2009
Food Security in Current Era in relation with Climate Changes
Sri Lanka
We are living at a moment in history that is unique with respect to
the unprecedented progress in science, technology, and
communication that has been achieved in the past three decades.
These scientific and technological achievements are formidable
accomplishments with significant potential for creating future
sustainable and equitable well-being around the world. But today
we live in a world of disparities, where a fifth of the global
population lives in poverty and hunger.
In this context, it seems a paradox that there is little international
or national commitment to the development of the agricultural sectors of developing
countries. Agriculture was the foundation of social and economic progress in the developed
countries, and to this day it has extremely powerful political lobbies in these nations, in
contrast, in many developing countries, where as much as 70% of the population derives their
livelihoods directly or indirectly from agriculture, the weakest political lobbies are those of
the agricultural and rural sectors.
Food production systems interact with land resources, forest ecosystems, and biodiversity.
Maintaining the fertility and multi-functionality of soils, preserving genetic diversity, adopting
effective water resources management and protection measures, and adapting to climate
change are critical to enhancing agricultural production.
Climate change is likely to affect people in Asia more than anywhere else in the world. There
are ample evidences to show the change of the variability of hydrological regime and
increased temperature in the environment even though solid facts are yet to be found in
confirming the persistent uni-directional change in climatological events. The situation is
similar in most of the countries in Asia and worse in South Asia including Sri Lanka. It is
evident that the food crop production in Asia, particularly in South Asia has been significantly
affected by the change of climate. Frequent natural calamities in the Asian region aggravate
the problem further.
Most of our food imports are procured from Asian countries and there is an obvious
reduction in agricultural production in the region. It is unavoidable that any country where
there is a deficit between production and consumption would face a serious food crisis and
Sri Lanka is no exception. More emphasis should be placed on the production of staple food
Indu Abeyratne (DRR Specilaist)
[email protected] Sri Lanka red Cross Society
in the policy frame work and the government should promote the production of rice by
creating markets in the rural areas, build infrastructures that support the farmers to produce
more, continue to provide limited subsidies for the fertilizers while promoting the use of
organic manure, avail loans to farmers, improvement and increase yields through bio-
fortification and make policies that motivate farmers to produce more rice.
Climate change, air and water pollution, pests and diseases, economic and social turmoil, and
even genetically modified crop contamination do not recognize or respect political and
geographical boundaries. Without responsible decision making, compromises, and even
sacrifice, the children born in the wake of the 21st century may face a bleak future indeed. We
must begin now to consider our response to global changes and challenges, because the
actions taken—or not taken—today will affect the quality of life for us and for generations to
come.
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