World Bank2012-03-192012-03-192009-05-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3087The issue of regional differences in development has moved to the center of the development debate in Sri Lanka, partly after the release of regional poverty data. For the past many years, there have been significant and increasing differences between the Western province and the rest of the country in terms of per capita income levels, growth rates of per capita income, poverty rates, and the structure of provincial economies. The structure of the report is as follows: chapter two looks at the poverty/growth/agriculture nexus in the poorest regions of Sri Lanka. It presents data on poverty and growth in the poorest provinces, especially Uva and Sabaragamuwa, and provides an analysis of factors associated with the rural poor. Chapter three provides an overview and brief discussion of the Government's agricultural policies and programs. Chapter four identifies constraints that restrict farmers' incomes in the four poorest provinces. It presents results from extensive stakeholder consultations carried out in these provinces. These results are complemented with findings from the 2005 rural investment climate assessment to identify some of the general constraints in the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka. Chapter five presents the findings of an agricultural resource audit of small-scale farmers in the poorest regions that analyzed production, poverty and market data. The chapter identifies income opportunities, in particular for a few agricultural products with high income potential for poor farmers, whose production could take off with appropriate interventions. This chapter also provides a value chain analysis of these products and identifies product-specific constraints and gaps in the current policy portfolio that could potentially limit the Government's capacity to support the whole range of needed interventions. Drawing on the findings in previous chapters, chapter six presents' recommendations. One set of recommendations is specific to the three products with high income potential and focuses on effective interventions for their production. Another set consists of cross-cutting recommendations that would further improve performance in the targeted areas but also benefit agricultural production more broadly. Chapter seven sums up and concludes.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO ELECTRICITYACCESS TO MARKETSAGRIBUSINESSAGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIESAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIESAGRICULTURAL COMMODITYAGRICULTURAL DIVERSIFICATIONAGRICULTURAL ECONOMYAGRICULTURAL EXTENSIONAGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICESAGRICULTURAL GROWTHAGRICULTURAL INCOMESAGRICULTURAL INFORMATIONAGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONAGRICULTURAL INVESTMENTAGRICULTURAL LANDAGRICULTURAL LANDSAGRICULTURAL MARKETAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL POLICIESAGRICULTURAL POLICYAGRICULTURAL PRODUCERSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY GROWTHAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAGRICULTURAL RESEARCHAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONSAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH POLICYAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEMAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEMSAGRICULTURAL RESOURCEAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTURAL SECTORSAGRICULTURAL WAGEAGRICULTURAL WAGE LABORAGRICULTUREAGRICULTURE POLICIESAGRICULTURE RESEARCHAGRONOMYALTERNATIVE CROPSANIMAL PROTEINANIMALSARTIFICIAL INSEMINATIONBEVERAGESCAPACITY BUILDINGCAPITAL COSTSCASSAVACATTLECEREAL GRAINSCEREALSCOCONUTCOFFEECOMMERCIAL AGRICULTURECOMMERCIAL BANKSCOMMERCIAL FARMERSCOMMODITIESCOMMODITY EXCHANGESCOMPETITIVENESSCONFLICTCREDIT SCHEMESCROPCROP PRODUCTIONCROP YIELDSCROPSDAIRY FARMERSDAIRY PRODUCTSDECLINE IN POVERTYDEMAND FOR FOODDEVELOPMENT BANKSDIETARY PATTERNSDOMESTIC PRICESDROP IN POVERTYECOLOGICAL ZONESECONOMIC GROWTHEGGSEMPLOYMENT GENERATIONEQUIPMENTEXPORT MARKETSFARM ACTIVITIESFARM EMPLOYMENTFARM EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESFARM INCOMEFARM INCOME GROWTHFARM SECTORFARMERFARMER GROUPSFARMER ORGANIZATIONSFARMER REPRESENTATIVESFARMERSFARMINGFARMING ACTIVITIESFARMSFEEDFINGER MILLETFISHFISHERIESFODDERFOOD COMMODITIESFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD CROPSFOOD EXPENDITUREFOOD NEEDSFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD PRODUCTSFOOD REQUIREMENTSFOOD SECURITYGENDERGERMPLASMHARVESTHOUSEHOLD DISTRIBUTIONHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD INCOMESHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLDS WITH ELECTRICITYHUMAN CAPITALIMPACT ON POVERTYIMPACT ON POVERTY REDUCTIONINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCOME GENERATIONINCOME GROWTHINCOME QUINTILEINCOMES FROM AGRICULTUREINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINTEGRATIONINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTSIRRIGATIONLAND DEVELOPMENTLAND OWNERSHIPLAND REFORMLAND REFORMSLAND RIGHTSLAND TENURELAND TITLINGLIVESTOCKLIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENTMAIZEMARKETINGMEATMICROFINANCEMILKMILK POWDERMILK PRODUCERSMILK PRODUCTSNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEMNGOSOILSEEDSPARTICIPATORY APPROACHESPLANTING MATERIALSPOOR FARMERSPOOR PEOPLEPOOR PRODUCERSPOORER PROVINCESPOORER REGIONSPOST-HARVEST LOSSESPOTATOPOTATOESPOULTRYPOULTRY INDUSTRYPOVERTY ASSESSMENTPOVERTY DATAPOVERTY HEADPOVERTY HEAD COUNT INDEXPOVERTY HEADCOUNT INDEXPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY LEVELSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY RATEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY STATUSPRIORITY SETTINGPRIVATE SECTORPRODUCER ORGANIZATIONSPRODUCTION TECHNOLOGYPRODUCTION VOLUMESPROFITABILITYPUBLIC AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHRAW MATERIALSREDUCTION IN POVERTYRICEROOTSRURALRURAL AREASRURAL CREDITRURAL DEVELOPMENTRURAL GROWTHRURAL HOUSEHOLDRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL INFRASTRUCTURERURAL INVESTMENTRURAL LIVELIHOODSRURAL MARKETRURAL POORRURAL POVERTYRURAL ROADSRURAL SECTORSCHOOLINGSEED VARIETIESSEEDSSMALL FARMERSSMALL LANDHOLDINGSSORGHUMSTORAGE FACILITIESSUBSISTENCESUGARSWEET POTATOTARGETINGTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETRANSACTION COSTSTROPICAL FRUITSTROPICAL VEGETABLESTUBERSUNIVERSITIESVEGETABLE OILSVEGETABLE PRODUCTIONVEGETABLESVULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDSWHEATWorld Bank10.1596/3087