-
scale infrastructure and livelihood activities.




Over 500 villages—and 1.25 million households—in the conflict-affected areas have been
organized into community-based institutions and are benefiting from new community and
productive infrastructure (rehabilitated irrigation schemes, linkage roads and bridges,
water wells, marketing centers, drainage schemes, multipurpose buildings, and so on).


Highlights:
- Voice and choice restored. The project is re-building self-esteem and renewed confidence
among victims of conflict and displaced people by giving them voice (though their village
institutions) and choice (through the planning and implementation of their own Village
Development Plans and their livelihoods activities)


- Newly productive land. More than 35,000 hectares of irrigated land has been brought back to
cultivation to-date through the rehabilitation of seven major irrigation schemes that had been
damaged by the conflict, benefiting more than 55,000 farm households. Moreover, new
sustainable agricultural practices and a system of rice intensification has doubled yields and
lowered input requirements in demonstration plots.


- Savings and credit groups expanded. Over 10,000 small community groups formed have
started saving schemes, developed their business plans, and are accessing credit to upgrade
their vocational and life skills for jobs and to set up micro-enterprises.


- Women leadership. Women are playing a leading role in village-level institutions, ensuring that
the poor are targeted and that marginalized groups are included, and


- Community agriculture strengthened. Farmers have joined forces into Producer
Organizations to coordinate their efforts to increase bargaining power, marketing activities, and
incomes.




The total project cost of the Second Northeast Irrigated Agriculture Project is US$81.1 million, of
which IDA contributed US$64.7 million. The Government provided US$13.7 million, and local
beneficiary communities provided US$2.7 million.




Currently, the focus is on consolidating gains to ensure institutional and economic sustainability.
This will be achieved by further strengthening village-level institutions as well as helping
producers’ group increase their access to market and financial services. Additional financing is
being considered to cover more villages and to rehabilitate major irrigation schemes in the
Northern Province.




North-East Irrigated Agriculture Project (1999-2005)
Project documents | Second project (2004-2011)