Food insecurity puts Sri Lanka on top in SA for child wasting

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
As the issue of food insecurity grapples the world, Sri Lanka ranks alongside India on having the highest child wasting in South Asia, the latest regional overview on food and nutrition by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) revealed. 

According to the report, Sri Lanka and India have a ‘very high’ prevalence (15 percent or above) of child wasting, based on the criteria set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Indonesia, Nepal and Papua New Guinea have a ‘high’ prevalence (10-15 percent).

The FAO cautioned that the issue going unaddressed would further sidetrack progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 2.2.2. Asia and the Pacific accounts for the highest number of children under five years affected by wasting. 

In 2020, 9.9 percent is said to have suffered from wasting, which is significantly higher than the global average of 6.7 percent.  The sub-region with the highest proportion of children with wasting is Southern Asia (14.1 percent), followed by Oceania, excluding Australia and New Zealand (9 percent), Southeastern Asia (8.2 percent) and Eastern Asia (1.7 percent). The FAO pointed out that by the end of 2022, an additional nine million children across the world would suffer from wasting, including 6.2 million in Southern Asia.

From the latter part of 2019 onwards, the food supply chain witnessed substantial disruptions, due to the implications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a hike in domestic food prices.

Analysis by FAO shows that in real terms, the food prices across 40 countries in the South Asian region witnessed a median increase of 2.1 percent (as measured by the Consumer Price Index) from December 2019 to December 2020.  Sri Lanka is among the six countries (others being Australia, Bhutan, Iran, Mongolia and Solomon Islands) that witnessed the largest real food price increase in the region, where the hike is in the range of 6 to 12 percent.
The FAO in its 2021 regional overview report said it is the economic downturn, over the increase in food prices that contributed more for food becoming less affordable.

Previous reports from the FAO have shown that economic downturns contribute to a worsening food security situation.