Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board has entered into a collaboration with Janathakshan GTE Ltd, the partner organization for the UNDP’s GEF-07 Project, aimed at promoting biodiversity conservation and fostering climate-resilient livelihoods.
The GEF-07 Project, titled “Partnerships and Innovative Financing to Mainstream Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Management in the Wet Climatic Zone of Sri Lanka,” operates in six districts within the wet zone, specifically Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Ratnapura, Kegalle, and Nuwara Eliya.
This agreement will enable the establishment of market linkages between producer groups supported by the project and registered exporters. It will also facilitate participation in trade fairs and export promotion initiatives while providing guidance on meeting export standards.
Additionally, the collaboration aims to pursue Geographical Indication (GI) certification for various products, including kithul and pepper, and to create cluster-level certification frameworks for producer societies, as stated by the EDB.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covers six sectors: organic and artisanal tea, kithul products, pepper and pepper oil, arecanut and eco-friendly tableware made from kolapath, cardamom, and jackfruit.
Joint activities will focus on enhancing value addition, improving quality, adopting hygienic production methods, and providing market intelligence to help access key export markets such as Japan, the European Union, and the United States.
This partnership is anticipated to bolster agroforestry and tea value chains oriented towards export, improve the export readiness of smallholder producers, and promote production systems that are both biodiversity-friendly and resilient to climate change. (Colombo/May14/2026)
