Regional and cross-country food trading facilitation imperative for Sri Lanka’s food security

Sri Lanka being import dependent on several major food commodities in the food balance sheet requires the facilitation of regional and cross-country food trading to ensure food security.

According to the Central Bank (CBSL), promotion of domestic production of a number of food items remains to be a necessary condition to ensure long-term food security in the country. It added that this should be addressed while managing the short-term challenges when implementing conducive policies.

“Enabling income generation opportunities for economically vulnerable groups will enhance their resilience to cope with unanticipated shocks in the future,” the CBSL said in its latest annual report.

The report stressed that efforts are required to improve warehousing and storage facilities, including cold storage, enhancing packaging and transportation services in the medium to long-term to reduce post-harvest losses, prevent food shortages and maintain food inflation at subdued levels.

Furthermore, the CBSL called for policies to be targeted towards educating the public, particularly in relation to nutrition and food safety, to promote healthy eating habits and healthy eating choices amongst individuals.

The financial system regulator stated that the mentioned aspects would be taken into consideration when finalising the proposed National Agriculture Policy of the government.

Meanwhile, pointing out that wild animals such as elephants, monkeys, peacocks and wild boars create significant crop losses, which in turn threaten domestic food security, the CBSL stressed the country needs a holistic and integrated approach to resolve human-wildlife conflict in an equitable and sustainable manner.