Agriculture to sustain poverty reduction - World Bank

Agriculture will continue to be a fundamental instrument for sustainable development and poverty reduction for transforming countries like Sri Lanka, World Bank Country director, Naoko Ishii said.

Briefing the press on recently launched World Development Report 2008 `Agriculture for Development’, she said: “An important concern in transforming countries, is the widening income gaps between rural and urban areas and between progressive and lagging regions.

“The report states that addressing income inequality will require a comprehensive approach, including maintaining the productivity growth of food staples, while promoting high-value added agriculture, decentralising non-farm activities to rural areas, and providing assistance to help move people out of agriculture,” she said.

“This message comes at a time when the Sri Lankan Government has commendably articulated in its ten year vision that the agriculture sector should contribute to regionally equitable economic growth, rural livelihood improvement and food security.

In its vision, the Government places high priority to increasing productivity and competitiveness, through fostering growth of high value agriculture and agribusiness,” she added.

Ishii noted that rising incomes in Sri Lanka are changing the pattern of consumer demand, from cereals to higher value products, such as fruits, vegetables, and livestock products.

“This creates significant market opportunities for farmers to meet the expanding consumer demand for these products. More rapid growth of the high value sector, however, is hampered by limited availability of market infrastructure and services, such as markets, cold chains and market information needed to handle these perishable commodities,” she said.

She pointed out technological innovation, however, has been a blind spot in Sri Lanka’s agriculture for the past decades.