The Government, the World Bank Group and the International Fund for Agricultural Development launched the Sri Lanka AgriConnect Joint Implementation Plan in Colombo on Friday, committing $550 million in World Bank Group investment and $115 million from IFAD to restructuring the country’s agrifood sector.

The plan aims to help 900,000 farmers gain better access to agricultural value chains by 2030, and is expected to mobilise up to $170 million in private capital over the next five years, Lanka Business Online reported.

Sri Lanka is the first South Asian country to formally join AgriConnect. The plan is aligned with the Government’s Public Investment Programme 2026–2030 and the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework.

What it covers

Work is to focus on value chains with export and value-addition potential — coconut, cinnamon, tea and fisheries, alongside dairy, poultry, aquaculture and horticulture. It also covers agriculture finance, digital agriculture and AgTech, cold chains, climate-resilient irrigation, skills and research, with explicit attention to lagging regions including the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Agriculture and food processing account for at least 15% of GDP, 30% of goods exports and one in three jobs, the Daily FT reported.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, chief guest at the launch, said the aim was to move the sector “from one that primarily produces commodities to one that creates greater value, better jobs and stronger opportunities for rural communities,” adding that farmers, fishers and rural communities “are not simply beneficiaries of development, they are partners.”

IFC Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific Sarvesh Suri said the priority was connecting farmers and agribusinesses “with the finance, technology and markets they need to scale.” Donal Brown, IFAD Associate Vice-President for the Department for Country Operations, also spoke.

A note on the headline figure

The Daily FT headlines the package at $840 million. That figure is not supported by its own text: the three components it lists — $550 million, $115 million and up to $170 million — sum to $835 million, and only $665 million of that is committed public money, the private capital being a mobilisation target rather than a commitment. This desk reports the components.

Not reported

Neither filing gives a disbursement schedule, says how the $550 million and $115 million break down across projects, or states what share is new money as against previously announced lending. Neither sets out how the 900,000-farmer target will be measured.

Corroborated by two verified newsrooms. Ada Derana also reported the Prime Minister’s remarks, but its site has returned an HTTP 403 block to this desk for some 48 consecutive days and could not be cited.