‘Recognize their right to land to overcome the food crisis’

Between 30% and 35% of the Sri Lankan population depends on agriculture. In the month of June, inflation exceeded 90% in the food category. For years, farmers saw their lands taken from them – first by the military, and then by conservation institutes.

Colombo () – World Food Day, celebrated on October 16, comes at a time of serious economic crisis for Sri Lanka. Officials from state and UN agencies came together to promote farmers’ land rights at an event titled “Better Production, Better Food, Better Environment, Better Life.”

In the opening speech, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena stressed that with nearly 30-35% of the population directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, Sri Lanka must invest in the modernization and development of the agricultural sector. He stressed that the “government is committed to carrying out this gigantic task.” Agriculture and food security remain a national priority.”

The director of the UN World Food Program (WFP) in Sri Lanka, Gerard Rebello, also stressed the need to act urgently to safeguard the most vulnerable and marginalized communities, and prevent them from being impacted by the crisis: “The PAM has launched emergency operations to provide food aid to 3.4 million people We also continue to work with smallholder farmers to make food systems more robust and resilient to climate shocks so there are no disruptions to food supply. food chain that goes from farm to table, even in times of crisis”.

According to government data, in June food inflation exceeded 90%. And the picture does not seem to be better in the future: in the short term, food shortages will worsen and prices will continue to rise. However, some argue that Sri Lanka has the capacity to deal with this crisis thanks to the role of local producers, whose rights must be recognized: “More than 1 to 5 million Sri Lankans are small producers,” explained Sandun Tudugala, representative of the People’s Alliance for Right to Land (PARL). But for more than 30 years, “they have seen how the provinces in the north and east of the country are taken from them: first, the army; and then, the Forest and Fauna Conservation Institutes.”

“In addition, farmers are being displaced from their farmland by tourism development projects,” the activist continued. “Plantation workers, who have contributed to the economic development of the country in food production for many generations, still have have rights to the land,” he said.

Nearly 40% of the Sri Lankan population is engaged in agriculture or animal husbandry. In the Popular Land Commission, convened by the PARL between 2020 and 2021, small producers had denounced “the loss of farmland due to militarization, the acquisition of land for large-scale export-oriented crops, the development of infrastructure and tourism, urban sprawl, the transfer of farmland to private entrepreneurs and cases of forced acquisition by various ministries”.