Tsunami Reconstruction:

Local Capacity and Community Restoration Project (LCCRP)

The Sri Lankan Coir Industry

Due to the international support of various aid and development agencies, certain effects of the tsunami have been successfully reversed in Sri Lanka since the natural disaster occurred in 2004. However, World Accord acknowledges the on-going difficulties of certain groups active in, and dependent on, the informal sector of craftwork production, specifically that of the coir industry.

Coir is the ‘waste’ fibre from the coconut shell, which is woven into rope for the production and sale of craftworks. Prior to the tsunami, the coir industry provided a livelihood for many low-income Sri Lankans, notably women, as either a primary or supplementary source of income. Sri Lanka While many homes and schools have been rebuilt, the informal sector, particularly the Coir Industry, remains fragmented and fragile.

Local Capacity and Community Restoration Project

Sri Lanka has traditionally been the single largest supplier of coir fibre to the world market. Production, however, has drastically stagnated in the wake of the tsunami. The Local Capacity and Community Restoration Project (LCCRP) aims to empower 2000 tsunami-affected women engaged in the Coir Industry in the District of Galle in Sri Lanka. This two-year project initiated by World Accord, in collaboration with Hope International, CIDA and SAP-Sri Lanka, ultimately strives to establish an Export Oriented Coir Producer’s Federation, which would maintain the livelihoods and encourage self-governance of its members.

LCCRP Objectives:

• To improve the socio-economic status of 2000 coir workers by promoting a Coir Producer’s Federation by organizing its members into 10 Cluster Organizations (10 groups of 20 producers in each) to receive training and start-up capital
• To set up ten coir processing mills which are environmentally and human friendly
• To introduce innovative technology related to coir making
• To provide credit to the producers and entrepreneurs to purchase raw material, equipment, and to engage in income generating activities
• To build capacity of entrepreneurs to supply and buy more
• To develop skills of entrepreneurs to promote expanded linkages with mainstream business ventures and international market

The high level of local interest in the formation of a Federation has meant that over 50 Cluster Organizations (CO) were formed during initial training. Regular meetings ensure that the trained Change Agents are actively assisting in the effective functioning of these groups.

LCCRP Successes

As of January 2008, the LCCRP has:

• Engaged 20 participant groups in an entrepreneurial development program
• Established coir processing units which function as fibre producing mills
• Introduced new and efficient technology to the millers, and begun the installation process of these technologies
• Trained members of the CO groups on management and marketing techniques
• Introduced a training program to understand the SAP-Sri Lanka Credit Policy to the CO groups, four of which have since submitted business proposals requesting credit amounting to 1.3 million LKR

The Export Oriented Coir Producer’s Federation has conducted meetings with various stakeholders, such as the Coconut Development Authority and the Export Development Board, enabling Federation members to expand on newly acquired skills, and to utilize networks that can help the Federation reach its objectives. The Local Capacity and Community Restoration Project offers the opportunity for thousands of labourers to regain, and exceed, the security of a stable livelihood such as it was prior to the Sri Lanka tsunami.