Sri Lanka Foundation International, USA, donated to the V2U Organization founded in Canada to support the fifth Project in Dehiaththakandiya, to prepare land for raising crops to cultivate a field which Ulhitiye Homalokha Thero spearheaded in five different areas in the Ampara District.
The main objective of the V2U Community Organization is to educate Sri Lankans on food cultivation to create self-generating employment opportunities in agriculture and other related fields.
Agriculture is essential to the Sri Lankan economy, engaging one-third of the working population. However, most farm households need more knowledge of production methods and face a financial struggle to access land for cultivation. These obstacles constrain their ability to compete in the market and increase their incomes. In response to these challenges, Sri Lanka Foundation International and V2U Community Organization are partnering on the Supporting Opportunities in Livelihoods Development projects, which train farm households in the country’s eastern regions on improved agricultural practices.
To avert a further deterioration of food security conditions and to support the restoration of agricultural production, the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foundation International, USA, Dr. Walter Jayasinghe’s vision for this Project is a multi-faceted initiative to rebuild villages struggling educationally and economically. The ambition is a replicable model to create sustainable and holistic transformation through land cultivation. He believes a thriving economy is a system of production, distribution, and consumption that efficiently uses all available resources to benefit all stakeholders of that economy.
With the support of SLF, the V2U Community Organization is reaching out to farming areas that often need more resources, skilled people, and economic development. They encourage volunteers to gain experience in community development while helping with various tasks that contribute to the local people’s long-term goals. They have already identified the next project in Aranagamwila in the Polonnaruwa District.
This Project will continue to empower poor rural women and men to connect to markets by scaling up value chain development, developing public-private-producer partnerships, and mobilizing innovative financial products tailored to meet the needs of the rural poor in the country.
