An Agri Fair was organized recently at the Kallady Bridge Market in Batticaloa to mark World Environment Day with the purpose of creating awareness on the importance of organic food consumption and production, and waste management practices. The Fair was held from June 1-3.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supported the Agri Fair that was organized by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and carried out under the European Union Support to District Development Programme (EU SDDP). The FAO SDDP East Regional Office set-up a stall at the Kallady Market premises which displayed information on its interventions in sea bass cage culture, dairy farming, backyard poultry, Other Field Crop (OFC) promotion and crop diversification. The stall piqued the interest of school students who listened intently to information provided by FAO officers and who also did not hesitate to ask important questions. Producer groups from the Karadiyanaru, Wellawali and Kiran areas in the Batticaloa district, who cultivate groundnut, black gram and kawpi with the technical support from FAO under EU SDDP, made the Agri Fair an opportunity to sell their produce to the public.

The EU-SDDP is implemented by six organizations including FAO, UNOPS and IFC in selected conflict affected districts in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The FAO Action “poverty reduction through agricultural development” provides a series of coordinated income generation activities to vulnerable communities engaged in agriculture, fisheries and livestock with the objective of supporting them to initiate, restart and expand their livelihoods.