MONLAR Report

Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) Sri Lanka

By: Cassandra Hunter

MONLAR was formed by a network of farmer organizations, NGO’s and people’s organizations in the early nineties in Sri Lanka as a response to serious socio-political and economic situations that emerged. With all the political unrest occurring in the country at this time, MONLAR was formed to create some cooperative dialogue among people with the objective of developing sustainable agricultural development throughout the country. After six years of campaigning, educational work, economic and political policies, MONLAR has worked on issues regarding policy recommendations with the government and the World Bank. MONLAR led to the formation of district and lower level peasant organizations all over Sri Lanka. MONLAR is a national network of over 100 organizations and it builds with these organization national awareness to bring about policy changes at the national level. The mission of MONLAR is to empower people and create awareness in an alternative sustainable future. MONLAR is trying to revive traditional knowledge as a method of sustainable agriculture and then combining it with scientific knowledge to meet the present needs of the people. Through information, education, analysis and organized action, MONLAR assists and trains people of all levels of society to undertake alternative sustainable agriculture. MONLAR works with organizations at a grass roots level and helps educate these organizations on government policies and programs as well as the wider global processes emerging at national and international levels. MONLAR does this so that local organizations can work together with the government and larger NGOs to create policy changes regarding agriculture. MONLAR uses different approaches of awareness, education and organized action for policy changes as well as different strategies from local and national levels to promote people’s sustainable alternatives for agriculture.These approaches can work and apply to people of lower poverty levels as well as those in other levels particularly those who have some decision power at political/official levels. MONLAR monitors developments in policy changes and keeps tracks of current events by doing policy studies, information communication and studies for alternative planning and training at grass roots level and promotes dialogue between these local organizations and national levels. MONLAR is a national organization that has really pushed sustainable agriculture forward in a positive way. Since it’s existence it has helped farmers improved their methods and now the sustainable agriculture movement is really catching on in Sri Lanka, thanks to great organizations like MONLAR.

For more information: www.monlar.net