The forum, organised by the Ministry of Environment and the FAO, brought together representatives from the private sector, government, civil society, and international organisations.

A public-private-people forum was recently held in Colombo to address challenges in Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector through climate-smart solutions. The event, titled Catalyzing Climate-Smart Agriculture, served as a strategic platform to facilitate dialogue and collaboration aimed at overcoming barriers to private sector engagement in climate-smart agriculture, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

“Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector stands at a crossroads. Through collaborative efforts like this Forum, we can drive sustainable, climate-resilient growth that safeguards livelihoods and ensures food security for future generations,” said Nalin Munasinghe, Assistant FAO Representative (Programme).

The forum, organised by the Ministry of Environment and the FAO, brought together representatives from the private sector, government, civil society, and international organisations. Discussions focused on policy, regulatory, and fiscal reforms, as well as digital innovations, to enhance resilience, reduce emissions, and support national climate goals.

“By uniting the expertise and resources of the public, private, and community sectors, we can unlock innovative solutions to build resilience in agriculture and secure sustainable livelihoods for millions of Sri Lankans,” said Dr. R D S Jayatunga, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment.

Barriers Assessment

Sessions at the forum highlighted key challenges facing Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector, including erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, rising temperatures, and pest outbreaks, all of which have disrupted agricultural productivity. Participants validated findings from the comprehensive Barriers Assessment and explored actionable solutions to mobilise private sector investments in climate-smart agriculture.

Among the proposed measures were:

• Tailored policy reforms to encourage private sector participation;
• Financial incentives to attract investment in sustainable agriculture;
• Enhanced coordination mechanisms to align investments with global financing opportunities and local needs.

The forum also proposed an actionable roadmap designed to:

• Address barriers limiting private sector investment;
• Foster public-private-community collaboration;
• Leverage international climate financing;
• Develop digital systems to streamline efforts and scale up best practices in climate-smart agriculture.

A key recommendation was the establishment of a Private Sector Working Group to sustain momentum and ensure continued dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders.

Expert presentations showcased global best practices, including insights from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan. The outcomes of the forum will inform ongoing and future initiatives aimed at strengthening Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector, with a focus on fostering resilience, promoting sustainable practices, and achieving national climate commitments.

Productivity, Adaptation, and Mitigation

According to the World Bank, climate smart agriculture is a set of agricultural practices and technologies which simultaneously boost productivity, enhance resilience and reduce GHG emissions. Although it is built on existing agricultural knowledge, technologies, and sustainability principles, Climate Smart Agriculture is distinct in several ways. First, it has an explicit focus on addressing climate change in the agri-food system. Second, Climate Smart Agriculture systematically considers the synergies and trade-offs that exist between productivity, adaptation, and mitigation. And third, Climate Smart Agriculture encompasses a range of practices and technologies that are tailored to specific agro-ecological conditions and socio-economic contexts including the adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties, conservation agriculture techniques, agroforestry, precision farming, water management strategies, and improved livestock management.

The World Bank says that the climate-smart agriculture concept reflects the ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. Climate Smart Agriculture aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand.

Climate Smart Agriculture initiatives sustainably increase agriculture productivity, enhance resilience of agro-systems, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases from agriculture production, and require planning to address trade-offs and synergies between these three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation.