Sri Lanka and Home Gardening

The Island newspaper has been publishing  a series of articles on home gardening by La Via Campesina South Asia’s sustainable agriculture expert and member – Dr Lionel Weerakoon of the organization MONLAR. The Sri Lankan government is keen to promote this farming system amongst the farmers by providing few seed materials and inorganic fertilizer. Dr. Lionel has been promoting home gardens in Sri Lanka for over a decade, a trend that has spread to various districts, more recently also planning a marketing program with their members, and a rehabilitation program for erstwhile LTTE rebels. The Sri Lankan home gardeners show us that there are local alternatives which can end hunger, poverty, cut the climate crisis and give power to the people to grow their own food and build a relationship with and protect nature.  Such efforts need to be promoted by government instead of silver bullet untested solutions like GMOs or importing large quantities of food.

Following are the links of his articles:

Present situation of home gardens in Sri Lanka Responses to Home Garden Column

Soil Care and Water Conservation in Home Gardening