Sri Lanka Agripreneurs’ Forum holds its 2nd Annual General Meeting 

Sri Lanka Agripreneurs’ Forum (SLAF) held its 2nd Annual General Meeting on 31st August 2022 at the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka, Colombo 07.

The event was attended by key stakeholders representing various sectors including growers, farmer organizations, agri value-addition enterprises, agri professionals and academics, local and global marketers of agri produce, agri-input providers, local agri investors, banking institutions, large-scale retailers, and business incubators among many others.

Agripreneurship which refers to agricultural entrepreneurship is a sector that encompasses both agricultural and farming-related business activities. Agripreneurship is a model that covers all phases of bringing an agricultural product to market, including production, processing, and distribution. An agripreneur must evaluate and enhance every aspect of producing an agricultural product.

Therefore, the main goal of the SLAF is to make agriculture a prosperous and viable activity in order to maintain food security and to elevate small-scale farmers from their existing status as subsistence-level farmers to respected and significant contributors to the agricultural economy.

With a membership base of over 300 direct members and an extended membership that encompasses the 30 million individuals who are involved in agriculture, both directly and indirectly, SLAF has continuously engaged with all key stakeholders, including the highest echelons of government, to push for the speedy transformation of agriculture.

Re-elected Chairman Mr. Rizvi Zaheed highlighted the activities conducted by the SLAF during the previous tenure. Some of the activities are listed below;

  • Launched the Certificate in Agri-Business & Entrepreneurship (CABE) program under “Agri Saviya” in partnership with the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM). This was a first-of-its-kind qualification available in Sri Lanka to build an elemental force in the country to bridge the knowledge gap in the agriculture sector.
  • Launched the SLAF Agri Forum WhatsApp Group with over 300 participants to facilitate more interactive communication between the members of SLAF. This communication hub, which serves as a prototype for the bigger objective of the SLAF to enable faster and more efficient communication between the stakeholders in the agri-sector, has seen massive success over the years in connecting growers, buyers, and sellers.
  • Conducted the Special Private Sector Dialogue on the draft National Agri Policy (NAP) and supported the drafting of NAP. The SLAF conducted the Special Private Sector Dialogue to discuss the drafting of the NAP and subsequently submitted a proposal for the draft NAP based on the comments and proposals that were collected from multiple stakeholders representing various segments of the sector.
  • Conducted a discussion with the European Union Chamber on the EU 2021/27 project on the sustainable value chain and organic agri-sector development. Key representatives of SLAF met with the EU Chamber to discuss possible mechanisms to develop value chains and organic agri-sector that would assist the EU 2021/27 project. This meeting brought up the key issues faced by the sector in the status quo and explored possible ways of overcoming them and how the EU could support that.
  • Supported the Inaguration of the Lanka Coffee Association along with Market Development Facility (MDF. Lanka Coffee Association, Sri Lanka’s first-ever national coffee association, was launched with the intention of improving the coffee sector of the country by elevating the quality and quantity of the coffee that is being exported from Sri Lanka. Subsequent to its creation, the SLAF has also been staffing the association’s secretariat and LCA has since conducted multiple activities such as a series of Coffee Training workshops and a Coffee Festival which aims to boost the image of Sri Lankan Coffee.
  • Launched the Jack Fruit Value Chain Development Project. SLAF appointed a subcommittee that was tasked with developing the Jack-fruit value chain in Sri Lanka and the subcommittee has completed the preliminary stages of the project where they have identified the best variety to be cultivated and have conducted many knowledge-sharing workshops to raise awareness of the subject.
  • Initiated the framework to set up the Agro Innovation Center (AIC) in partnership with Hatch. AIC aims to create Agribusiness entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka by establishing a fully-fledged agro-processing and innovation center in the Colombo District and four semi or partial-processing centers in Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Nuwara Eliya, and Monaragala Districts, totaling to five centres as Phase 1 of the project.
  • Initiated the Sri Lanka – Kenya Hass Avocado Project. A series of business discussions between Sri Lanka nominated SLAF and the Kenyan Team of experts to improve the Avocado Value Chain in Sri Lanka with special emphasis on the HASS avocado variety. The purpose of the assignment is to develop a project for Hass Avocado and upscale the project to a large-scale farm of estimated 100 acres of land in Kandy.
  • Conducted a range of training webinars over a wide spectrum of areas to educate the Sri Lankan agripreneurs. 
  • Webinar on Insights on new regulations on organic and inorganic agri-inputs – The session successfully took place on September 2021 with the participation of over 140 participants from the Sri Lankan agricultural sector. This timely discussion brought clarity on areas such as; the current status of the policy changes instigated since April 2021, national perceptions of the change to the agrochemical importation policy in the short, medium, and long terms, effective use of chemical fertilizer, and plant nutrient management, export market opportunities for organic products. An interactive industry discussion shed light on many of the grey areas of the current situation and created a platform to discuss avenues for an ambitious transformation to an organic agricultural system for Sri Lanka.
  • Webinar on vanilla value chain development – This webinar, which was held in December 2020, focused on the business opportunities in the vanilla value chain. Areas such as  i) the global market for vanilla and its price trends  ii) desired growing conditions  iii) the investments required were the focus of the discussion.
  • Webinar on exploring the potential of developing avocado value chain in Sri Lanka – The webinar was conducted in December 2020 with the aid of a team of experts to bring clarity and awareness on developing the avocado value chain in Sri Lanka. This webinar focused on discussing i) the current industry situation in Sri Lanka and the existing value chains  ii) industry opportunities in value additions/export markets  iii) global experience and planting material   iv) identification of requirements for technical studies.
  • Webinar on jackfruit value chain development – The webinar which took place in March 2022 discussed a range of subjects such as i) value chain development, ii) jackfruit processing challenges and recommendations iii) jackfruit cultivation in Sri Lanka, opportunities in the export market, and challenges in connecting the global value chain.
  • Webinar on Optimum use of microorganism technology in agribusiness – SLAF invited two South Korean scientists, who are experts at developing and applying microorganism technology into modern-day farming as holistic solutions, to speak to the Sri Lankan agribusiness community through a virtual forum. The webinar was held on October 2021 with the participation of over 100 participants.
  • Published write-ups on reputed media networks in Sri Lanka to bring attention to key issues in a timely manner 
  • Importation of contaminated organic fertilizer – September 2021

This highlighted the grave concerns surrounding the contaminated samples of imported organic fertilizer and a reality check on the government’s decision to progress towards placing a commercial order of the same fertilizer

  • Concerns of the agripreneurial community – April 2022

A restatement of concerns that affect the agripreneurial community with a summary of industry-necessitated, timely solutions. It was featured in multiple newspapers and also on Sirasa and Hiru TV News.

  • Recommendations for urgent action from the agripreneurial community – June 2022

The Press Release contained recommendations from the agripreneurial community which were collated by the SLAF from the multiple submissions it received. It highlighted immediate solutions to the impending food shortage out of which multiple discussions with the relevant government agencies were initiated.

  • Partnered with key players contributing to the agri-sector in Sri Lanka to work in unison to achieve mutual objectives. 
  • Partnership with Keells

This partnership explored how Keells could contribute to the upliftment of the agri-sector using its already established logistics systems and its network of branches.

  • Partnership with Hatch

SLAF initiated a partnership with Hatch to develop agri-startups in the country and to improve entrepreneurship in the sector.

  • Partnership with HNB

SLAF partnered with HNB to conduct multiple capacity-building programs for the agripreneurial sector and to explore mechanisms in which the banking sector could get involved in better supporting those who are engaged in agriculture.

  • Partnership with National Science Foundation

SLAF partnered with NSF in order to make information and data regarding the sector more widely available to our membership and the wider entrepreneurial community.

  • Set up the SLAF Secretariat Office
    • The SLAF set up its secretariat at the Y-Hub of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in February 2021.
    • The SLAF shifted its secretariat to Hatch Works in April 2022.
  • Launched the SLAF Website and Social Media pages (Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram)
    • This enabled the SLAF to publish the success stories of our membership and to upload any important updates to the larger global audience with ease. Thus further improving connectivity which the SLAF aspires to do.

“SLAF, despite facing multiple challenges since its inception, has managed to truly serve the nation as a professional agri-entrepreneurial organization. The contributions SLAF made to uplift the agri-entrepreneurial community from various interventions in policy-making to the capacity-building programs conducted have managed to bring SLAF and the community it represents to greater heights.” stated SLAF Chairman Rizvi Zaheed.

The Executive Council of SLAF comprises of Mr. Rizvi Zaheed, Chairman; Dr. Selvanathan Anojan, Hony. Secretary; Mr. Kulendran Sivaram, Hony. Treasurer; Mr. Aruna Weerakoon, Mr. Athula Gunarathne, Mr. Chandana Deepal, Mr. Jayantha Rajapakse, Mr. Jeevan Gnanam, Mr. Kailash Sithambaram, Mrs. Kalpana Kandage, Ms. Nimmi Galearachchi, and Mr. Parakrama Jayasinghe as the Executive Council Members for the year 2022/23

Through its individual, corporate, institutional, and student membership (student membership is offered free-of-charge) categories, SLAF hopes to better connect all stakeholders to the national agri-output to improve coordination, awareness, and lobbying power of the industry with the intention of working towards the development of the national agri sector.

All parties interested in fostering local agribusiness development are cordially encouraged to join the association and actively participate in achieving the shared objective of accomplishing this goal in Sri Lanka. You can visit agripreneur.lk for more information on this.