Strengthening Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Sri Lanka and India to Increased Impacts of Climate Change (India, Sri Lanka)

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REGIONAL PROJECT/PROGRAMME PROPOSAL
PART I: PROJECT/PROGRAMME INFORMATION
Title of Project/Programme: Strengthening resilience of vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka and
India to increased impacts of climate change
Countries: Sri Lanka and India
Thematic Focal Area: Food security
Type of Implementing Entity: Multilateral Implementing Entity (MIE)
Implementing Entity: World Food Programme (WFP)
Executing Entities: Sri Lanka: Ministry of Environment
India: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Amount of Financing Requested: 13,995,524 (in U.S Dollars Equivalent)
A. Project Background and Context
Location and climate
The project is a regional initiative targeting dryland localities within the dry zone of Sri Lanka and the eastern
coast of India. In Sri Lanka, the project will focus on districts in the dry zone,1 while targeted areas in India will
be the dry districts within the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The targeted areas in both
countries share similar climate risks, agro-ecological conditions and socio-economic vulnerabilities. Climate
change impacts already affecting the project areas in Sri Lanka and India include delayed monsoon rains,
increased average temperature leading to more heat stress, more variable rainfall, and increased frequency of
heatwaves and droughts, which result in reduced food and water security, as well as adverse effects on human
health, natural ecosystems and biodiversity.
The tropical island of Sri Lanka, with a land area of 62,610 square kilometres, lies south east of the Indian
subcontinent (land area 2,973,190 square kilometres2), separated from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu by the
Palk Strait. Altitude governs Sri Lanka’s regional differences in air temperature. In the lowlands, up to an altitude
of 100 to 150 m, the mean annual temperature is 27.5 degrees Celsius, while that of Nuwaraeliya, at 1800 m sea
level, is 15.9 °Celsius. The north-east (NE) monsoon brings rain to the northern and eastern regions in December
and January, while the western, southern and central regions of the island get rain from May to July due to the
south-west (SW) monsoon.3 Sri Lanka’s mean annual rainfall is 1,850 mm, ranging from 900 mm in the driest
south-eastern and north-western parts, to 5,000 mm on the western slopes of the central highlands.4
While India has a variety of climate regimes, the SW monsoon (June-September) is the most important climatic
feature, bringing nearly 75 percent of the annual rainfall of the country. The northeast (NE) monsoon (October-
December)5 brings rain mainly to the southeast parts. Andhra Pradesh receives 70 percent6 and Odisha receives
80 percent of its rainfall during the SW monsoon,7 while Tamil Nadu state has a different annual rainfall
distribution, with 48 percent falling during the NE monsoon, and only 32 percent through the SW monsoon.8
Environmental and agro-ecological conditions
Sri Lanka is the most biodiverse Asian country in terms of species density, related to its diverse topography and
ecosystems. The central mountain region is surrounded by a plain, which covers over two-thirds of the land area
and rises to 300 metres above mean sea level. Approximately 65 percent of the country is agricultural land, while
forests cover some 28.8 percent.9 These include rainforests, mountain cloud forests, dry zone monsoon forests
and arid thorn scrub forests. The dry zone, located on the coastal plain, lies largely within the mixed dry evergreen
forest eco-region.
India has great geographic diversity, including the Himalayas in the north, the tropical wet evergreen forests in
the north east and the south west, and the tropical dry thorn forests in the central and western states.
1 Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone lies across the Eastern, Northern, North-central, North-western, Central, Uva, and Southern provinces.
2 Land areas taken from World Bank https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.TOTL.K2?locations=IN
3 http://www.climatechange.lk/Climate_Profile.html accessed 03/02/21.
4 Climate Change Secretariat (2016) ‘National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change Impacts in Sri Lanka 2016-2025.
5 http://uchai.net/pdf/knowledge_resources/Publications/Reports/Climate%20Profile%20India_IMD.pdf accessed 15 June 2021.