New UN agricultural development loans are designed to help tsunami survivors

Some 140,000 surviving Sri Lankan households which lost their livelihoods in last December's tsunami will benefit from new United Nations agricultural development loans to help replace infrastructure and equipment for fishing communities, as well as restore coral reefs and replant vital coastal vegetation.

One loan from the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for $14.2 million will go towards a $33.5 million Post-Tsunami Coastal Rehabilitation and Resource Management Programme, while another $2.4 million loan will assist with a $4.7 million initiative, the three-year Post-Tsunami Livelihoods and Support and Partnership Programme, in the seven tsunami-affected districts.

With these two loans, IFAD said it will have financed 13 projects in Sri Lanka totalling $151.12 million.

The Coastal Rehabilitation programme will rebuild important infrastructure for artisanal fishing by replacing or rehabilitating damaged fishing vessels, engines and gear, while some villagers will be aided in developing micro-enterprises and providing microfinance services.

The programme will also support community-based projects to improve the conservation and management of coastal resources, including replanting mangroves, repopulating coral reefs and conserving salt marshes and building housing and feeder roads.

The Livelihoods programme will focus on rapid rehabilitation and development of rural infrastructure and housing in the seven affected districts. The programme will directly benefit about 22,000 people by building or repairing 2,000 houses and helping rehabilitate or develop such social infrastructure as community centres and local clinics, as well as drinking water supply projects, drainage facilities, feeder roads and access roads for settlement areas.

"When the tsunami washed across the shores of Sri Lanka on 26 December 2004, at least 31,000 people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were displaced. More than 70,000 homes were completely destroyed and 110,000 were damaged. Roads, ports, telecommunications, ice plants, fishing vessels and agricultural lands were also affected," IFAD said.

"The new programmes will enable a large number of those people who lost their source of livelihoods due to the tsunami to re-establish stable and productive lives."