Thank you for giving me this opportunity to advocate for the interests of 1.5 million displaced persons, farmers and fisher folk. For these people, agriculture and fishing offer the best opportunity for sustaining and enhancing their food security and livelihoods.

Prior to the conflict, 80% of the people of northeast Sri Lanka depended directly or indirectly on agriculture and fishing. Now the North East has moved from being a net exporter to a net importer of food:

· crop production has halved.
· one-third of the small-scale irrigation infrastructure needs rehabilitation
· the livestock population has fallen by a fifth
· forests have been cut down leading to shortage of timber for construction and  cooking
· fishing boats, fishing gear, engines, harbours, boatyards and ice plants have been
 looted and damaged resulting in a one third in fish production.

At the same time, technical support services, processing and storage facilities, and input and output markets have suffered an almost complete breakdown. The cumulative effects of decline in agriculture and fishing has led to high levels of unemployment, destitution and food insecurity not seen hitherto in Sri Lanka.

The FAO supported needs assessment for agriculture and fishing in the North East estimates that US$ 76 million is urgently required to:

· improve access to seed, tools, fertilizer, livestock, fishing gear and boats
· start agricultural and fishing infrastructure rehabilitation and
· initiate institutional and human resource capacity building.

Another US$ 59 million is needed over the medium term to rehabilitate agricultural and fishing support services and infrastructure, and to redevelop the forests and revive markets.

In sum the immediate and medium term needs amount to US$ 135 million over five years, equivalent to US$ 20 per beneficiary per year. Let me put this in perspective: in many developed countries, farmers enjoy around 200 times more agricultural support yearly.

The benefits of a rapid revival of agriculture and fishing in the North East would positively impact on all economic and social indicators and generate a multiplier effect on the whole country.

The consequences of not providing adequate assistance for agriculture and fishing would be slower recovery, prolonged misery, and undermining of the peace that we all pray for. In short, a modest annual investment of US$ 20 for every farmer of fishermen in the North East would go a long way toward ensuring the vision of a prosperous and peaceful Sri Lanka