| Sustainable Nutritional Gardens |
Our Sustainable Nutritional Garden drive across the country has been received with enthusiasm, especially by women who saw in it the potential to pull themselves out of the poverty trap on one side and a means to provide for the health and well being of the family on the other. While this activity shall continue to be a main component of GMSL agrarian work, our relief operations in the tsunami belt have been the most talk about since they were conducted in areas where pundits said were impossible - especially the damaged paddy lands, polluted irrigation canals and other such challenges.
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| Pilot project on agricultural recovery in the Hambantota district |
Funding for the project was slower than anticipated causing some delay in getting certain inputs (seeds, tools etc.) to the farmers in time for the Yala season. However, these glitches were ironed out and the final assessment determined that the program was a resounding success – most easily assessed by the quality and size of the harvest. We are proud to note that the farmers enjoyed astonishingly good Yala and Maha crops despite the concerned that existed immediately after the tsunamis and the dire predictions of almost everyone from farmer to activist to donor to agro-scientist. |
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| Home garden recovery in tsunami affected areas |
The programs have so far ensured that pre-implementation targets have been met as well as a few that were less measurable quantitatively such as the genuine contentment visible in the lives and lifestyles of people who were so damaged and traumatized not too long ago. This, in itself was reward enough for all the Herculean efforts of our agriculture team headed by Mr. Nimal Kumaratunga. |
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No space? No problem. Creative gardens in Galle |
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We did this... |
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Recovered paddy lands damaged by the tsunamis in Hambantota |
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Renovated irrigation canals at Hathagala. |
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Recovered home gardens damaged by tsunamis in the southern and eastern provinces. |
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Planted home gardens at all community rehabilitation sites worked by the GMSL. |
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Planted Sustainable, Nutritional Gardens in 11 districts in Sri Lanka |
Promoted small scale livestock farming as an alternative to machinery in agriculture |
Promoted the use of appropriate technologies and encouraged creative thinking in optimizing the use of resources |
Conducted programs for schools in 11 districts to inculcate the value of subsistence farming amongst school children |
Created informal rural farming groups amongst home owners for mutual benefit and sustenance |
Identified practical rural leaders as potential trainers of highly localized groups of farmers and home owners |
Embarked on a program to wean farming communities away from chemical based agriculture and encouraged them to make quality choices in the type of foods they wish to consume |
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