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According to ADB, The Government of Sri Lanka requested emergency assistance in May 2022 in response to a food insecurity crisis in the country to ensure access to food and protect livelihoods for the poor and vulnerable. From May 2022 to date, food security and livelihoods have continued to deteriorate, and the emergency is expected to worsen through 2022 and into 2023. Against this background of a national emergency, the project aims to improve food security and protect the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable nationwide, especially women and children, by expanding direct financial support to compensate for food price increases, supporting livelihood development activities to counteract food shortages and income losses, and enhancing social protection systems to ensure that the project reaches its intended beneficiaries and to strengthen responsiveness to future emergencies.
The project will provide immediate, short-term, and targeted assistance to the poor and vulnerable, especially women and children, to address food insecurity emergency, while enhancing resilience to future emergencies, including climate- related disasters.
The project forms part of ADB’s emergency response package to the multifaceted challenges facing Sri Lanka, combining assistance through different financing modalities.
ADB will finance the expenditures in relation to emergency cash assistance, data collection, monitoring and evaluation, training, IT products and services, IT equipment, contingencies, and financial charges during implementation. The JFPR grant will finance the expenditures in relation to grants for vulnerable women, children, and other groups; training; consulting services; and contingencies. The government will finance taxes and duties, and contingencies. The World Bank (through CERC) is providing non-ADB-administered parallel loan cofinancing equivalent to $275 million to support cash transfers to the poor and vulnerable in May–August 2022 and ensure timely supply of agricultural inputs.
The Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies (MOF) will be the executing agency and will establish a project steering committee to provide overall directions and guidance for project implementation. The MOF has set up a coordination unit within the Department of National Planning (NPD), MOF, for the World Bank’s CERC which will also serve as a project coordination unit (PCU). The Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment (MOWCS) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) will be the implementing agencies and will establish project implementation units (PIUs) to carry out day-to-day management and implementation of project activities.
The Sri Lankan government has requested a regular loan of $200 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and a grant not exceeding $3 million from the JFPR to help finance the project. The loan will have a 32-year term, including a grace period of 8 years; an interest rate determined in accordance with ADB’s Flexible Loan Product; a commitment charge of 0.15% per year (the interest and other charges during implementation to be capitalized in the loan); and such other terms and conditions set forth in the draft loan agreement. Based on the custom-tailored repayment method, the average maturity is 19 years, and the maturity premium payable to ADB is 0.20% per year.
Food security investments are estimated to cost $200.86 million, comprising $200.00 million in the ordinary capital resources loan and $0.86 million in the JFPR grant. The investments will contribute to improved access to nutritious food, especially for people facing moderate and severe food insecurity, the restoration of livelihoods, particularly related to agricultural and food production, and the promotion of good agricultural practices and climate-smart agriculture.
| Responsible ADB Officer | Maruyama, Asako |
| Responsible ADB Department | South Asia Department |
| Responsible ADB Division | Human and Social Development Division, SARD |
| Executing Agencies | Ministry of Finance The Secretariat Building Colombo 01 Sri Lanka |
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form
ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals
ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB
The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.
