1978 IFAD in Sri Lanka

In 1978, shortly after the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was established, the agency provided its first loan for the Kirindi Oya Irrigation and Settlement Project. About 37 years later, IFAD continues to play a strategic role in supporting the Government of Sri Lanka to reduce rural poverty and invest in rural areas in the country.

IFAD’s investment in Sri Lanka so far has been approximately $400 million over 16 projects directly benefitting 525,000 households of rural poor. IFAD's project approaches have evolved overtime beginning with investments in integrated rural development to collaborative approaches involving NGOs, community organizations and the private sector in project planning and implementation and finally to investments focused on the commercialization of agriculture and the value chain approach. IFAD has concentrated on three geographic zones: the dry zone in Northern and Eastern Provinces and plantation areas in the Central Province.