‘Sarubima Fund’ to complete awarding 774 scholarships worth Rs.25 million this year
By Sanath Nanayakkare
Cargills agri value chain which has established itself as one of the most successful networks in the country, continues to pay tribute to its farmer partners by supporting and empowering their children to achieve academic excellence.In 2008, Cargills established a farmer welfare fund ‘Sarubima’ in Thanamalwila, by contributing 50 cents for every kilogram of produce purchased from farmers to launch an educational scholarship program for farmers’ children who excel in Grade 5, Ordinary Level and University Entrance exams. This contribution has continued to date. Furthermore, a part of the fund was allocated for community development projects including, providing access to safe drinking water and building children’s playgrounds in rural schools to name a few.
This year, the Cargills’ Sarubima fund will be awarding 774 scholarships worth Rs.25 million to farmer children who have excelled in academics. The awardees include 194 students at Grade 5, 375 at Advanced Level, 158 at university and 47 for vocational training. In addition, 32 community development projects have been planned which include health camps and eye camps for farmers, and water supply and sanitary facility projects urgently required by selected rural schools and hospitals.
Since the inception of the fund, over 2,500 scholarships have been awarded to farmer children and over 100 community projects have been undertaken which include water purification projects, school libraries and upgrading sanitary facilities in rural schools. In 2014, the Sarubima Fund was extended to all Cargills vegetable, fruit, and milk collection centers, benefiting over 20,000 agri and dairy farmers across the country. In 2018, Cargills Sarubima took a step towards national agriculture development with the start of the Agriculture Modernization Project. This project is a model for climate-smart, profitable, and environment-friendly production of a range of GAP certified fresh produce.
‘Sarubima’ is an epitome of Cargills’ commitment to empowering rural agri and dairy farmers in Sri Lanka.
The Company’s investments in collection centers, refrigerated trucks and improved logistics have enabled direct collection of fresh produce from the farmer, giving them the peace of mind of having a strong, trusted partner to connect them with the end-consumer in a hassle-free manner.
Some of its key achievements include minimizing post-harvest loss of fruit and vegetables and eliminating middlemen from the supply chain which ensure a lower price to consumers while ensuring higher prices for farmers. In addition to purchasing milk and agri produce at a guaranteed price, Cargills has improved the productivity, quality and sustainability of farmers’ production, thereby enhancing rural livelihoods and transforming traditional farmers to agri-entrepreneurs.
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