The country which was once dubbed the ‘great barn of the East’ is now in the midst of a host of issues pertaining to food security. Obtaining fertiliser and the water necessary for farming activities and purchasing sufficient food to survive, have become challenges.

The food crisis calls for significant, effective and innovative solutions, some of which have already been proposed or launched. The Government says that it is capable of resolving the crisis, and puts forward various proposals from time to time, especially when national level issues, such as the recent incident where a considerable amount of crops were destroyed due to the delay in providing water to the paddy fields, but the latter reminds us that the food crisis is yet to receive adequate attention. Given the lack of resources, especially funds, and various limitations that have been created by the economic crisis, what the agricultural authorities can do is limited. However, both farmers and consumers remain sceptical as to whether the agriculture authorities are on the right path, because they do not seem to be paying serious attention to all the practically possible measures they can take.

The nature of the responses to the grievances about the food crisis is one aspect of this issue that needs to be improved. We remember how the former Government downplayed the impacts of its short-sighted, organic-fertiliser-only plan, which significantly weakened the agriculture sector before being hit by the economic crisis, when the farmers pointed out how disastrous it was. Unfortunately, similar responses are not rare even now. On many occasions, members of the Government and the agriculture authorities have not only underestimated the true impacts of the food crisis, but also have not hesitated to confine genuine issues as political agenda. Even in the abovementioned case regarding the provision of water, the Government took a significant amount of time to take the decision to prioritise water for paddy fields over electricity generation, which many think was the obvious solution, resulting in the country losing a considerable amount of paddy.

What is more, the Government shows a lethargic behaviour when it comes to responding to various other perennial issues that have been disadvantageous to both farmers and consumers, such as middlemen gaining astronomical profits, which makes it difficult to pass on to consumers any benefit with regard to food prices. This issue, which has been pointed out by farmers’ associations as a pressing one, came to light recently again when farmers from several areas complained to Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera that certain economic centre traders refuse to directly purchase vegetables and fruits as they prefer to purchase produce only through middlemen. A committee has been appointed to look into the matter, which will hopefully conduct a proper probe and provide sound recommendations to end the middlemen led mafia. At the same time, food wastage is still an issue that causes the loss of around 30-40% of produce according to statistics, which is not an amount a country hit by a food crisis can afford to lose. It is surprising that we did not see any new or concrete actions being taken even in the present context to address that issue.

At the same time, regarding increasing malnutrition, which is no longer a secret, the authorities are yet to take measures. They talk about it, and they acknowledge it. But, the country did not see at least an awareness raising programme on what alternative, cheaper food options the people should consider when mainstream, nutritious food items are no longer affordable. According to Amaraweera, there is a need to take measures to protect consumers from a likely hike in rice prices in the coming months. He says that it may not occur. However, the Government should understand that its duty goes beyond controlling prices, because, even if such a price hike did not occur, rice is still a food item that many find difficult to afford. In such a context, while trying to keep rice prices as stable as possible, the threat of malnutrition should be taken into consideration, and steps need to be taken to make other food staples such as locally produced grains affordable. While rice may be the main food item, and focus being on stabilising rice production and the rice market, the country should not lose its focus on other food items availability which may not require as much efforts or resources to stabilise.