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Restoring food security: A case of better late than never 

10 Jul 2022

  • Home gardening not the solution: Agri Sector Modernisation Project Director
  • Staples can only be cultivated on a large scale: Minister of Agriculture
  • Dependency on petrochemicals, the downfall of economic stability: Ecologist 
By Sarah Hannan Sri Lanka is presently displaying signs of a food shortage, mainly caused by the disruption of the supply chain, while that scarcity tips the price point. When the country experienced quarantine lockdown due to the pandemic, the question of rationing arose mainly due to stockpiling of foods and creating scarcity in the market. Prior to that, when the country was experiencing a double-crop of vegetables and fruits, the only solution that the then Government came up with was to set up chilling facilities at Economic Centres. However, all these decisions seem to have taken us nowhere, followed by a badly-planned and rigidly-executed ban on chemical fertiliser usage – a policy decision that was rolled out without taking heed of expert advice, which really did the trick.  Crop failures reported from across the island and farmers falling into a debt trap for three successive cultivation cycles have resulted in a scarcity of locally-produced consumables in the market, which has led to an increase in imports of staples such as rice, corn, potatoes, onions, and dhal. How has this all reflected on our plates? A visit to the local market, shops, or a brief view of social media platforms will give an indication of the food security crisis Sri Lanka is facing. Local diets largely consist of carbohydrates, with proteins becoming too expensive to add in red meat form and vegetables that could substitute also often being available at high prices. During a recent TV discussion aired on Ada Derana, Agriculture Sector Modernisation Project Director Rohana Gamage stated that the initiatives taken to encourage home gardening would not address Sri Lanka’s food security issue owing to the fact that not all families in Sri Lanka had the capacity to grow their own food at home due to space constraints. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera endorsed Gamage’s views: “I stand by Gamage’s statement. We cannot expect home gardens to cultivate staples such as rice, pulses, and other grains, especially if they lack the necessary land extent to do so. We need larger extents of land to cultivate these. In a home garden, one can cultivate supplementary foods and spices that will fulfil the requirements of a family, but will not help in sourcing food for the entire country.” Change in dietary habits A visit to Belipola Arboretum in Mirahawatte, Bandarawela last month was an eyeopener on how consumer habits have disrupted diets and disconnected us from the knowledge of supplementary foods that are amply available. Of course, in a metropolitan setting, snacks to go with a cup of tea usually consist of store-bought biscuits, cakes, and candies. Yet, the snacks served at the Belipola Arboretum were rose apples, chunks of sugar cane, sweet potatoes, and ‘kiri dodol’ (a soft-boiled candy made using coconut cream/milk, rice flour, sugar cane syrup/molasses, and spices). That in itself is a lesson on how the present trend in consumerism has changed our dietary habits. Where do we stand in restoring food security and what are the challenges that we face? Can home gardens save us from a famine? How can homeowners change the landscape from ornamental plants to edible plants? Belipola Arboretum Founder and Ecologist Dr. Ranil Senanayake provided some clarification to these questions raised by The Sunday Morning. “Sri Lanka has a wealth of resources and the authorities have failed to capture this wealth and translate it to the farmer and the citizen. Although we continuously see ‘development’ taking place in terms of infrastructure and introduction of machinery to agro sectors, what I observe is that we have created ‘dependency’ on petrochemical (fossil fuel) based product usage. That has been the downfall of our economic stability. I raised this concern in the late ’70s and I am reiterating the same in 2022,” Dr. Senanayake opined. Even during the pandemic, those who did not have any type of edible fruit-bearing trees had great difficulty in sourcing foods. Those who had jackfruit and breadfruit trees and a variety of trees that produced fruits which could be cooked or eaten once ripened managed to get by when shops were closed and the supply chain was dysfunctional. Dr. Senanayake, therefore, welcomed the Government’s initiative of encouraging people to start home gardening. However, he pointed out that if the environment was not conducive, then the people might even ingest poison. “Our living conditions, especially in the cities, are not ideal; there are a lot of pollutants and even the soil is degraded due to chemical waste being directly released to the environment. Therefore, if you plant something in such an environment the chances of you ingesting harmful pollutants are higher. Yet, there are methods one can follow to improve air and soil quality.” Explaining further, Dr. Senanayake noted that soil degradation occurred when developers paid no concern for the land when infrastructure was developed. “There is an integral connection between the soil below and plants above it. Living plants need living soil. However, the use of chemicals disrupts that connection. Moreover, when you seal off the earth to lay a road using tar, it creates a barrier between the earth and the sky; that in itself is a suicidal act of entombing what gives life.” Alternatives to staples Why does Sri Lanka opt to import foods that can be easily grown in the country? From a sustainability aspect, Dr. Senanayake explained that if the authorities could quantify how much energy was required to produce a kilogramme of rice, then they could decide whether it was cheaper to import rice in a struggling economy. “Part of the solution lies in the energy consumption of all the machinery that is used during the cultivation cycle and when it comes to the post-harvest stage, how much energy is required to process the yields, package them, and then send them to markets – local or foreign,” Dr. Senanayake noted. Commenting on whether people could change dietary habits to move away from making rice or wheat flour-based products the bigger portion in our meals and opt for alternatives, Dr. Senanayake responded: “Foods high in nutritive values can counter the need to add staples such as rice and wheat; it is important to have a balanced diet, not consume bigger rice and curry plates, but consciously add foods that are high in nutritive values to a meal. Check the kilocalories that you consume.” Sharing his views on switching the dietary habits of Sri Lankans, Dr. Senanayake noted: “Choice of growing the correct crops based on the crop calendar and the requirements of the community are important. Just because there was a great harvest of pumpkins does not mean you have to start growing pumpkins. That is the biggest glitch that could happen to the food balance of the country. There needs to be a better understanding of our dietary requirements when we grow foods.” Meanwhile, commenting on how the Government planned to address the impending food shortage, Minister Amaraweera stated: “The paddy yield from the Yala season can last up to around 15 December this year; then we have a gap of about two months until the Maha season yield is expected. We have placed orders to import the deficit to maintain our rice stocks. In addition to that, we are conducting awareness sessions among communities to switch to other staples such as green gram, chickpeas, and other pulses and grains.” More on food security next week  The key to addressing the matter of food security also lies in several other areas, going beyond the activities of growing your own food, switching to alternatives, or adding supplementary foods. Our upcoming articles will discuss:
  • Benefits of analogue forestry
  • Turning monoculture farming into analogue forests
  • The commercial viability of forest farming
  • Bio-currencies as a path to stabilising the economy
 


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