Problem overview:

     Awareness and visions: To increase the capacity of rural villages in producing income a programme called Export Production Village has been established and successfully carried out in Sri Lanka.

     Integrating stakeholders: The stakeholders involved in this programme are the rural villagers under EPV programme, a newly set up export company to support production and a trade promotion organization to facilitate the transaction.

Background in summary:

     The main objectives of the Export Production Village: The Export Production Village (EPV) concept successfully introduced in Sri Lanka in early 198Os has the following main objectives among others.

• To effectively mobilise rural raw material resources and human skills, for the national export development effort.
  
  
• To ensure optimum benefits of production for export, to rural producers of export products.

     The institutional framework of EPV:

• EPV takes the form of an incorporated 'Peoples Company' whose shareholders are the rural producers of the project area under the specific project.
  
  
• Exporting Company, which acts as a foster parent and undertakes to purchase the product(s)of the EPV for export.
  
  
• The state trade promotion organization (TPO) acts as the link (and facilitator) of this business relationship and ensures fair trading practices between the two parties to ensure mutual optimum benefits.

     EPV has successfully eliminated Middlemen: The concept has successfully demonstrated the benefits that accrue to rural producers as a result of their collective strength, by effectively eliminating 'middlemen' who generally exploit individual rural producers in developing countries.

     EPV has been successful in the pilot village and other villages: The first model EPV project set up in a rural area called 'Dambadeniya' about 60 Km. from Colombo, and has later on been successfully introduced to other rural areas in Sri Lanka, as a means of poverty alleviation and empowerment of the rural poor, facilitating beneficial environmental impacts.

See also Sri Lanka's Organic Cultivation of Cashew Nuts

Peer Review Committee Good practice rating: (1 for the best, 5 for the lowest score)
Sustainability		Efficiency
1	Improvement in either the environment of economic condition with no harm to the other.	1	Cost efficient.
1	Sustainable over time (not one-off)	Process
Adaptability		1	Participation of the community
1	Location adaptability (can the project be done in other places?)	1	Participation of resource owners/users
1	Socio-cultural adaptability.	1	Partnerships between various actors (Governments, NGO, Academia, Private)
1	Level of development adaptability.	1	Degree of coordination and cooperation between government departments.
3	Style of government adaptability.	1	Ability to attract political interest/support
3	Degree of decentralization adaptability.	1	Procedures for feedback and review.
Comments on this example:       The Export Production Village concept could also be introduced to rural communities in other countries, as long as there are external bodies, such as government institutions or NGOs, to help educate and train the villagers on how to manage business interactions themselves. Sustainability of the project:   Adaptability of the project to other situations:       Process of decision making and implementation:   Cost efficiency: