Timely warning
President Mahinda
Rajapaksa has called on the authorities to brace the country for
an impending food crisis in view of the spate of natural
disasters that is sweeping the world. This timely warning issued
by President Rajapaksa of a looming food crisis should be heeded
by all with the seriousness it deserves.
Addressing the Food Security and Cost of Living Committee at
Temple Trees on Wednesday the President said the possibility of
a global famine is clearly indicated due to the string of
natural disaster that have hit the world in recent times. He
called on them to devise contingency plans to face up to the
situation. The President also warned that the crisis may be upon
us by April this year due to the sizeable portion of food stocks
that have been destroyed last year due to natural disasters.
What is more ominous is the fact that Sri Lanka may lose between
15 to 20 percent due to the current weather pattern. President
Rajapaksa has always given high priority to food security. It is
due to his policies that Sri Lanka was able to avert a famine
due to the world food crisis that affected even many of the
developed nations three years ago. The fertilizer subsidies and
reduction of costs of agricultural implements and other
concessions to the farmer coupled with the vigorous food
production drive launched by him as early as in the second year
of his first term all served to ensure Sri Lanka was spared the
fall out of the world food crisis. This at a time when the war
was at its height and the bulk of the Government's resources
committed to fighting terrorism.
The President's concern for the food security not only in Sri
Lanka but in the South Asian region as a whole was also
underscored when he proposed the establishment of a SAARC Food
Bank during the Colombo Summit that year. Likewise the President
mentioned a food crisis of gigantic proportions could be a
reality very soon considering the large swathes of agriculture
land that have been destroyed due to flood and other natural
disasters in large parts of the world. The recent flood
devastation in Pakistan alone affected 20 million people - equal
in number to the Sri Lanka's population. Its effect on
agriculture land and food crops can only be imagined. Australia
is still being battered by the worst flood to hit the country in
a century and if the TV footage is anything to go by the
devastation caused to the vast agriculture tracts is
incalculable. This coupled with other disasters that are taking
a heavy toll on all arable land and food crops all over the
world is bound to have a cumulative impact on agriculture
production that could have an across the board impact on the
food security of nations in the not too distant future.
Sri Lanka should therefore get its act together before it is
too late. As the President stated there is hardly any time to
lose. We ourselves are now experiencing one of the worse floods
ever to hit the country with large-scale devastation to
agriculture land and destruction of food crops. According to
reports large vast swathes of the country's paddy land have
being submerged with paddy destroyed. It is the same with other
crops too since the worst affected areas are the ones that come
under the country's agriculture belt.
It could be said that Sri Lanka too has been sucked into the
global phenomenon of natural disasters and while we may be
helpless in the matter there could be steps that may be taken to
mitigate the damage and salvage something out of the ruins. To
begin with the Government should take all necessary action to
deal with the man made follies that contribute to the natural
disasters such as floods. As we have been repeatedly saying in
these columns it should take meaningful steps to prevent
environmental destruction and damage to the eco-system which has
exacerbated the damage. It should strike the right balance
between development imperatives and environmental protection.
While crop destruction is thus mitigated at least to some extent
the Government should also lose no time in getting all
cultivable lands that are abandoned or neglected under the
plough.
It should forthwith put a halt to the unauthorized land
filling and acquire such land for cultivation purposes where
possible. In the present context we will have to seek out all
avenues to step up agriculture production even though the food
crisis is near at hand so that we may set up a sound base to
meet any future challenges.
The looming food crisis should also drive the authorities to
concentrate all its energies on agriculture development even at
the expense of progress on the industrial front. What is needed
is a long-term solution for sustainable agricultural production.
Food security of a country is vital and should surpass all other
considerations. For, a starving nation cannot benefit from
development on whatever scale. |