- Survivors and those unaffected fear food scarcity
- No issues with food supply, authorities claim
Cyclone Ditwah finally left Sri Lanka’s territorial waters a few days ago, but its impact lingers on. Thousands of people have been misplaced, hundreds are dead, and those who survived now face a rising risk of a possible food scarcity in the near future.
Given the panic buying which ensued at markets, the damage done to crops, and inundated paddy fields, food insecurity in some form in the near future is inevitable.
Even though the Government has given the assurance of continued food security, the reality on the ground suggests otherwise. Paddy fields have been swept away, vegetable cultivations have destroyed, and cattle are dead. The full extent of the damage is yet to be estimated.
The country’s food supply depends on a few key categories of consumables: vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, milk, fish, eggs, etc. Each of these has been impacted by Cyclone Ditwah. The homes of farmers have been destroyed along with their cultivations, making it difficult for them to prioritise farming since survival and shelter come first.
The Sunday Morning spoke to farmers, fishermen, and affected citizens from across the country to find out how they were faring.
Fish
“Living in coastal areas, we always consumed fresh fish at a fair price. Now we go to Mirissa to buy fish, and not only is the fish old, it is too pricey as well. Since the Government has warned against going to sea as the ocean is not safe for fishing, it is running out of fish and selling the stocked harvests. Right now 500 g of prawns costs at least Rs. 1,000. We could have bought 1 kg of prawns for that price before. Even the balaya fish they sell is old, stocked for days in ice. One kilo of balaya is Rs. 1,200,” said Dhammika (62) from Kamburupitiya.
Customers have to pay high prices because fishermen cannot go to sea due to adverse weather conditions. Some fishermen from Galle and Matara have already transported their boats to the middle of the country to help those in need.
While in Mirissa people buy fish preserved in ice at a high price and face the possibility of running out of fish when stocks are depleted, the story we hear from Habaraduwa is different.
“It’s true we can’t go to sea now. It’s dangerous. We have electricity, so there’s no risk of our stored stocks perishing. We have fish, although it is pricey. But that doesn’t mean we have stopped fishing. We have our rivers. We catch fish and prawns in the rivers. Even if we run out of sea fish, we have these from the rivers,” said Gnanasiri (70), a fisherman from Habaraduwa.
Having been in the industry for as long as he can remember and driven by prior experience, he said that they would have enough fish to provide until the situation calmed down. The problem will be the price; a single kilo of prawns could go up to Rs. 3,000 these days.
“Those who were at sea came to land as soon as they learnt of the risk, but now they are going about their occupation as usual. Our boats are unharmed. Our sales have not declined, so we have money to buy diesel. The sea is calm now; fish is a little pricey, so there is no loss of profit. We are doing okay,” said a fisherman from Rathgama who didn’t want his name mentioned.
Gnanasiri said that this was the most suitable season for fishermen to go to sea, due to which a rich harvest and price drops could be expected. He is hopeful that the situation for fellow fishermen in other areas will also return to normal soon.
Poultry
In the wake of the adversity, egg farm owners faced a choice: save their own lives or try to save the poultry, which were in cages. As the water levels rose, the choice was painfully clear. They had to choose their own lives. Even though it was clear that they stood no chance to save them, regret still fills their hearts.
“Our houses were flooded; we had to leave. We could not do anything about it. We left our farms and houses as the water rose. There was nothing we could have done for them,” said Jayathilaka (53) from Nikaweratiya.
He owned an egg farm with around 100 hens; the farm was flooded and all the birds were dead by the time they returned. “Even our houses were destroyed and we are now cleaning them. Other houses provide food for now. It is only after the house is cleaned and we start living here that we will be able to think about the farms again,” he said.
This is the situation for most farmers in Nikaweratiya. Some even avoided talking to us out of grief. They are sceptical about possible help from the Government as well.
Public Health Inspectors have warned the public to check the poultry meat that they consume, citing the possibility of irresponsible vendors attempting to pass off flood-deceased chicken meat as being safe for consumption, which it is not. Already, the price of eggs has risen slightly and availability is decreasing.
Dairy and beef
It is clear that the dairy and beef industry has been harshly impacted as well.
“Most of the people here do not breed large herds with hundreds of cattle, but they have four or five cattle at home and depend on them for income. They collect milk and sell it to centres. Now, their houses have been destroyed and their cattle are dead.
“We have been visiting the village trying to calculate how many cattle are dead, but we have lost count. They have lost everything. They are suffering economically and mentally,” said an undergraduate from the Rajarata University who spoke to The Sunday Morning.
Majoring in Agriculture and born into a farming family, he is interested in cattle cultivation and is engaging actively in helping farmers and connecting them to authorities who could help.
Through him, we contacted Salinda (54), a cattle owner, who said: “We had 10 cattle at home. Six are nowhere to be found and must be dead by now. We found the other four, which managed to survive. But our houses are flooded and there is a lot of sand inside them. We are cleaning them right now and we don’t even have facilities to cook for ourselves.
“We find it difficult to find food for the cattle. The sand has submerged the grasses. We have leashed them in areas where there is something to eat. We can’t feed them enough. Others provide us with food as well,” Salinda said.
There are families that raise goats as well, according to Salinda, and while most of the goats have died in the cyclone, there is a scarcity of food to feed the remaining animals.
While fresh milk from their cows would make up their breakfast for some farming families – a habit tied to their roots – now, unfortunately, some of them are surviving solely on the food they receive from relief teams.
Rice
Farmers with a history of self-sufficiency in rice from Polonnaruwa shared their grief, explaining how there was no trace of the productive harvest they could have gathered; the floods had taken it all.
“We have approximately two-and-a-half acres of land. In a season, we harvest around 500 kg from this area, but the fields have been totally submerged by sand. We only cultivated paddy, no other crop,” said Jayawardhana (50) from Polonnaruwa.
Responding to a question on whether they had seeds for the next season, he said that they had nothing left. “Not only did we lose the harvest, but the land has been covered with mounds of sand. Extra effort will have to be taken to bring it back to a condition suitable for cultivation again,” he said. He mentioned how acres of land belonging to Polonnaruwa farmers had been destroyed, mostly inundated by sand.
Vegetables and fruits
A farmer from Welimada speaking to The Sunday Morning, said: “There is no part of this village I have not stepped on. I went to see which crops and which areas had been destroyed. One-third of the harvest has been destroyed. It’s really sad to see that such a large proportion of the harvest has been destroyed.”
Stopping in Uva Paranagama, The Sunday Morning spoke to Gunarathne (59), a farmer who has been growing vegetables for years.
“I have a land of two-and-a-half acres, on which I cultivated tomatoes, chillies, and brinjals. Usually, for the season, I harvest around 7,500 kg of tomatoes and 5,000 kg of brinjals, and could have harvested at least 2,000 kg of chillies this season. But everything is destroyed now. The Government has given us forms asking about our loss and what we cultivated. We are hopeful we will get a positive response,” he said.
He further stated that the situation in Uva Paranagama and Bandarawela was the same. According to Gunarathne, several areas have not been affected; however he was uncertain about the impact the loss of harvest would have on market prices.
“Many years ago, this type of a disaster happened. But even then, this kind of destruction didn’t occur. This is the first time in my life I have faced this level of destruction,” he noted, adding that he had no clue as to how the future would turn out.
Buyers who purchase vegetables in bulk are finding it hard to source them as well. A popular restaurant owner in Dalugama, who wished to remain anonymous, told us how the restaurant was cooking alternatives like jackfruit, breadfruit, mango, and onion for their daily customers. “We can’t raise our regular food prices. We can’t buy vegetables at high prices either. So we go for these other options,” he said.
CAA stance
However, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has stated that there is no shortage of food and that vegetable prices are now decreasing. The authority further encourages consumers to report any instances of black-market pricing via the contact numbers it has published.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, CAA Director of Consumer Affairs and Information Asela Bandara said that field visits had been conducted in areas such as Kolonnawa and that the situation was gradually improving.
He explained that due to the festive season, vendors had already imported larger stocks in anticipation of future needs, so a shortage of goods was not expected.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Food Security R.M. Jayawardana stressed that no shortages had been reported so far in relation to milk and meat and that there was an excess supply of eggs at present, while claiming that there would be no shortage of eggs at all.
Despite these assurances, officials are yet to discern how many farmers have been affected and the extent to which cultivation and poultry stocks have been impacted.