NEWS

Haritha TV

Vision

Improved rural livelihoods and sustainable food systems and agro communities in 

Sri Lanka by 2030.

Mission

To promote agroecological principles and rural entrepreneurship through capacity development and dissemination of knowledge, create a platform for farming communities to share experiences, while espousing sustainable development goals.

Values

*       Respect and value local knowledge and innovations

*       Value the environment and ecosystems

*       Be creative, flexible and innovative

*       Be sensitive to culture and tradition, gender, ethnic background and religious beliefs

*       Espouse quality, and respect equality and ethics

*       Passion and humanity

Haritha TV is an exclusive television channel dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge pertaining to sustainable farming and farming practices, thereby promoting environment conservation and livelihood development among farming communities. Haritha TV has become a timely intervention, when globally, food security, sustainable development and climate change and its impact on agriculture and food availability have become concerns. One key factor in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, under the custodianship of the Food and Agriculture Organization is to, “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, which is a call to respect the environment and focus on the dangers of climate change, while supporting sustainable agriculture, empowering small farmers, promoting gender equality, ending rural poverty, and ensuring healthy lifestyles.

Following on, the agriculture sector has become the main driver of the government’s pursuit of self-reliance as opined in the national policy document - ‘vistas of prosperity and splendour’. The government’s thrust is to forge a production economy based on intensified agriculture and livestock farming and agro-food sector development, that are eco-friendly and sustainable. Amid such development, Haritha TV is championing the cause of environmental conservation and management through the adoption of best practices in agriculture, leading to economic empowerment and community development and self-sufficiency in food. 

Haritha TV is an exclusive platform: 

• Disseminating information on the agriculture sector

• Supporting and spreading the shift to sustainable farming practices

• Promoting innovation and development 

• Creating awareness of the sustainable use of natural resources 

• Introducing advancements in technology and R&D

• Disseminating knowledge on the country’s age-old farming practices and techniques

• Producing documentaries on the environment, nature conservation, farming, religion and culture

• Sharing knowledge/success stories/case studies from local projects  

• Promoting home gardening for domestic consumption through tutorials 

• Providing market data 

• Sharing stories on agrarian societies from around the world

As the first local ‘green’ television channel, Haritha TV has filled a void for an effective and socially-conscious communication media platform that provides insights into Sri Lanka’s golden years of prosperity founded by generations of rulers who developed a flourishing agrarian economy that transformed the Island into the Granary of the East. 

Thus, Haritha TV, through its line-up of programs speaks to the conscience of all, especially the young, who will see the glories of the past, the astounding innovations surrounding agriculture and irrigation systems, and the management of fisheries resources, and through this all, how the environment thrived. Besides Haritha TV becoming the country’s premier platform disseminating information and knowledge on farming, environment and climate conservation, through its programs, informs, persuades and reminds people of their shared responsibility to safeguard the world they live in.

Haritha TV is supported by the State and the private sector. It is also supported by leading cable TV network Dialog TV, that has come on board with investment and a transmission channel - Dialog TV 16, to ensure that this unique medium of knowledge and information sharing will reach a wider audience, leading to influencing good practices in Sri Lanka.

Devoid of monetary returns, the objective of Haritha TV is public service, leading to a spillover of its benefits to the agriculture community in the country.   

Profile 

Mahesh Bandara – CEO, Haritha Network

Creativity, passion and optimism have driven my journey of two decades in publishing, communications, advertising and photography, and today as Chief Executive Officer, Haritha Network, Sri Lanka’s first television channel dedicated to agriculture and environmental conservation, I am proud to be leading a team influencing the country’s green revolution towards self-sufficiency and sustainable development. 

Prior to joining Haritha Network, I received a thorough grounding through a succession of work experiences, gradually rising through the ranks to become Digital and Creative Director at BT Options, one of Sri Lanka’s premier publishing establishments of business, leisure, travel and tourism magazines. During my long stint of two decades with BT, I have lent my expertise in conceptualizing the design content for local and international magazines in travel and tourism, leisure, architecture, and business. I have completed many stand-out artistic photography projects and assignments for diverse clients. Many clients who came to me for digital design and online marketing strategies for local and global brand development and promotion have grown their online presence. Event management and planning, and entertainment promotion are also among my fortes, which are executed with the highest coordination and organization. 

I have extended my repertoire of work to engage in consultancies to carve out campaigns for political parties, which have given me immense experience and exposure having worked with four presidents of Sri Lanka, and political parties in government and outside. That has amplified my gamut of knowledge in strategic planning and direction, providing creative leadership and my good design sense into their campaigns. 

The Pro-Team that I am a founding member of and currently serve as Digital Creative Head is another commitment to fostering strong standards in the creative sphere of the digital design age, successfully delivering reports and promotional material for state and private-sector institutions with attention to detail and eye-catching visual content.  

As a visionary of the big-picture, I support industry cooperation, co-founding the Design Institute of Sri Lanka, a platform for members in design specialties to benefit from an exchange of ideas, information and techniques. 

As I navigate multiple teams across a plethora of projects to deliver strategic vision to clients, my strength goes beyond the gamut of management. A combination of conceptual ability and creative thinking with ample leadership is what helps keep my team on track.

As an excellent negotiator, learner and listener, and as CEO Haritha TV, I continue to leverage on hard work and resilience to drive the fledgling television channel to prominence, driving my feisty belief that the readiness to take calculated risks will produce results.  

Significance of winning the Award

Winning is an affirmation of dedication and hard work. Every human strives for recognition and appreciation. Launching Haritha TV at one of the most challenging times in not just Sri Lanka’s history, but globally was not an easy decision. But our team was driven by a passion to impact society positively. There were too many voices of warning demonstrating the perils of the deterioration of the environment through the exploitation and depletion of resources. We could not stay silent. In fact, the pandemic was a reminder of what humans had not done right. As we dived into its launch and finally launched it officially in March 2021 with the endorsement of the highest office in the country, there was no turning back for us. As we stay true to our values and promote community development and sustainable farming practices and use of resources for economic empowerment, we have enriched our programs with foreign program content, opening new vistas of knowledge to our audiences. 

We were elated beyond words when Haritha TV received a nomination at the Asia Awards. We have not stopped talking of our achievements. Winning the award would be the crowning glory for all the hard work and late nights that the team has put in amid pandemic-driven lockdowns to sustain its message of hope and emancipation to the people. If we do win the award, it would be a double whammy for us – Haritha TV would be the first ‘green’ television channel in the country to win an award in such a short space of time since its launch. The award would encourage us further in our mission. As we become aware that the world is watching us, our commitment to the climate cause would receive greater impetus and dynamism. And winning this award will certainly be the start of a new journey of many more moments in the limelight. We cannot thank you enough for turning the spotlight on a fledgling television channel like Haritha TV. Winning the award would be the ultimate platform for visibility.