In The News

The Pekoe Trail is featured in the New York Times

June 21, 2023

The Pekoe Trail, a long-distance walking trail in Sri Lanka established the Tourism Resilience Project, was recently featured in a New York Times article. The article invites travelers to explore Sri Lanka, highlighting The Pekoe Trail – with its 186 miles of trails formed from the tea industry’s transportation network – as one of seven recommended new walking trails around the world. The Tourism Resilience Project is funded by the…

May 24, 2023

Growers and shippers in the Dominican Republic are waiting optimistically an action plan to help expand the USDA APHIS pre-clearance program and allow the country to ship additional commodities. Via the USDA-funded Trade Safe project implemented by IESC, the final approval is on a new pre-clearance program for tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. The initiative stems from the five-year, $13.7 million USDA Food for Progress-funded Trade Safe (TraSa)…

May 21, 2023

The USDA Food for Progress funded Market-Oriented Dairy (MOD) Project in Sri Lanka, implemented by IESC, has collaborated with the Sri Lankan Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to develop a model to help small- and medium-scale dairy farmers in Sri Lanka adapt to extreme weather.

February 10, 2023

The Pekoe Trail is a 22-day, 200-mile network of hiking trails through the Sri Lankan tea country funded by the EU and USAID Tourism Resilience Project, implemented by IESC.

The aim is to develop, maintain, and curate a trail that promotes the diverse cultural and natural heritage of the Sri Lankan Tea Country and encourage its preservation ultimately benefiting local communities. The trail provides a world-class experience for both long…

February 10, 2023

On 27 January, ultramarathon trail runner Hyun Chang Chung crossed the finish line at the Ceylon Tea Museum in Hanthana, cheered on by new fans from the surrounding local community and his elated family. He had just achieved the superhuman feat of becoming the first person to run the entire 300 km length of The Pekoe Trail non-stop in two and half days.

The Pekoe Trail is designed as a 22-day walk from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya via Ella,…

October 26, 2022

Funded by a US$ 1.3 million grant from the Yum! Brands Foundation, the vocational training kitchen initiative titled ‘An Equal Slice for Everyone’ is the first in a series implemented through a partnership between USAID’s Youth Employment and Business Start-Up activity, YouLead; Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka, the owner of the Pizza Hut franchise in Sri Lanka; and the Sevalanka Foundation.

Through YouLead, USAID will assist in the development of…