Food security complexities

Thursday, 4 October 2012 01:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

THE Global Food Security Index has ranked Sri Lanka 62nd out of 105 countries and while such numbers make little sense to the layman, it is a confidence boost to see the island ahead of India and Pakistan. However, this is the first time that this index has been published after being launched on 10 July 2012 and gives a good opportunity to examine the core issues of food affordability, availability, access, and quality across countries.

Sri Lanka being a developing country and emerging from three decades of war can rightly be proud of the ranking that it has received. Yet, it is also a strong agriculture-reliant country with a population that relies heavily on food consumption. It has also been pointed out numerous times that local agriculture needs to be made more productive through fresh technology and human resource advancement to effectively tap into an export market.

In addition, food security in Sri Lanka is heavily threatened by the cost of food with the main complaint against successive governments being that they have been incapable of keeping prices moderate. An inconsistent and expensive transport network also makes food expensive with post-harvest losses regularly hitting the 40 per cent mark. This has resulted in massive wastage and artificial price increases since Government outlets such as Lak Sathosa have a limited impact on the overall cost of living.

Farmers are often left without the ability to sell their produce. The Government annually spends billions on fertiliser subsidies and paddy purchase programs, without which the sector would find it hard to survive, but many are the discontented tales from farmers that the prices are inadequate. This scant system has for decades kept farmers and consumers equally deprived.

The war, as mentioned above, has also seriously depleted food security. In a report that was published by the World Food Program (WFP) in April 2011, it is pointed out that out of the total population, 12 per cent are severely food insecure, of which 82 per cent are in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. WFP insists that food security interventions are needed to create capacity and productive assets among this very large food insecure population.

The study also says that dietary intake among resettled people in the north showed a clear deterioration from October 2010 to April 2011. Inadequate access to land and other resources was one of the main reasons for this as was the Government gradually scaling down food handouts to the returnees. While it is understood that assistance cannot be given long-term, such statistics underscore the reality behind growth numbers bandied about by officials.

More recent events, such as the severe drought that is still keeping its parched hold on regions such as Polonnaruwa, will provide their own challenges to food security. Beyond the effect it will have on the economy is the environmental carnage it can wreck on a people heavily dependent on fertile land. The disconcerting spread of kidney disease among farmers and the virtual disappearance of small fish and birds due to excessive use of chemicals while farming are all results of the quest for food security.

Unless these issues are addressed in a meaningful and sustainable manner, Sri Lanka’s placement on indexes will remain limited to a pointless number.