A consultation meeting was organized by SANASA International to validate the findings of the two research studies undertaken by SANASA Campus on the policy environment related to water and land, that can influence the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka. The study was conducted under the FO4A project (SMART farmer project) in order to gather knowledge that can guide the capacity-building and policy advocacy work undertaken by the project. The study was conducted by Dr.Mahinda Moragolla, who has years of experience in the state sector and who has engaged with land and water issues with the objective of building the capacities of Farm organizations for a long time. The validation meeting was attended by the most senior state officials such as the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Director General of the Agrarian Services Department, Top officials of SLICG, the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Plantation Industries, the Water Resources Board who engage in farmer capacity building and advocacy work such as MONLAR and leaders of farm organizations representing, Kandy, Mathale, Polgahawela, Kegalle, Kurunegala Galle, and Hambantota districts. The meeting was held in Colombo at Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Training and Research Institute on the 24th of November 2022. Many important suggestions were provided by the participants to enhance the quality of the findings and improve the recommendations of the research. Participants appreciated the effort undertaken by SANASA and expressed the willingness to continue the dialogue and also collaborative action.”
