In this issue

Agrarianism versus the market

Farming lends itself to pastoral illusions, especially among the urban intelligentsia. This glorification of agriculture, as part of a rural nationalist ideology, is called agrarianism. As a result, everyone everywhere is griping about farming. Needless to say, this has complicated any sort of reform in Sri Lanka’s agriculture where a quarter of the population work to produce 6 percent of national output.

Experts say that for a country in Sri Lanka’s state of development, the agriculture sector should not employ any more than 15 percent of the workforce. Over two million people work in agriculture. If Sri Lanka could manage with half this number, then it will have to create one million new jobs for those who will move out of the sector. In the U.S. (referred to as the food basket of the world) agriculture employs just 1.4 percent of the labour force.

As our piece ‘Farming challenges needing market solutions’ discusses poor labour productivity is only one of the problems. Another challenge is land productivity, and a third is the availability of water. Sri Lanka’s dry zone land is like Africa’s; tropical and nutrient-poor. The available water is dammed and distributed for growing rice, of which Sri Lanka has an oversupply. What it lacks is horticultural produce like high-value fruits and vegetables.

Because it’s subject to unique, political and economic constraints that have resulted in regulations, farmers, smallholders and large companies have not been as successful in Sri Lanka. Government policy seems to suggest that farmers must be insulated from market forces. However, that very policy may be holding back the sector and livelihoods of people. Since food is something everyone needs, the impacts on the country and its people are profound.

Echelon Magazine Description:

Intelligent Storytelling

The one thing that will define the Echelon magazine will be the quality of the storytelling. Echelon,published monthly, will cover in depth Sri Lanka’s most successful businesses, examine their winning strategiesand profile their leaders in immersive stories. Great stories are also never limited to words, and our approach includes rich photography, bold graphics and leading edge design which together will make for a compelling read.

But business doesn’t start and end in a boardroom;it extends to the golf club greens, to international travel and to pursuits that blurthe lines between commercial venture and sheer passion. The Echelon team will present the best in business and lifestyle coverage that will appeal to an exclusive and affluent readership: an otherwise hard to reach demographic.

Content will be developed by one of the most experienced and proven teams of editors, financial journalists, photographers and designers in the country.This team has already raised the bar for powerful and expertly crafted business news. Shamindra Kulamannage, will lead the editorial team.

The reputation of Echelon is being built on the separation between editorial and advertising. However we are also looking for the most creative and impactful new formats that can be applied in our magazines, iPad app as well as website to help our clients reach our audience. We are flexible and creative and we will have a solution for every single advertiser who wants to reach our audience.

We are passionate about creative results and about working with our advertisers to help them create bespoke multi platform creative solutions with our in house creative team and of course our sales team.

Echelon will be a great place to show off the products and capabilities of our clients because they will be surrounded by an editorial product that is expertly crafted, full of integrity and intelligence.