More than 50 representatives from leading private sector agro and food processing companies came together to provide recommendations on how to achieve food security and address nutritional issues in Sri Lanka at a forum, organized by USAID-funded CSR Sri Lanka and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in July 2017.

A core group was identified to continue engagement with the private sector companies in order to clarify the roles companies will have and to delineate expected outcomes that will be achieved in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal Two - Zero Hunger. The goal of CSR Sri Lanka, a membership body initiated by USAID in 2013, is to ensure that the private sector engages in transformative Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through meaningful stakeholder engagement and collaborative strategic planning for long term impact.

The discussion was moderated by Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Managing Director Rizvi Zaheed and tabled by WFP Country Director Brenda Barton and CSR Sri Lanka Chairman Chandula  Abeywickrama, together with several other representatives from the private and public sectors alike. Laksiri Nanayakkara of the WFP, Sashrika Jayasinghe of the WFP and Maree Bouterakos from the UN FAO, in their presentations brought to light the problems in food security and nutrition that affect the Sri Lankan population.

The panel allowed a number of experts in their respective fields to raise their concerns related to food security and nutrition and to learn more about how they can work to improve the food security status in Sri Lanka.