IRDG Operations team progresses with village development.

"The number of direct jobs (budding entrepreneurs) targeted in these three villages alone are over 600 and its anticipated over 700 families will directly and indirectly benefit and the estimated total investments in these projects would be over Rs 150 million. These projects are commercially viable and assessed to have the capacity to pay salary to the beneficiaries and collectively repay the loans obtained to establish these businesses within a period of three years. Annual turnover of these three entities are expected to exceed Rs 450 million when in full operations."

IRDG’s community restoration efforts to create sustainable livelihood, particularly for women in the war affected villages, are being actively pursued by the team IRDG.

During 2017, IRDG’s operations team consisting of international volunteers, local professionals, other local IRDG employees and village representatives visited several villages exploring village level resources, aptitude and capacity to engage in growing local products that could access wholesale markets.

The products must have specific realisable or demonstrable market with required scale to be able to enter the main stream value chain.

The villages are mobilised and supported to determine a product that the village could produce on a large scale. Such collective production will have the economies of scale to reduce input costs and enhances the ability to enter the value chain of the main markets in Sri Lanka and overseas.

Marketing the produces will be assisted by a high-level team of well-wishers in Colombo by engaging the National Chamber of Commerce.

Projects in Kalmadunagar of Kilinochchi, Puliymunai of Mullaitivu and Alamkulam of Vavunia are three villages that have already started with the promise of funds facilitated by the government and some overseas Sri Lankan charities. All three projects will be legal entities (not individual businesses) owned and operated by the participants themselves and setup and operations would be assisted by IRDG and its collaboration partners.

The number of direct jobs (budding entrepreneurs) targeted in these three villages alone are over 600 and its anticipated over 700 families will directly and indirectly benefit and the estimated total investments in these projects would be over Rs 150 million. These projects are commercially viable and assessed to have the capacity to pay salary to the beneficiaries and collectively repay the loans obtained to establish these businesses within a period of three years. Annual turnover of these three entities are expected to exceed Rs 450 million when in full operations.

The team is also in the process of identifying more villages and products and these are at various stages of completion.

Naga Narendran Operations Director IRDG said “there is a lot of challenges ahead of us, nothing is easy especially when it comes to large scale post war development. The work that was done over the past two years to create support network will greatly assist and mitigate any project implementation risk.

IRDG is currently actively in discussion with many collaboration partners who will contribute in all aspects of our community restoration efforts.

Developing region’s human capacity to undertake such commercial projects would be one of the principal requirements in IRDGs model for regional development.