K.D.N. Weerasinghe

Professor K.D.N. Weerasinghe or “Weera” has invented several innovative applications to rejuvenate Sri Lanka’s declining cinnamon industry. Weera’s inventions including a cinnamon peeling device, a processing bench, scrapers, and a poly cam, and are collectively creating a technological revolution across Sri Lanka. Some of the social benefits include increasing worker efficiency; improving work and sanitary conditions; eliminating caste prejudice; and, increasing local investment.

Weera is revitalizing the stagnant cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka by actively spearheading a global campaign to reposition the country as the premium producer of the finest cinnamon. Weera has worked tirelessly since 1986 to improve the status of the cinnamon industry and its workers. Recently, he developed technology that has proven to increase production of better quality cinnamon. Weera’s interventions comprehensively and holistically address the problems of small stakeholders by improving the image, productivity, and profitability of the industry.

Weera founded a unique incubator company, located within Ruhuna University, and helps graduates use the technology and technical expertise free of charge so that they may pursue their own socially responsible business ventures.

Weera’s technology has mechanized the cinnamon peeling process and increased the productivity, safety, and efficiency of workers. However, his innovations are much more than technical; they also address socioeconomic issues such as caste prejudices, unemployment, as well as gender and disability rights.

With a market share of about 70 percent, Sri Lanka is the largest producer of Ceylon cinnamon in the world, with Mexico, Columbia, and the United States being its main buyers. Ceylon cinnamon is one of the earliest known spices and is a derivative of the Sri Lankan aromatic perennial tree, Cinnamomum zeylanicum.

The cinnamon industry supports the livelihood of more than 85,000 cinnamon growers. Currently, more than 150,000 peelers are engaged in the southern province, where approximately 75,000 acres of land are used to cultivate the perennial crop (i.e. a single tree can grow for over 50 years with minimum maintenance, which helps to minimize its water usage and carbon footprint). However, the industry has been stagnant for centuries and, in the last decade, began declining rapidly.

The cinnamon industry uses both indigenous and traditional tools that yield limited to medium quality cinnamon. The low supply and quality of Ceylon cinnamon has led to a decrease in the demand for Ceylon cinnamon and an increase in the demand for Chinese cinnamon. Chinese cinnamon is considered to be less healthy than Ceylon cinnamon, as it contains a higher concentration of coumarin, a moderately toxic compound.

In addition to the low supply and quality of the cinnamon, the industry is witnessing a quick withdrawal because the Salagama caste people, who are directly associated with cinnamon peeling, and have been abandoning the occupation; plagued with health issues, caste prejudice and low returns, they are looking for jobs in the more lucrative tourism industry. The caste prejudice against Salagama or any other “low” caste is analogous to racism: It confines a person to the lowest status in society purely by virtue of birth. Sri Lankan society often identifies cinnamon peelers by their odor. Thus, cinnamon peeler’s interactions have been tightly restricted for decades.

In addition to caste prejudice, the cinnamon industry also excludes women and disabled people, who are unable to work because of unhealthy conditions and physical limitations. The lack of employment for women and disabled people in areas that are dominated by the cinnamon industry leaves them and their dependents struggling to survive.

Finally, the traditional method of making Ceylon cinnamon does not meet the sanitary conditions of many countries. The processing of cinnamon is traditionally carried out on the ground, which leads to contamination as well as health issues for workers, such as postural stress, fatigue, and pain.

After years of observing and studying Sri Lanka’s cinnamon industry, Weera created a cinnamon peeling machine and accompanying technology. During years of study, he recognized the importance of the cinnamon industry to the Sri Lankan economy. Inspired by his findings, he set out on a mission to not only increase workers’ efficiency, but to also improve the economy of Sri Lanka, increase profits of small stakeholders, and improve labor conditions.

Weera began his campaign to improve the cinnamon industry in 1986 when he carried out a research project with Ruhuna University to address the issues plaguing cinnamon workers. His research allowed him to gain insights into mechanizing the process. He spent many years designing and testing the machinery.

In 1998 Weera and Ruhuna University’s faculty members organized a workshop with all stakeholder institutions on the revitalization of the cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka. Following the workshop, Weera spearheaded a campaign to introduce machinery mechanizing the processing of cinnamon.

Weera’s diligent efforts yielded inventions such as a cinnamon peeling device (International Patent Certification, B27J-3/00.A23N-7/10, 11/00), a poly cam mechanism to improve the cinnamon mechanization process (International Patent Classification A23N 7/10, 11/00 B27J 3/00 Go5G 17/00, 2005), cinnamon processing bench, (Registration of Industrial Design No; 7628, 24th Nov. 2005), a cinnamon sticks making table, cinnamon scrapers, and a cinnamon bark remover. These inventions have successfully increased the efficiency of workers by 40 percent and have improved the quality of the quills produced.

The mechanization of cinnamon processing has also solved health and sanitation issues plaguing the industry. Mechanization has discontinued the need for processing to take place on the ground. With Weera’s technology, workers can now process while sitting in chairs and benches. The mechanization has also limited direct contact between workers and cinnamon, hence decreasing contamination and removing the odor of cinnamon from workers’ skin and attire. As a result, the Salagama caste is now much less likely to suffer caste-based prejudice.

Mechanization has also opened doors for women and disabled people. The technology allows both women and those with disabilities to join the processing line, which has been simplified from Weera’s technology. Their reintegration alleviates the financial and social conditions that they experience, thus allowing them to support themselves and their dependents.

The increase in cinnamon workers efficiency and the quality of quills has attracted new investments in the cinnamon industry. The mechanization of the process, coupled with the increase in investment, has attracted youth to the industry. As a professor at the Ruhuna University and through his involvement in the cinnamon industry, Weera inspires such youth to improve the industry through innovation and investment.

Weera’s inventions targeting the cinnamon industry lead him to create an incubator company within the university called Ruhuna Business Incubator (RBI), established in partnership with UNIDO and Ruhuna University. The first model business incubator in Sri Lanka, RBI was used to test his inventions and mentor young students who then furthered his innovations and promoted the new technology. Leading by example, Weera mentors undergraduate and graduate students to think beyond making money and instead, begin embarking on positively impacting communities, he is creating a new generation of social entrepreneurs.

Through the RBI, Weera also opened a new chapter in the Sri Lankan university system. RBI creates a space for intellectuals, students, development agencies, banks, and business people to introduce new development activities by diverting promising graduates to the businesses. The RBI model provides business services and creates a supportive environment for startup and early-stage enterprises in innovation-based products and services. Its linkage to a local knowledge base, business community and government agencies ensures the sustainability and social entrepreneurship culture while contributing significantly to the economy of Matara District and the Southern Province. RBI has played an instrumental role in increasing investment and attracting social entrepreneurs to the industry.

In 2009 Weera carried out two major projects that had a large impact on the cinnamon industry. The first was a workshop aimed at increasing investment by bringing all stakeholders of the cinnamon industry together, along with the Export Development Board, Central Bank, as well as local and international actors. Following the workshop, Weera and his colleagues formed the consortium U-10, which ensures that cinnamon produced in Sri Lanka meets the health and processing standards of EU markets. Through this consortium, Weera and his colleagues gave small stakeholders access to European markets.

As the global cinnamon market expands, the product’s quality is expected to improve. Sri Lanka is only able to compete with other countries due to the technological revolution created by Weera. He has been a key player in bringing new investors into the industry through his workshops, training programs, and technology. Weera has also encouraged tea plantation owners to diversify their plantations by inserting cinnamon into the marginal lands where tea cultivation cannot be practiced. Thus, tea plantation owners have become investors in the cinnamon industry.

In the years to come, Weera plans to increase investments by devising a scheme that allows migrant workers to invest part of their earned income back into the cinnamon industry. Such an initiative would guarantee the financial and long-term sustainability for both migrant workers and the cinnamon industry.

Weera has chosen to lend his technology to the indigenous medicine industry and other industries in Sri Lanka so that they too may increase efficiency and decrease contamination. Such a sharing arrangement is highly unusual in Sri Lanka, as university resources are limited and often segregated from local communities. Refusing to conform, Weera broke this trend and used the technology along with the incubator company to develop small export crops as well as the ayurvedic sector—a move that allows farming communities to improve their income and social status. Thus, his technology currently has an impact beyond the cinnamon industry.

Through the introduction of his technology, Weera has already made an immense impact on the cinnamon industry. His involvement has been further cemented by the University Grants Commission, which assigned him the task of improving the cinnamon industry. By carrying out more research, trainings and workshops, he hopes to improve workers lives, create more social entrepreneurs, and make cinnamon one of the largest export crops in Sri Lanka.

Professor Weera was born in Agalawatha (Central Province). His father and mother were school teachers. Weera grew up around the cinnamon industry. His childhood home was surrounded by cinnamon plantations which he frequently visited and explored. As a child, Weera noted the hardships and prejudice that cinnamon workers faced. In keeping with his agricultural interests, Weera pursued physics, chemistry, botany, and zoology for his advanced level studies at Isipthana Maha Vidyalaya in Colombo.

Weera studied how agronomy can be used to improve the lives of people in the agricultural industry. His mentor, Pekinio Hesus Pieris guided him during his formative years to combine his passion for inventing and helping people in the agricultural industry.

During a six-month break from university, Weera worked at a prestigious bank in Sri Lanka as the first agricultural officer. His work at the bank reintroduced him to the agricultural industry. He successfully helped to improve the lives of farmers through a lending system. After his successful stint, despite being offered a more lucrative job, Weera chose to pursue his passion for servicing the community through technological inventions.

Weera received his Ph.D. in 1980 and joined Ruhuna University as a lecturer. Initially, he struggled to implement the entrepreneurial ideas he had learned at the agricultural industry in Sri Lanka. He faced many road blocks and critics during his career. However, his passion to invent and improve the lives of people drove him to overcome hurdles. With this drive, Weera pioneered the trend of using academia to address humanitarian issues and created a technological revolution in the cinnamon industry. Weera continues to be a maverick and is challenging the present ideologies held by the Sri Lankan people to help them improve their lives.