By Dhanuka Dickwella ( Photo credit – JK Policy Institute)

“Food security is defined when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” (1996 World Food Summit)

That is the classical definition of what food security means in the modern world. There are at least four factors that enshrine food security: Physical availability of food, economic and physical access to food, food utilization, and stability of the other three dimensions over time. When those factors are challenged in society, it gives rise to a food security crisis.

This is what Sri Lanka underwent a couple of years ago, and despite a promising positive trend, the country still has not recovered fully. The magnitude of the crisis was recorded by every development organization and institution that was trying to find a way out. At the height of it, a colossal 6.3 million of the population (38%) were facing moderate to severe food insecurity. Sri Lanka had the 4th highest food price inflation in the entire globe, which translated into a staggering 95%. The reasons for this crisis were many, ranging from uncontrollable external factors to internal policy blunders. Sri Lanka’s food insecurity provides a unique case study. Covid and post-Covid economic challenges, the war in Ukraine that subsequently hiked the cost of energy along with global food prices, were factors the state could do little about. But the overnight ban on fertilizer usage for agriculture, a plummeting forex crisis, and import bans on food and related items were utter failures of the policymakers governing the country at the time.

Currently, a number of organizations, international donor programs, as well as various aid from friendly states, are helping the government mitigate the issue. Inflation has been largely tackled, and blindly made policies have been reversed. Despite significant improvements in the forex situation to pre-crisis levels as well as the easing of import restrictions, the country is not out of the woods yet. Just read what UNICEF is quoting in their Sri Lankan aid details brief currently.

“It’s estimated that 2.3 million children in Sri Lanka need urgent aid right now. Without action, millions could face acute malnutrition. This puts their lives and future welfare at risk.”

The outpouring international support is commendable and has given the country some room to maneuver and much-needed breathing space. A number of initiatives have taken place from providing meals for school children to monetary allocation for poverty-stricken families and pregnant mothers to writing off loans given to farming communities. With the hope of increasing food production, the relevant ministries have been allocated budgets to provide farmers with seeds and planting materials on a rapid basis. Money is already placed to purchase the fertilizer needed for paddy cultivation. The government seems to be capable of managing the current crisis.

What is needed now would be to formulate long-term strategies to avoid such a crisis from happening again and to establish ironclad food security for the country. There are a few thoughts towards this end.

Minimizing food waste

Food waste in Sri Lanka is colossal and could be observed in three stages: pre-harvest, post-harvest, and after purchase by consumers. Animals such as peacocks, wild boars, toque macaques, monkeys, parrots, elephants, porcupines, bats, rabbits, gray hornbills, jungle fowl, and crows are up against the farmers causing them a massive annual loss between Rs. 17 – 20 billion owing to crop damage alone. Out of the 3000 million coconuts produced, nearly 200 million are destroyed by monkeys. All of those would amount to nearly 31,000 metric tons of vegetables and fruit lost annually pre-harvest. According to government statistics, a whopping 19% of vegetables equivalent to 221,955 metric tons and 21% of fruits equivalent to 290,151 metric tons get wasted annually due to inappropriate methods in transportation, improper handling, delays in transport, lack of a strong distribution network, non-availability of cooler containers and storage. That is 40% post-harvest food waste caused by otherwise manageable human errors. The daily solid waste produced in the country is nearly 7,000 tonnes out of which 56% or 3,963 tonnes accounts for food waste. Calculate that for a year is 122,853 tons of food waste produced by households, restaurants, hotels, and other eateries. The sheer magnitude of the food waste is not just alarming but disastrous.

This crop destruction and food waste may not be able to be reduced to a 0% percentage in a realistic world. Yet by merging technology, awareness, and infrastructure, the waste could be handled with much better efficiency and results. Tens of lorries travel to Colombo on a daily basis to feed the capital and its suburbs. Instead, the government could transform cities like Avissawella, Kurunegala, and Aluthgama into gathering hubs and use rail transportation to bring securely packed bulk cargo. That will be a multidimensional solution for congestion, food waste, excess fuel usage while providing tens of new economic opportunities. The same methods could be implemented for seafood hubs that send their catch to urban areas. With regards to crop damage due to animals, there should be a multi-vector approach. Biofences, crop buffers dedicated for animals, scientific methods of controlling animal population that will not disturb the ecosystem balance could be adopted. Sri Lanka is not the only country that faces this issue. The experience sharing from regional states and applying successful methods used by the peers should be encouraged.

Strengthening the Seafood industry

As an Island nation with a 1,620 kilometers of coastline, Sri Lanka could benefit a lot from its vast Ocean areas for its food needs. The 517,000-square-kilometer exclusive economic zone in the Indian Ocean not only guarantees the rights for exclusive economic activities but also the exclusive rights to fish in its waters. Nearly 50% of the country’s animal protein intake comes from fish, which is a remarkable ratio of three times the global average. The average annual fish production of 485,770 tons saw a plunge in 2022 by 8.8% or 51,065 Mt. compared to the previous year of 2021. There has been a steady increase in the price locally, and a recorded 40% to 60% post-fish harvest goes wasted due to multiple factors. The reasons vary from poor on-vessel storage, handling, processing methods. These malpractices do not limit to the on-vessel operations but spread throughout the value chain, including unhygienic practices. There are losses that incur due to transportation and delivery from the time of catch to not adopting the newest technology, fishing gear, and catching methods. However, the fisheries sector looks a stable industry with huge potential and brings millions of forex through exports while employing millions. With enough attention to the qualitative aspect, introduction of efficient technologies, a more aggressive approach to inland fishing, and increasing the value chain of the industry, the country could make the best out of its marine resources. Marine laws have to be more assertive to protect not just the fisher folk from oil spills and shipping accidents but also to protect what is rightfully Sri Lanka’s.

Improved Consumer Protection

Consumer protection laws, their implementation, and enforcement have an unprecedented bearing on food security. Each price hike of fuel and LNG or an increase in any taxation is quickly and retrospectively translated into food prices. Even in instances where a controlled price was introduced by the government , a substantial percentage of traders do not obey those rules. Unsupervised weighing scales, finished food products using substandard ingredients, expired or expiring food and beverages with altered or replaced shelf life dates, exorbitant seasonal prices, monopolistic traders in staple food items, orchestrated scarcity of food items to manipulate prices, predatory pricing strategies, poor and unsafe packaging are common occurrences in Sri Lanka. While middlemen collect excessive commissions, the poor consumers pay the heaviest price in monetary terms and health terms. Rapid and innovative inspection mechanisms, market digitization encouraging both farmers and buyers to utilize digital methods in direct trading, anti-monopolistic laws, as well as awareness programs targeting consumers, will strengthen this segment of food security in the country.

Changes to Culinary Culture

A country’s culinary culture strongly mirrors its dietary habits, which in effect influences food security. The space “Rice and Curries” takes in an average meal is quite large despite its lower protein composition. The local research community has introduced a number of high-yield, high-fiber rice varieties for some time. Their efforts to optimize the productivity of the land and the quality of the crop have certainly served the nation. But it is time Sri Lanka looked to the Indian Ocean for a new generation of food varieties. Sea vegetables or the plants and algae growing closer to oceanic fronts have been used as food for centuries by coastal communities around the world. Kelp, Salicornia, Dulse, Nori, Irish Moss, Sea Purslane are only a few of such edible and nutritious seaweeds. Low in fat, such marine-based food items provide ample amounts of vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Technologies exist to improvise those seaweeds to match aromas and flavors known to mankind. Sri Lanka has to seriously research the possibility of adopting those food items into the country’s food mix and encourage a new generation of farmers to cultivate them in organic atmospheres targeting lucrative export markets.

Changes to Livestock Industry

Livestock rearing in Sri Lanka has remained rather a rural livelihood activity largely based on idling labor, underutilized agricultural by-products, and marginal lands. Although economic reforms in the early 80s helped the sector move to a commercial space, dairy products, meat products, eggs, and animal feed are import-dependent to varied degrees. This sector needs long-term investments, planning, and reforms. Sri Lanka seems to be far from reaching any meaningful dairy self-sufficiency despite the increase in the buffalo population and investments in the dairy sector. The poultry industry seems to be more promising. The high prices of eggs and poultry products have created a vicious cycle stuck on the importation of animal feed. An estimated 150,000 metric tons of Soy and Corn imports supplement the 230,00 MTs of the annual need of animal feed. The high taxation imposed on the corn imports naturally causes the poultry prices to hike. This taxation is done to safeguard the local maize-producing farming community. However, their contribution alone does not meet the requirement. While economic nationalization is a popular headline, a more pragmatic approach will have to be considered. Instead of punishing millions with high poultry and egg prices, it would be easier to find means to help maize producers mitigate the cost of production.

Sri Lanka will come out of the current crisis sooner than later. But it is the responsibility and the duty of the current generation to first recognise and  then to ensure food security as the state’s national interest. Irrespective of who is at the helm of the government, the citizens’ food security must be enshrined. Instead of crisis management, a long term strategy and a vision to feed its citizens must be made the constitutional responsibility of the people in power to come. A civilisation that survived famines, droughts , invasions, natural disasters for 2500 years has seen it all and experienced the entire mix. There is enough homegrown wisdom, knowledge, ideas and capability to ensure food security for good. Global technologies and the technological knowhow must be explored and introduced to the industry to improvise the sector. What the country needs is a visionary leadership who would think beyond using food as a political tool but consider it the birth right of every Sri Lankan.