To address the challenges of low farmer productivity and high crop losses, MDF partnered with David Gram Stores, a leading processor of groundnuts, to pilot a machinery leasing model. Additionally, to address the issue of crop loss due to elephant attacks and resulting Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC), MDF supported David Gram Stores in providing solar-powered motion detecting lights. This measure minimizes crop losses and helps to reduce the conflict between humans and elephants in Sri Lanka.
Farmers in Sri Lanka have low productivity due to the lack of access to information and productivity enhancing machinery and in the dry zone they also face significant crop loss and damage to property from Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC). In Sri Lanka, HEC is a longstanding problem threatening biodiversity as well as the livelihoods of dry zone farming families. In addition to significant crop loss and damage to property, the death toll from HEC stood at over 33 people and 70 wild elephants within the past 10 months alone. Contributing factors include limited land availability for agriculture and unauthorised deforestation. Climate change has also resulted in less foliage and water availability throughout the year for elephants living in natural forest reserves.
The Australian Government has a long tradition of working in Sri Lanka to support the agriculture market and improve the lives of farmers across the country. As part of this, Australia’s Market Development Facility (MDF) works with businesses and other organisations to strengthen Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector. MDF’s work with agribusinesses led the program to build a partnership with David Gram Stores (DGS) in 2022. DGS is a Sri Lankan snacks and confectionery business whose story dates back to 1961, when they began as cart vendors selling peanuts and chickpeas near Colombo’s Galle Face Green. For most of their journey, DGS has focused on groundnut distribution and retail, importing the nuts largely from India. However, the business ventured into local groundnut cultivation and milling in 2010 and currently work with 1,300 farmers and a network of intermediaries in the Northern, Eastern, North Central and Uva provinces. As of 2020, DGS was the largest private buyer in the Sri Lankan groundnut industry.
With Australian funding, MDF partnered with DGS to invest in a trial of an agri-machinery financial leasing model. MDF and DGS were looking to understand whether the new leasing model would successfully improve the productivity of groundnut farmers, and whether it could strengthen relationships between the farmers and DGS.
DGS’s farmers were scattered across the dry zone areas of the Northern, Eastern and Uva provinces, and on assessing the impact of the partnership, it was discovered that the farmers in these areas were facing problems relating to irrigation. However, they were also dealing with a more complex challenge that the partnership had not anticipated: elephants damaging their crops and impacting productivity and land use.
With Australia’s renewed commitment towards investing in climate change mitigation and following discussions with the partner and farmers in the area around viable solutions, MDF decided to expand the scope of work and invest together with DGS to promote a light-based deterrent system which was solar-powered and had the potential to reduce elephant encroachment. The solution was implemented in the Mullaitivu district at a subsidised cost, aimed at increasing the receptivity of farmers through providing an affordable solution, and thereby increasing the effectiveness of the solution. In Mullaitivu, farmers purchased motion-detecting solar-powered lights, on instalment schemes from DGS.
Shakti Das, a DGS Field Officer from Mullaitivu, stated that, “Before we installed the lights, there were numerous elephant attacks, primarily in the Puliyaminai and Chemmalai areas. After the light deterrents were installed, there are no reported incidents and I have seen elephants staying away from the field when they see the lights.”
While significant long-term monitoring will be required, thus far the light-based deterrent system has proven to be effective in preventing elephants and other animals from entering farmlands at night. Kandasaami Semmalai, a farmer from Mullaitivu, mentioned that “Last year, DGS installed one light for testing purposes which worked really well, and I bought 10 more lights at Rs. 6,000 per light. Usually, we lose 20% to 30% due to elephant attacks. After installing the lights, we haven't had any incidents since last (2022) May.”
Despite these early positive signs, HEC is a deep-rooted conflict. Yet this project is a small step towards supporting farmers to save their crops and their livelihoods. Australia, through MDF, hopes to promote sustainable initiatives like this that aid farmers to mitigate their crop losses and encourages the private sector to drive innovative solutions that benefit them as well as their farmer networks.
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