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Sri Lankan farming communities to better utilize weather and climate information

Sri Lankan farming communities to better utilize weather and climate information

6 Jul 2015

Colombo, Sri Lanka


Minister of Agriculture of Sri Lanka, Hon. Duminda Dissanayake delivering the inaugural speech at the workshop in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Officials, researchers, and development partners in Sri Lanka agreed on the need to improve the livelihood practices of Sri Lankan farming communities to combat weather and climate extremes. One of the solutions, as agreed at a national workshop on agro-ecosystem resilience in a changing climate held in late June, would be to more effectively utilize the available weather forecasts and climate information along with adaptive technological measures.


Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy and the University of Ruhuna in collaboration with Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, the workshop resulted in several recommendations that will facilitate the upcoming national agriculture policy drafting process. The recommendations include conducting further research and adopting modern technological solutions to minimize the effects of climate change on local livelihoods.


The meeting participants discussed the need to provide clear weather and climate information to reduce disaster risks.


The workshop participants also agreed that in order to enhance productivity in the agriculture sector, there is a need to improve the existing mechanisms of local level decision-making, such as the seasonal Kanna meetings. This can be done by creating awareness for the effective utilization of weather and climate information and technological solutions. Weather and climate information as well as technological packages should be provided to farming communities in an easily understandable language to minimize climate and disaster risks associated with hydro-meteorological extremes.


Inaugurated by Hon. Duminda Dissanayake, Minister of Agriculture of Sri Lanka, the workshop participants included the director generals and directors of relevant governmental departments, United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and ADPC.