ICAPIFPO
Catalysing Sri Lanka’s Digital Agriculture Revolution
Sri Lanka is endowed with fertile soils, diverse agro-climatic zones, rich biodiversity, and abundant water resources—making it one of South Asia’s most promising agricultural landscapes. Yet, despite employing over 30 percent of the population, agriculture contributes only around 7 percent to national GDP. Low productivity, fragmented value chains, post-harvest losses, and rising climate risks continue to restrain the sector’s true potential. Recognising this imbalance, a new institutional catalyst has emerged to reimagine agriculture as a modern, inclusive, and technology-driven ecosystem.
The Birth of ICAPIFPO
The International Chamber of Agricultural Plantation Industry and Farmer Producer Organization (Guarantee) Limited (ICAPIFPO) was formally established on 9 December 2025 under Section 34 of the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007 of Sri Lanka. The chamber was conceived as a strategic response to the country’s Inclusive Digital Agriculture Transformation (IDAT) Strategy 2023 and the National Digital Economy Strategy 2030, both of which emphasise the urgent need for digitalisation across agricultural value chains.
Driving Transformation through GRIN Technologies
ICAPIFPO envisions agriculture as an ecosystem powered by the GRIN Revolution—Genomics, Robotics, Informatics, and Nanotechnology. By enabling digital transformation across farming and food systems, the chamber seeks to unlock large-scale job creation, integrate smallholder farmers, improve incomes, and boost national productivity. Emerging roles such as AgriTech entrepreneurs, digital extension workers, and agricultural data specialists form the backbone of this future-ready agri-economy.
Mission and Strategic Objectives
The chamber’s mandate extends across policy advocacy, trade facilitation, market linkages, and capacity building for farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations, and women agri-entrepreneurs. It actively promotes research and innovation through collaborations with higher educational institutions, supporting centres for agricultural informatics, agribusiness, and disaster management. ICAPIFPO also focuses on developing structured agricultural informatics courses to skill youth in STEAM disciplines, aligning them with global agri-digital opportunities.
A Grassroots, Multi-Stakeholder Model
At the core of ICAPIFPO’s approach is a multi-stakeholder partnership model linking Higher Education Institutions, NGOs, and AgriTech startups. This framework bridges academic knowledge, community outreach, and technological innovation to deliver “Farming-as-a-Service” and “Farming-as-a-Business” at the village level.
Shaping a Smart Agricultural Future
Through commodity-specific informatics networks—from paddy and tea to fisheries and agri-eco-tourism—ICAPIFPO is positioning Sri Lanka’s agriculture not merely as a sector, but as a resilient, digitalised service economy for the future. Leading ICAPIFPO towards success are:
- Dr. M N Sardarali, Founder – ICAPIFPO
- Mr. Nalaka Silva, Co-Founder
- Dr. Sunil Abeyaratne, President
- Prabhakaran Ramachandran, Vice-President
- Dr. Susantha Kosgolla, Chairman
- Mrs. Fathima Nazrin, General Secretary
- Prof. M. Moni, Professor Emeritus (Informatics & E-Governance) & Chairman ; Centre for Agricultural Informatics & E-Governance Research Studies (CAIRS) ; Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology (Deemed to-be University) Meerut, India. ; Chief Advisor, ICAPIFPO & Former Director General, National Informatics Centre, Government of India
