В Шри-Ланке запускают пилотный проект по цифровизации платежей в плантационном секторе

UNDP Sri Lanka Resident Representative Azusa Kubota (left) and Visa Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Avanthi Colombage Sri Lanka’s push to deepen digital payments is moving into the plantation economy, with UNDP and Visa launching a pilot aimed at shifting income and payment flows among estate-based agricultural producers from cash towards formal digital financial channels. The seven-month initiative will begin at Hope Estate in Hewaheta, Nuwara Eliya, targeting 50 young agri-producers, most of them women, with financial literacy training, digital onboarding and access to formal financial services. A key component will be the gradual digitisation of income and payment flows within local agricultural value chains, in an effort to reduce reliance on cash and increase the use of formal financial systems. The programme seeks to address a gap between access to banking services and their effective use, with participants receiving practical assistance to open and actively use bank accounts and gain access to digital tools for transactions. The initiative also links financial inclusion with new sources of income in plantation communities, where economic opportunities for women have traditionally been concentrated in wage-based labour. Participants will be connected to livelihood opportunities including polytunnel cultivation and backyard farming, alongside training in good agricultural practices. “Economic empowerment begins with financial inclusion, but it does not end there,” UNDP Sri Lanka Resident Representative Azusa Kubota said. “By combining financial literacy with real pathways to income generation, we are not only expanding access to financial services, but we are unlocking potential, fostering entrepreneurship, and building the foundations for resilient, diversified livelihoods,” she said. Visa Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Avanthi Colombage said the partnership was intended to create pathways from informal, cash-based systems towards more secure and transparent participation in the formal economy. The pilot will combine financial literacy and digital-payment training with agricultural development, building on UNDP programmes promoting climate-smart and diversified rural livelihoods. It is also aligned with Sri Lanka’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy, implemented in collaboration with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.