27 April 2022 06:56 am Views - 199
The National Agribusiness Council (NAC) yesterday issued a fresh warning that Sri Lanka is on the brink of experiencing disruptions to food supply as no proper solutions have been found to ensure food security.
Even though several meetings were held between the relevant authorities and member organisations of the agri sector, no tangible solutions have been offered as yet to ensure the country’s food security in the coming year.
The NAC is made up of entities that collectively make up the national food chain.
“While we fully understand and share the frustration of the public with regard to shortages of fuel, gas, and electricity,
we would like to bring their attention to the matter of food, which we feel would be a larger crisis. This would be the plight and the livelihoods of 1.7 million small farmers we are all dependent on to grow our food,” the NAC said in a statement to the
media, yesterday.
The onging dollar shortage, the rash decision by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government to ban importation of chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals, which was revesed recently, and the exponential hike in fertiliser prices globally could be identified as the key reasons for Sri Lanka’s food crisis.
Meanwhile, as Sri Lanka has not developed the local capability to supply the majority of the needed seeds, the dependence on imports for the same has placed the agri sector in a vulnerable position. At present, seed stocks are fast running out and the available first-generation seeds are not adequate to meet the requirements of
the country.
However, the NAC said there is some level of confidence that the cultivation of rice will be done by local farmers, although there will be a drastic drop in the yields and may not be adequate to meet the estimated
national needs.
The Council is of the view that with careful management and cutting down on waste due to bad post harvest handling, the gap could be drastically reduced.
Furthermore, there has been a very slow uptake of available potato seedlings and corn seeds as farmers are worried they will not have the other inputs to protect and grow their crops efficiently. The animal husbandry sector is suffering from very high costs of feed and low availability of feedstocks.
Due to these circumstances, it is estimated that the costs of all animal-based proteins will rise to such a level that it would no longer be affordable to many families, the NAC said.
While other countries are actively working to secure their food security and stockpile on behalf of their citizens, it is unlikely Sri Lanka will receive assistance in this regard due to the ongoing global food shortage.
“There is little we can now do to influence the Yala season of 2022, but we need a tangible and realistic plan to be implemented extremely fast to avoid an impending disaster and bring about a good crop for the next Maha season,” the NAC said.
Acknowledging the issue around food security has no quick fixes, the NAC cautioned that allowing the situation to deteriorate further would result in Sri Lanka experiencing a large-scale food scarcity, which in turn would lead to widespread malnutrition and hunger.