The complex challenge posed by COVID-19 both in protecting public health and the socioeconomic functioning of the country confront policymakers with difficult choices. Large scale movement and physical distance restrictions, often referred to as ‘lockdowns’, can slow COVID‑19 transmission by limiting contact between people, but these measures can also have a negative economic impact and affect disadvantaged groups who most often live in overcrowded and under resourced settings, and depend on daily labour for subsistence. The United Nations recognizes that at certain points, some countries have no choice but to issue stay-at-home orders and other measures. The recent decision by the Government of Sri Lanka to keep in place an island-wide lockdown was critical to help limit the spread of the virus, provide time for the health system to increase capacity, protect healthcare workers, reach vaccination targets, and most importantly save lives. Sustaining the current public health measures, while providing support to those who are most vulnerable to curfews, is an investment to allow Sri Lanka’s broader economic recovery in the medium term. Sri Lanka is currently in the 11th position of the countries with highest number of deaths per 100,000 population according to WHO figures on 25 August. As indicated in the 6th Independent Technical Expert Group Meeting on 26 August convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), if lockdowns are extended to 18 September and 2 October, respectively, 7,500 and 10,000 deaths can be prevented (in comparison to a release on 30 August). An extended lockdown allows time for the health system to recover from the current pressures including a shortage of beds and critical supplies like oxygen. It is therefore important to count the human cost of the pandemic, over short-term economic concerns. The economy can recover but those we lose will never return. A short-term lockdown now will save lives, offer respite to our tireless health workers, and limit the long-term social and economic dislocation of a wider COVID-19 outbreak. There remain economic concerns with many believing that the long-term impact of the pandemic on the economy will cost many more lives in the future and drive businesses into bankruptcy and individuals to poverty. The WHO in Sri Lanka recently projected that an extension of the lockdown to 18 September would result in an economic loss of USD 1.67 billion, while an extension of the lockdown to 2 October would result in an economic loss of USD 2.22 billion. However, economic activity can normalise in many areas when effective public health measures contain the spread of COVID-19. In 2020, Sri Lanka's GDP quickly returned to pre-pandemic levels after a contraction of 16.4% in the 2nd quarter of 2020, with the economy continuing to expand by 2.3% on average the three quarters to March 2021 as transmission of COVID-19 remained relatively suppressed. This is testament to how maintaining strict lockdown measures during crucial periods reduces COVID-19 transmission and mortality and contributes to a safer public health environment as this gives workers and businesses the confidence to resume their economic activities and provides a basis for a sustainable economic recovery. This lockdown period should be used to build capacities to detect, isolate, test and care for all cases; trace and quarantine all contacts and increase vaccination. It is also important to mobilize all sectors of society, with partners supporting the Government in its engagement with faith groups, NGOs and the civil society, and thus help meet the needs of lower income groups who are bearing the brunt of the health and socioeconomic effects of COVID-19. These measures will allow authorities the opportunity to plan for a systematic re-opening of sectors, regions, and the return of employment categories The Government has progressed impressively in vaccinating those above the age of 30 and current figures showing that more than 56% of the population have received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 31% of the population having received both doses. The United Nations through our COVAX facility has supported the procurement of vaccine donations from Member States and UNICEF and WHO have supported the health system in administering vaccines. However, a vaccine on its own will not end the COVID-19 pandemic. We will still need to continue with policy and medical measures such as surveillance, testing, isolating, and caring for cases and tracing and quarantining contacts. The public must also continue to follow physical distancing and health measures such as washing hands and avoiding closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings. The UN in Sri Lanka has provided technical, material, skills, partner coordination and logistical support and will continue to work with government partners to address both the health and socioeconomic impact of the pandemic to help Sri Lanka recover and build back better. It is only through solidarity, partnership, and personal responsibility that we will defeat this virus – let us all do our part.

Nishantha welcomes all his guests with a cup of tea and a piece of jaggery sugar made from the Kithul sap tapped from his own trees. Through generations, families like Nishantha’s have farmed these Kithul trees, often found in the wild in rural Bulathsinhala, a village in the Kalutara district located in the Western province of Sri Lanka. Occasionally, a small plantation of a few trees would be passed down as treasured family heirlooms. A Kithul tree can take up to 15 years to mature and its flowers can produce sap for generations. “Many of these trees have been alive since my grandfather’s time, and I inherited several of them,” says Nishantha, who has since planted a few trees of his own. “My earliest childhood memories are of watching my grandfather and his helpers carrying down sap from the Kithul trees." Jaggery, treacle, and flour are healthy food products from the Kithul tree. “Kithul syrup in particular is a very healthy alternative to sugar” Nishantha insists. However, despite huge demand for its products, due to scanty tree spread and safety issues, the supply of Kithul products barely meets market demand.

The slowdown of the industry is compounded by a reluctance of farmers to encourage their children to continue the family trade. Though he finds Kithul farming rewarding, Nishantha doesn’t want his son to follow in his footsteps. “As a child, even I was discouraged from going into the family business, I was so interested in the entire process that my grandfather’s helpers, feeling sorry for me, taught me the trade in secret,” he says with a wry smile.   “Many young people don't want to go into the industry because it doesn’t look and feel modern, they are encouraged by their parents to find jobs in Colombo instead,” says Dinithi Samarathunga, a program officer with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), ILO’s implementing partner on the project. “The job is very risky and dangerous,” she adds, explaining that this is another reason discouraging young people from going into it. With support from the ILO, Kithul farmers received insurance policies that cover injuries and accidents. New safety equipment has helped ageing farmers like Nishantha to continue to tap Kithul trees whilst minimizing the danger to their bodies. “The hard hats and the safety belts we have received make our jobs safer, but also much more easy”, says Nishantha, demonstrating how the easily adjustable safety harness is more secure and convenient than the ropes they used earlier.

The interventions were carried out as part of ILO’s flagship Jobs for Peace and Resilience (JPR) Programme, wherein this specific project’s aim was to support livelihoods improvements by strengthening disaster resilience in flood and drought effected communities in selected geographical locations in Sri Lanka.

The project has also planted nearly ten thousand Kithul trees on private land, in the care of 32 farmers.  Whilst being enormously generous with its produce, Kithul is a rare industry that generates both economic value whilst also promoting environmental security. The tree’s fibrous root system is effective in preventing soil erosion in watershed areas whilst further increasing water retention capacities. The Kithul tree canopy can slow down the intensity of rain as it falls to the ground; thus preventing soil erosion. Collectively these effects can have a huge impact in mitigating the damage caused by floods, enabling a greater resilience to climate change for local communities and ecosystems. This is particularly relevant in flood prone areas such as the Kalutara district, which receives some of the highest rainfall in the country during the southwest monsoon. Providing technology that lessens risk as well as increases efficiency and profitability and thereby reduces the economic fragility of the industry is a core long-term objective of the project. It has brought together Kithul farmers from many parts of the country, enabling them to share knowledge and expertise. “Local farmers from other places have tidbits of knowledge to share that can be tremendously helpful. I learned some very useful techniques to treat the Kithul flower in its maturing process”, says Nishantha. Devoted to perfecting the art of treating the emerging Kithul flowers in a way that maximizes their output whilst doing no lasting damage to the tree, according to him “Kithul farming is a lifelong learning experience”.
The project also seeks to provide active links to the market. “We have linked them with the private sector,” says Dinithi, adding that strong links with the local government have also been forged. “As their expertise develops, we hope that the farmer’s association will soon access the marketplace directly, increasing profits and long term stability”. Nishantha talks about how he once earned about two lakhs (approx. USD1,100) from a single tree over the course of a few months. This was a particularly hard time in his life; he had just retired from the army and was waiting for his pension to be approved. “The Kithul trees in my garden are what helped me and my family survive those months. I feel safe because my Kithul trees have been there for me during hard times.”

Nishantha speaks of his trees almost as if they are alive and conscious, indeed the culture of farming Kithul trees is one wrapped up in an almost spiritual regard for nature. “The Kithul farmer is someone who always converses with the tree, the tree is a very sensitive being” says Nishantha, speaking in reverential tones. While much of this reverence is attached to a sense of gratitude for its bountiful provisions, it is also born of a wry sense of guilt and compassion, “We take the fruits of its labor for our own use, in a way we are tricking it. So we have to make sure to treat it with the utmost respect.”  

Women dominate the first and second export revenue sectors of the Sri Lankan economy, apparel and tea. About 75% of Sri Lanka’s tea comes from small-growers, mostly consisting up to 10 acres of family-grown estates. Small-holding growers, are the backbone of the tea industry in Sri Lanka, accounting for about 60% of the total area cultivated. 

In tea plantations, tea plucking and weeding are female dominant and it is common for the large plantation sector as well as the tea smallholding sector. However, the women’s responsibility in the tea smallholdings is much greater. In tea small-holdings, not only the tea plucking but all the responsibilities of maintaining small tea plots rests on the shoulders of women. This is evident in Pambadeniya in the Doluwa Divisional Secretariat division in the Kandy district where a majority of tea small holdings are operated solely by women. 

In Pambadeniya, the role of productivity improvement and Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in the tea smallholding sector is spearheaded by the Women Home Garden Society that operates under the purview of the area Agrarian Service Centre. The women were trained on SLM practices suitable for tea smallholdings through the Rehabilitation of Degraded Agricultural Lands Project (RDALP). 

The RDALP is working to rehabilitate degraded agricultural lands in the Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Kandy Districts where approximately 50% of agricultural lands are degraded. The project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with the Ministry of Environment, the Department of Agriculture (DoA) and several other relevant government institutions. 

Although tea is the second largest export commodity of Sri Lanka less and less farmers are willing to invest in tea due to a regular decline in yield in the past decades. The yield has declined to an average of 350 to 400 kilograms per acre while in some lands it is as low as 150 kilograms per acre. But according to the Tea Research Institute (TRI) of Sri Lanka, the yield of a well-managed tea plantation could easily be enhanced to 1,000 kilograms per acre.  
Pushpa Ranjanee of Pambadeniya is a courageous farmer and an active member of the Women Home Garden Society. Pushpa began cultivating tea in a two-acre plot of land in 2004. However the lack of knowledge in tea smallholding and the unexpected onset of drought that lasted for longer periods affected her tea plantation which was in a state of neglect. It was in this backdrop that Pushpa joined the RDALP in 2018. 

Her land was severely degraded due to soil erosion. The land did not have optimal tea plant density. Shade management and other important aspects of maintaining a healthy environment for tea had been neglected. Pushpa’s land was subjected to soil erosion as she had not applied any soil conservation methods. The indiscriminate application of chemical fertiliser without due consideration to the pH Level of the soil and soil organic matter content, the micronutrients and microorganisms in the soil had further contributed to soil degradation. This in turn resulted in low yields and low incomes. 

RDALP and the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (THSDA), the government agency responsible for the development of tea smallholdings sector helped Pushpa and other farmers to improve their tea cultivations. A series of training and awareness programs were conducted to educate farmers on Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and maintaining a successful tea plantation. A range of SLM technologies have been introduced in the tea smallholding sector including organic fertiliser application, shade management, intercropping and soil conservation.

“I applied the SLM practices to my tea cultivation as recommended through the training programs. The project provided cash grants for soil conservation and fruit plants for intercropping. Tea plants were provided by the THSDA for infilling. I used compost to improve the soil quality. All these measures contributed to a high yield, income and the plants are more resilient to the drought now,” she added. 

Pushpa who now engages in organic tea production said that the organic green tea leaves she harvests are able to fetch a price of Rs. 110 per kilogram compared to Rs. 80 per kilogram through conventional tea production. Successful tea smallholding provides a stable monthly income for women and little variations take place only at extreme weather events. This has been addressed through the provision of fruit crops for intercropping which assures an income all year round. Intercropping cash crops, especially pepper and fruits not only provides an additional income but also serve as shade trees for smallholder tea plantations. 

“Increased income from tea plantation enabled most of the women to come out of debt. Now they have repaid their loans and they are saving money,” said Iroshini Seneviratne, the Agriculture Research and Development Officer of the division who guides the women in this program. 

Pushpa has also started a vegetable cultivation in a one-acre plot of land and maintains a vanilla cultivation in her home-garden. In addition to leading the smallholder tea cultivation in Pambadeniya, the Women Home Garden Society also leads the home garden program with vanilla as an economical crop. 

Empowering women in sustainable agricultural ventures such as tea can uplift the economic condition of the whole family. Better economic conditions means better access to nutrition, and other services such as health and education for the family. 

Humming along to a tune on the radio, Andrew fixes a broken clutch cable of a motorbike. With a framed picture of a deity hanging against the freshly painted wall, this new garage smells like hope and makes work look like play. At 21, Benedict Andrew is already his own boss, with three employees. His motorbike garage, ‘ABS Bike Repairing & Spare Parts’ is located in Sinna Punanai, on the main road between Colombo and Jaffna. He fixes at least two bikes a day. Not long ago, Andrew was a labourer at a repair shop in Oddamavadi. After training in Anuradhapura and Colombo, he became a certified motorcycle mechanic. Qualification in hand, when Andrew was looking for a breakthrough in his career is when he encountered a UNDP project which supports families in Sinna Punanai, where many families have settled in the aftermath Sri Lanka’s long civil conflict. ‘Support to Sustainable Resettlement in Sri Lanka’ is funded by the Government of the United Kingdom. The project consists of a Youth Entrepreneurship Development’ Programme,’ (YED) which addresses the problem of skills shortages. It focused on teaching employable skills and business development.