Agriculture

Although the agriculture sector has been central to Sri Lankan livelihoods and cultural identity for centuries, it has suffered in recent years from overlapping and sometimes contradictory government policies prone to changing with new political administrations.

Spanning 65,000 sq km and with a moderate climate, fertile soil and an abundant supply of groundwater, Sri Lanka has long benefitted from favourable agricultural conditions. The sector remains an economic mainstay and primary national employer. As manufacturing and industrial activities have expanded, agriculture’s position as the primary...

Spanning 65,000 sq km and with a moderate climate, fertile soil and an abundant supply of groundwater, Sri Lanka has long benefitted from favourable agricultural conditions. The sector remains an economic mainstay and primary national employer. As manufacturing and industrial activities have expanded, agriculture’s position as the primary economic...

In light of its heavy reliance on food imports and limited supply of fertile land and fresh water, food security is a key issue for Abu Dhabi and one that has become more pressing in recent years. Its importance was under-scored by the rise in global food prices in 2007, which saw countries in the region work overtime to ensure supplies of some basic food commodities. In the...

The Abu Dhabi authorities are seeking to develop the local agriculture and food-processing sector as part of wider efforts to improve food security and diversify the economy. They are also working to render activities in the sector more sustainable, particularly in terms of water usage. To this end the emirate is investing in the development...

Owing to favourable weather and efforts to improve sector organisation, in 2015 Tunisia was the world’s second-largest olive oil producer and its top exporter. As of October 31, 2015, coinciding with the end of the 2014/15 agricultural season, Tunisia’s 90m olive trees had returned 350,000 tonnes of olive oil.