9 July 2025, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. During a recent monitoring visit to Nuwara Eliya District, Ms. Yooli Lee, the Country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Sri Lanka, visited the Udawela Saruketha fresh and value-added food processing centre in the Udawela Grama Niladhari Division. Ms. Harshini Halangode, Country Programme Manager, UN-Habitat Sri Lanka and Ms.   Yunsoo Jeon, Deputy Country Director of KOICA Sri Lanka Office, were also present during the visit.

This integrated processing centre was established by UN-Habitat to enhance the Udawela farmers’ livelihoods by providing essential processing and value-added facilities in a central location in the village.

As part of this intervention, 31 members of the Community Based Organization (CBO) – Saruketha Farmers’ Cooperative Society were provided with capacity building training and equipment to ensure compliance with Sri Lanka Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards. Mr. Kekulandara, the Agrarian Instructor of the area stated, “This Centre is a turning point for our farmers. They can now overcome seasonal agricultural challenges such as surplus supply and transportation issues due to the adverse weather conditions”.

The Processing Centre was established through UN-Habitat’s participatory process. Key partners in this initiative included the Department of Agriculture in Nuwara Eliya and the Saruketha Farmers’ Cooperative Society. Established at a cost of LKR. 36 million (Approx. USD. 120,000), the Udawela Saruketha Centre consists of a chiller room to store fresh and processed produce, a washing station to wash and disinfect fresh fruit and vegetables and numerous food processing facilities such as grinders, dryers, slicers, vacuum sealers and a fruit pulping machine.

The duly washed and cleaned local vegetables are marketed through the existing value chain. By building their capacity on various aspects of food processing, the farmers can supply their produce and value-added products (e.g. sauces, chutneys, sweets, dehydrated packs) to supermarkets as well as to online markets. The president of the CBO Mr. Karunathilake said “This is a milestone for us. We are now able to reduce exploitation by middlemen and bring the benefits to our members”.

In addition to the CBO members, the fresh and value-added food processing centre can also be used by other farmers in the village to wash, process and market their products. The processing centre is currently supporting around 425 farmers in the area.

The Udawela Saruketha fresh and value-added food processing centre is expected to play a crucial role in the agricultural supply chain of the Udawela Grama Niladhari division by reducing post-harvest losses, enhancing food safety and quality, and expanding market access for farmers. This intervention is part of the larger USD 5.5 Mn KOICA funded project Strengthening Socioeconomic Resilience of Communities Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Central and Uva Provinces of Sri Lanka.