Sri Lanka facing food crisis, President Wickremesinghe seeks support from all

The currency crisis has caused serious political, economic and social upheaval in Sri Lanka. The prices of food items have increased by 100 per cent in the last two years due to the fall in the value of the currency. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe has sought support. Local media has given this information.

According to local media reports, about forty percent of the households in the country depend on agriculture. Two out of every ten households have faced a reduction in income from June to December 2022. One in every two households faced food shortage due to lack of income. According to reports, people are facing a reduction in wages and income, making it difficult to afford food. It further said that it may take about two years for Sri Lanka to recover from the currency crisis.

Action must be taken to urgently provide farmers with quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to enable them to protect their livelihoods and feed their communities, the report said. It is also necessary to provide cash assistance to farmers, animal husbandry and fishermen, so that they can restore their productive assets and speed up their recovery.

It said that agricultural production was seen to decline from mid-2021. The country is facing a major shortage of fertilizers and other essential production materials. Cattlemen do not have access to food and basic veterinary supplies. Fishermen are not using fuel for motorized boats.

The report quoted President Wickremesinghe as saying that on December 16 this year, he had requested everyone to put aside political differences and show support. He emphasized that everyone should forget their differences and devote themselves to building the country’s economy.

He said, there is a possibility of shortage of food grains in the year 2023. To deal with that, we have started the Food Security Programme. I suggest that the implementation of this program in each divisional secretariat should be reviewed again. You can get new data here. We are formally going ahead with the food security programme. This program will not end even after 2023. We will continue to do so.