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Analysis of Cinnamon, Pepper and Cardmom Value Chains in Sri Lanka
(2023-07-11) Wijayasiri, Janaka; Thibbotuwawa, Manoj; Hirimuthugogage, Dilani
Present government has identified the spice sector as one of the key sectors for achieving better export performance in future due to the high demand in the export market. To achieve the level of exports that the government anticipates by 2020, the sector needs to overcome key challenges that inhibit its performance. Thestudy maps three spice value chains in Sri Lanka– cinnamon, pepper and cardamom –to identify opportunities as well as constraints including quality and safety issues affecting the sector towards providing recommendations for policy interventions at different points in the chain. It adopts a value chain analysis as a framework of analysis and uses both qualitative and quantitative data to provide a situational analysis. It involved 31 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), six (6) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), which were supplemented with a purposive survey of farmers and observations to triangulate the findings. The study reveals the following with regard to the three chains in the spice sector. Cinnamon: The cinnamon value chain is fairly complicated with many agents involved at various stages of the process. Cinnamon cultivation is mostly done by smallholders wherein large scale producers and regional plantation companies are also involved in cultivation. Cinnamon peelers are the most important actors in the value chain who are involved at the production level and they play a major role in making cinnamon bales. Village level and regional level wholesale collectors are some of the intermediaries who are involved in the collection stage of the chain;collectors are a crucial link between the producers and exporters. Processing of cinnamon is mainly done by exporters according to their foreign buyer requirements. Lack of skilled labour, high cost of labour and planting materials and unstable prices in the market are some of the main issues faced by the producers. High cost of transportation, poor hygienic practices in storages, and high competition amongst collectors are some of the issues at collector level. At exporter level finding quality products, high cost of maintaining quality standards and market concentration are the main drawbacks. To find solutions to these issues, there is a need to implement several strategies, requiring public private partnership at each levels of the value chain. Pepper: The pepper chain is very fragmented and consists of many agents performing various functions; cultivation is undertaken by smallholders while there are a number of intermediaries in the chain; they include collectors/traders/wholesales, who buy the pepper, clean, grade and in turn sell either to processors/exporters, who then sell in either the local or international market. A number of challenges confront the stakeholders at different points in the pepper chain. At the production level, cultivation/harvest has been affected due to low productivity, climatic changes, cost and availability of inputs including labour, pests/diseases, price fluctuations, theft and inadequate support /assistance for cultivation. In the intermediary stage in the chain, there is inadequacy of supply, lack of facilities for processing of pepper and related labour issues. At the point of exports, the export companies face shortages of supply, quality issues, inadequate facilities to undertake testing, amongst other issues. In the upstream portion of the chain, concern for quality and safety of the product is low compared to exporters, depending on the end‐markets. Addressing these constraints require multi‐pronged approach involving both the private and public sectors including the value chain actors themselves. Cardamom: The marketing structure of cardamom in Sri Lanka is characterized by its traditional nature at the domestic level and comparatively high degree of sophistication at exporter level. The traditional supply chain of cardamom in Sri Lanka is characterized by small holder cultivations, decentralized purchasing, low quality product purchases and sales and the presence of a number of intermediaries who extract a share of the benefits that should have been accrued to the producers. This has resulted in low value added in the chain, poor incentives for upgrading especially related to the quality and technology improvements and sluggish growth of the industry. There is not much concern on producing quality cardamom at the producer level. This can be primarily attributed to poor crop management and post harvest practices, high labour cost, lack of quality awareness and difficulty in getting a premier price due to poor dealer network. Despite the greater scope of expansion created by the various opportunities and strengths in the sector, current production is mostly used for the domestic consumption due to the structural and socio economic issues. Unavailability of suitable lands for cultivation and thrips problem are two most severe issues that the sector is facing at present. The sector requires an integrated approach involving both private and public sector to link the small holders with the processors and exporters in a shortest possible way to ensure not only quantity requirements, but also quality and price signals are moved both ways in the value chain. Research on productivity improvement, quality ensuring, cost minimizing and value adding promotion should be an integral part of such an approach. Given that many of the spices from Sri Lanka including cinnamon, pepper and cardamom are currently destined for developing countries, attention on quality and safety considerations has been low. To diversify markets away from the traditional markets and ensure access to markets in developed countries and meet their expectations, there has to be a lot more emphasis given to improving quality of products exported and processes along the value chains, which requires a collective effort. While the industry has undertaken initiatives towards this end especially in the case of cinnamon sector, much remains to be done to up lift the competitiveness of the industry including the poor stand of products flowing in the chains.
Are there Good Quality Teachers for All Classrooms in Sri Lanka?
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2017) Abayasekara, Ashani; Arunatilake, Nisha
Highly qualified teachers in all classrooms are necessary for implementing education reforms aimed at modernizing and improving education in the country. Using School Census data for 2016, this study examines the adequacy of teachers for teaching mathematics, English and science at the secondary level in Sri Lanka, across provinces, and across different school categories. The study also analyses the distribution of government expenditure on teacher salaries across different types of schools. The study finds that although the available number of teachers for different subjects is sufficient at the national level, the available in-field and experienced teachers are inadequate to meet the current demand for such teachers. The study further finds that the deployment of teachers and the distribution of public expenditure on qualified teacher salaries are not equal across different categories of schools.
Better Schools for Better O-Level Results in Sri Lanka
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2017) Abayasekara, Ashani; Arunatilake, Nisha
Good performance at the O-Levels is a pre-requisite for further education in Sri Lanka. Using School Census data for the year 2016, in this study we examine the impact of school-level resources on student performance at the O-Levels. We find largely consistent results employing three different methods of estimation, including a hierarchical linear modelling technique. Of the school characteristics considered, school status, school type, school size, school-generated funds from external sources, and the share of scholarship-holding students have significant impacts on O-Level performance. The share of experienced in-field teachers and qualified principals also matter, as well as the commitment of teachers, measured by teacher absence. From a policy perspective, our findings highlight the need for measures to improve school and teacher resource quality – particularly in smaller and 1C and Type 2 schools – and for incentives to minimize teacher absenteeism.
Better Schools for Better O-Level Results in Sri Lanka
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2017) Abayasekara, Ashani; Arunatilake, Nisha
Good performance at the O-Levels is a pre-requisite for further education in Sri Lanka. Using School Census data for the year 2016, in this study we examine the impact of school-level resources on student performance at the O-Levels. We find largely consistent results employing three different methods of estimation, including a hierarchical linear modelling technique. Of the school characteristics considered, school status, school type, school size, school-generated funds from external sources, and the share of scholarship-holding students have significant impacts on O-Level performance. The share of experienced in-field teachers and qualified principals also matter, as well as the commitment of teachers, measured by teacher absence. From a policy perspective, our findings highlight the need for measures to improve school and teacher resource quality – particularly in smaller and 1C and Type 2 schools – and for incentives to minimize teacher absenteeism.
Bridging Skills for Employment in Sri Lanka
(2023-07-11) Jayawardena, Priyanka
To meet the emerging needs of Sri Lanka’s labour market, the education system now needs substantial modernization to equip workers to think and act creatively, work industriously and productively, and be able to innovate and adapt to available technologies to strengthen economic activities. Sri Lankan education system faces new challenges in improving the quality and relevance of education to equip workers with evolving skills demanded in a more globalized world. With existing public finance constraints and limited private sector participation, addressing these education sector needs to align with changing needs of a dynamic labour market is a major challenge. The objective of this paper is to analyze the existing education system in Sri Lanka and identifying the priority areas to be addressed.
Challenges and Constraints to Regionalism in South Asia
(2013-09-03) Weerakoon, Dushni; Wijayasiri, Janaka
This paper attempts to clarify the perceived costs and benefits underpinning regional trade cooperation and details the achievements of SAPTA to date and its impact on individual South Asian economies, where evidence is available. It also examines the constraints and challenges that South Asia is likely to face as it moves towards a more intense level of economic cooperation in the form of a South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). Then it highlights some of the issues that need to be considered in moving towards a free trade are in the region by drawing upon the experience of ASEAN with the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).
Changing Landscape of Development Finance in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2018) Hewage, Kithmina; Weerasekera, Harini
This paper seeks to analyze the contribution of south-south cooperation towards foreign financial assistance to Sri Lanka. Based on disaggregated data into the sources of development assistance from other countries, the paper highlights some distinct differences in source and purpose based on the donor. Finally, the paper takes a more specific look into development assistance from India and China, two of the most prominent development partners in Sri Lanka.
A Desk Review to Assess the Sri Lankan Girls' and Young Women's Economic and Social Empowerment for Leadership
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2017) Madurawala, Sunimalee; Arunatilake, Nisha; Madushni, Chethika; Karunaratne, Nirosha
The causes of women’s less political participation and less managerial positions held by women, and low levels of participation in the labour market, have not been analysed around political economic and social empowerment of girls and young women (i.e. girl’s participation in leadership and decision making at every level in order to catalyse the girls rights movement and bring about change) in Sri Lanka. At the same time, it will be beneficial for Girls and also the duty bearers to explore the policy / program and evidence points around the benefits of promoting more female social and economic empowerment from early childhood (norms and stereotypes) through to employment and later to elections and political parties (quotas, voting age etc.). In Sri Lanka there is very less evidence based research that highlights the causes of gender inequality and barriers to Girls empowerment and leadership. In this backdrop, this study aims to investigate the challenges faced by Sri Lankan Girls’ and Young Women - in social and economic spheres- for leadership roles. The methodology of this study took a qualitative approach, including a scan of national strategic documents, national policies, political and legal frameworks, development programmes of international agencies, complemented with consultations with government partners, corporates and community members, to gather insights and perspectives of the deep rooted challenges face by Girls and Young Women in Sri Lanka to take on leadership roles and engage in decision making. The consultations held nationally and in 5 representative Districts (Colombo, Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Batticaloa and Nuwara Eliya) demonstrate that gender inequality is felt across by the communities, as an important aspect of their community. Nevertheless, their varying degrees of understanding the subtle nuances of gender inequality and how that affects Girls future were based on their levels of awareness and deep analysis of these factors.
Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Adaptation in Agriculture Sector in Sri Lanka: Assessing Loss and Damages due to Climate-Induced Disasters - Technical Report
(2023-07-11) Senaratne, Athula; Wickramasinghe, Kanchana
Climate change is likely to increase the vulnerability of agriculture sector, which is inherently a risk-prone activity. Both, changing patterns of climate and extreme climate events, could result in losses and damages to agriculture thereby increasing livelihood risks faced by farmers and business risk of agricultural firms. Those losses and damages can cause severe economic and social impacts over millions of farmers, especially in developing countries where farming is the main livelihood. The overall objective of the study is to understand the linkages between disaster risk management and climate change adaptation for reducing losses and damages incurred by the agriculture sector due to climate related disasters. The study aims to: identify the vulnerability of agriculture sector in Sri Lanka to losses and damages due to extreme events, slow-onset disasters and anomalies in familiar patterns of climate variability; explore methodological approaches developed for assessing losses and damages and identify suitable approaches that can be adapted to cater the needs of agriculture sector in Sri Lanka, and; identify ways for establishing baselines for the current losses and damages caused by climate related disasters on the agriculture sector, demonstrating the applicability of selected approaches to assess loss and damages.
Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Adaptation in Agriculture Sector in Sri Lanka: Policy Directions for Devsing a Mechanism for Assessing Losses and Damages
(2023-07-11) Senaratne, Athula; Senaratne, Athula; Wickramasinghe, Kanchana
Agriculture sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors to impacts of climate change in Sri Lanka. Increased incidences of extreme events such as floods, droughts and landslides as well as slow-onset impacts such as rising temperature and anomalies in rainfall patterns affect the performance of agriculture sector. Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector is comprised of two broad subsectors, namely, food security subsector and export agriculture subsector. Recent experience indicates that climate related hazards pose a significant threat on production, farm assets and livelihoods associated with both subsectors. The report deals with Sri Lanka’s loss and damage NDCs with special focus on agriculture sector, which has been identified as one of the most vulnerable sectors to losses and damages due to climate change impacts. One objective of the study is to identify policy directions for linking ongoing disaster risk management and climate change adaptation interventions through the means of establishing a mechanism for assessing losses and damages due to extreme events, slow-onset disasters and climate anomalies. A dedicated policy analysis was carried out to achieve this objective. The specific aims of this analysis are to review existing policies in Sri Lanka for management of disaster risks and adaptation to climate change impacts in agriculture sector, examine the prospects for assessing losses and damages due to climate related disasters on agriculture to strengthen disaster risk management and climate change adaptation and to suggest suitable policy directions to improve resilience of agriculture sector through devising a mechanism for assessing losses and damages.
Doing Good Index 2018
(2023-07-11) Hewage, Kithmina
The inaugural Doing Good Index examines the enabling environment for philanthropy and private social investment across 15 Asian economies. Composed of four areas–tax and fiscal policy, regulatory regimes, socio-cultural ecosystem, and government procurement–the Index reveals how Asian economies are catalyzing philanthropic giving.
Economic Challenges of Post Tsunami Reconstruction: Sri Lanka Country Study
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2007-01) Jayasuriya, Sisira; Weerakoon, Dushni; Arunatilake, Nisha; Steele, Paul
The aim of this study is to contribute to the discussions and debates on appropriate policies for the medium term reconstruction effort by providing an analysis of some of the priority issues emerging from Sri Lanka’s own experience of the posttsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation phase. To this end, the study also involved a survey of affected households in an attempt to obtain a broader understanding of the perceptions of the recovery process from the grass-root level.
Educational Opportunities for the Poor: Assessing Spatial Disparities
(2013-09-03) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Galappattige, Ayodya; Jayatilaka, Ruwan; Perera, Ramali
This study will attempt to analyze the availability of resources/facilities of schools and assess the extent of disparity in resources/facilities across districts and among different types of schools. Moreover, it will examine the effectiveness of various educational welfare programs, such as the free school textbook program and the uniform program to find out whether the benefits of these programs are equitably received by students of all schools. The study will attempt to bring together the views, opinions and suggestions of various stakeholders in the education sector (Government officials, principals and teachers, students and parents) on resources/ facilities in schools and the effectiveness of education welfare programs to find out ways to improve the facilities and the quality of education in Sri Lanka, particularly those received by the poor students.
Effective States and Engaged Societies: The Case of Sri Lanka
(World Bank, 2005-07) Knight-John, Malathy; Rajapakse, Amrit
This report is part of an international study by the World Bank titled, “Effective States and Engaged Societies: Capacity Development for Growth, Service Delivery, Empowerment, and Security in Africa.” The objective of the Sri Lanka case study is to examine three areas pertinent to overall capacity of the State – capacity of the public sector, capacity of the private sector and other key stakeholders such as “civil society”, and the role of the country’s international development partners, so as to complement the wider study of the twelve African States.
An empirical investigation of labor shortage in the manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka
(2017) Ranasinghe, Athula; Madirawala, Sunimalee
Using a countrywide sample survey of enterprises, this study finds empirical evidence that the manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka is facing a serious labor shortage problem. Extent of labor shortage is measured in terms of presence of unfilled vacancies, longevity of vacancies and relative size of unfilled vacancies. This study explores locational variation and firm level variation of labor shortage and found that firm level variation is much wider than locational variation. While locational characteristics explain only 7 to 15 percent of the variation of labor shortage, firm characteristics explain 18 to 27 percent of the variation of labor shortage. Among locational characteristics, firms located in Western province showed greater extend of labor shortage. Among firm characteristics - labor turnover rate, exporting firms and firms with innovative product were more important in explaining the variation of labor shortage. These three variables alone explain over 10 percent of the variation of the extent of labor shortage. High incidence of labor shortage was observed with very high youth unemployment, lower labor force participation and very high labor turnover rates. Among the policies recommended to overcome labor shortage problem, shifting firms to provinces with high youth unemployment rates, measures to increase labor retention rates and policies to increase labor force participation rates are important. Macro policies to encourage shifting of firms to remote provinces is needed for sustainability of such efforts.
Empowerment of the Agrarian Society through Rationalizing Land Use and Tenure
(2013-09-06) Samaratunga, Parakrama; Marawila, Dilhani
The objective of this study has been set as developing a programme for empowering the poor so that they can participate in planning on matters related to land and land use. This study reviews available information to identify and assess land related problems. It also lays emphasis on the identification of basic land productivity related problems of the poor andthe relevant interventions through expert consultation and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) in the selected specific localities to represent broader areas. The study specificallyconcentrates on identifying the key issues considered important in empowering the rural poor with special reference to; increased income through increased land size and productivity, accumulating wealth, obtaining social recognition and improving health and nutritional conditions of the families.
Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Integration in the SAARC Region
(2013-09-05) Jayasuriya, Sisira; Weerakoon, Dushni
This paper reports on an initial exploration of issues, documenting the nature of intra-SAARC investment flows, and presenting the results of some preliminary investigations of the emerging trade and investment linkages within the SAARC, with particular attention to India-Sri Lanka links.
Gaining Competitive Advantage through the Protection of Geographical Indications: An analysis of the Tea, Sapphires and Cinnamon Industries of Sri Lanka
(2013-09-06) Yatawara, Ravindra; Rajapakse, Amrit
Geographical indications (GIs) are a category of intellectual property protected under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), alongside other categories of intellectual property such as copyrights, trademarks and patents. This study evaluates the costs and benefits of pursuing protection of Sri Lankan GIs, in Sri Lanka and abroad, with particular reference to the tea, sapphires and cinnamon industries. It presents the economic benefits of protecting GIs. Study also shows how they are protected multilaterally along with their national implementation in Sri Lanka. Further it discusses the costs involved in GI protection and provides sector-wise analyses of the appropriateness of GI protection for the tea, sapphires and cinnamon industries, respectively. Finally it provides a way forward strategy on GI protection.
Gender-Related Labor Transition Issues Resulting from the Expiration of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC)
(2014-01-09) Yatawara, Ravindra; Handel, Daniel
This study provides a macroeconomic and sector wise analysis of the changes in apparel production as well as a microeconomic analysis at the firm level. It looks at the impact on Sri Lanka women apparel workers who were working abroad, and documents training programs available in the industry. Finally it provides some conclusions and policy implications.
Gender-Related Labor Transition Issues Resulting from the Expiration of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC): Terms of Reference Submitted to the Competitiveness Program, Nathan & J.E. Austin Associates
(2014-01-09) Yatawara, Ravindra

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