The Business Environment Barometer (BEB) and Economic Cost of Conflict survey was conducted in December 2019, following the Easter Attacks in Sri Lanka, with the intend of better understanding community level economic institutions, socio-economic norms, and business relationships across the Eastern Province. The study also assesses how the Easter attacks impacted on SMEs and their formal and informal social capital.
In 2019, The Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) conducted a qualitative and quantitative mapping of formal and informal economic activity in the Eastern Province. The purpose of this study was to better understand the formal and informal industries at the micro and small enterprise level that encourage inter-group collaboration, and to identify viable industries to implement P2P activities. As such, the research covers the following key areas:
- Enterprise related information
- Business start-up, maintenance and expansion
- Financing for the business
- Marketing
- Inter-community engagement
- Collective engagement
In 2020, the Foundation and partner organizations conducted an online survey to understand the issues faced during the Covid-19 pandemic by micro and small enterprise owners engaged in the project.
In May 2020, The Asia Foundation in collaboration with project partners conducted a quantitative analysis in project districts to assess the participants’ level of accessibility to online platforms during the pandemic. The study focused on the accessibility to basic internet requirements, usage of social media platforms, average spending related to online facilities, and acceptability to online communications.
In January 2020, the Foundation conducted a social capital assessment to understand the level of trust, quality of the networks and the strength of the relationships among people who live within a geographic boundary.
This project is based on the premises that if all communities involved in the formal and informal economy are supported to interact collaboratively around common economic interests, and the resulting benefits are inclusive and available equally to all, then inter-community relations at the community level will also improve.
This photo essay by Abdul Halik Azeez was commissioned to capture the evolution, successes and lessons learned through the activities and outcomes of the project.
The INSPIRED project provided 92 Seed Grants to Micro and Small entrepreneurs residing in the Ampara, Batticaloa, and Trincomalee districts of Sri Lanka. The Asia Foundation assigned the Marga Institute to select five grantees from each of the three districts and research the grantees’ businesses to draw out social cohesion and economic benefits achieved through the grant project. The Institute presents 15 case studies in this report with observations on critical lessons-learned with recommendations to improve future programming.
Sarvodaya conducted several inter-community dialogues with 72 micro and small business owners, the majority being women, across three project divisions in Trincomalee. These dialogues provided the opportunity for businesses to interact collaboratively around common interests and to ensure economic benefits are inclusive and available equally to all. Sarvodaya also trained these participants, providing business skills and an understanding of gender and conflict sensitivity. In addition, a selected number of micro and small business owners received seed grants to support business ideas that promote and strengthen inter-community collaboration.