As a subcontractor to Chemonics, Banyan Global worked in Sri Lanka in 2014 to assist the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to expand its livelihoods work through the Supporting Opportunities in Livelihoods Development (SOLID) pilot activity. The SOLID pilot activity’s purpose is to strengthen the livelihoods of vulnerable populations in selected areas of Sri Lanka. SOLID will achieve this purpose through strengthening the capacity of vulnerable households to contribute productively in economically-competitive value chains in a manner that generates sustained increases in financial, physical, social, and human capital for targeted beneficiaries. After significant analysis, USAID/Sri Lanka determined that opportunities in the dairy, poultry, and horticulture sectors will be the most viable in strengthening the livelihoods of vulnerable populations and putting them on a path toward a more sustainable future.

Banyan Global proposed districts in Sri Lanka that the SOLID activity will target for implementation, created a short-list of regional implementing partners for future subcontracting based on the district selection, proposed the value chains that the SOLID activity should focus on within each district during implementation, and shortlisted private sector counterparts. Potential target districts include Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Polonnaruwa, and Badulla. The selection process considered the following: density of vulnerable households; viability of dairy, poultry, and horticulture livelihood activities for targeted beneficiaries; presence of milk production groups and private sector partners to link producers to sustainable markets; and existence of appropriately-skilled local institutions through which to implement interventions.

Banyan Global’s Senior Poultry Specialist led the execution of the selection process that considered the potential impact of bolstering the poultry value chain for each proposed district, and the capacity of potential regional implementing partners to contribute to SOLID’s future work in the poultry sector.