(September 23) IWMI in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Sri Lanka organized a 1-day stakeholder workshop, in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, as part of a project led by the RRR theme at IWMI on Opportunities for sustainable municipal solid waste (MSW) management services in the Batticaloa district via improved resource recovery and reuse.

The project is funded by UNOPS as a component of the European Union Support to District Development Programme (EU-SDDP) in Sri Lanka. The objective of this project is to recommend business strategies for the recovery and productive reuse of MSW of compost plants in the Batticaloa district, with the ultimate aim of ensuring the provision of sustainable waste management services by the respective local authorities in the Batticaloa district.

The final project results were presented at the workshop and discussed with the different stakeholders for feedback. The workshop gathered around 60 participants including agriculture instructors from the Department of Agriculture in Batticaloa, representatives of the agrarian development centres and related local authorities. The workshop was also attended by Mr. M.Uthayakumar, Municipal Commissioner and Mr S.Thananjeyan, Deputy Commissioner, of the Batticaloa Municipal Council as well as Mr. R.Kokuladasan, Deputy Director of Agriculture (Extension) of the Department of Agriculture, Batticaloa. IWMI was represented by Miriam Otoo, Sudarshana Fernando (Resource Recovery and Reuse Expert), Mohammed Aheeyar, Nilanthi Jayathilake and Ganesha Madurangi (Consultant at IWMI); and from UNOPS Simonetta Siligato and Sivakumaran Sithamparanathan.
View the presentation made by IWMI:
- Presentation by Miriam Otoo:Â Opportunities for Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management Services in Batticaloa District
- Presentation by Sudarshana Fernando and Nilanthi Jayathilake:Â The Performance and Potential of the Municipal Solid Waste Compost Plants in Batticaloa (Technical Assessment)













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The ability of farmers to engage in or expand irrigation depends on the prevailing socioeconomic, ecological and political contexts, which are often complex, non-linear and changeable. Overcoming systemic barriers to farmer-led irrigation development while taking advantage of existing opportunitiesÂ
A lack of affordable credit, particularly for women and resource-poor farmers, is one of the main barriers to expanding farmer-led irrigation in low- and middle-income countries. ButÂ
Scaling farmer-led irrigation requires strengthening human capacity and knowledge exchange among all actors and stakeholders involved. IWMI takes an action research approach, working with national and international research institutions, governments, extension agents and public and private organizations to co-develop the scaling ecosystem and strengthen capacity to drive scaling networks and collective action. We support theÂ
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