Sri Lanka will get 74.87 million US dollars from Rome-based World Food Program as part of efforts to eliminate hunger by 2023, the President’s media office said.
Sri Lanka is currently in the grip of the worst currency crisis in the history of its intermediate regime central bank and a collapse of the rupee from 200 to 360 to the US dollar has made food unaffordable to poorer sections of society and those in marginal brackets are thrown in to poverty.
In a program that is to run till 2027, Sri Lanka hopes to reach UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2 of eliminating hunger, the statement revealed.
Other goals include It also seeks to contribute to the progress of poverty eradication, gender equality, reduced inequalities and climate action (SDGs 1, 5, 10 and 13).
“WFP Executive Board approved Sri Lanka’s CSP, at its second Regular Session to assist Sri Lanka’s national efforts through food assistance in the short term, while restoring and improving food security and nutrition by developing in-country capacity to reduce vulnerability levels,” Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP) in Rome David M. Beasley said in a statement.
WFP will also provide technical assistance and policy advice to help maximize the return on the government’s investment in food security and nutrition
Amid skyrocketing food prices and inflation in Sri Lanka, the latest report by the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) revealed that hunger levels were rising sharply as four out of of five households were limiting portion sizes and skipping meals to cope with the ongoing economic crisis.
Stepping up its emergency operations, the WFP has planned to provide assistance to 3.4 million people with food, cash or vouchers while supporting national programmes, including school meals and provide fortified food to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, as well as children.
Earlier, the WFP’s Situation Report for August revealed that 6.3 million people were suffering from food insecurity and 6.7 million of around 22 million population were not consuming adequate portions.
The new report was prepared following a two-day visit by John Aylieff, the WFP’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, to the island nation.
“As the island nation continues to grapple with its worst-ever economic crisis since its independence in 1948, the WFP warned that as “prices continue to skyrocket, there are serious concerns that the food security situation could deteriorate even further”.
Trapped in a debt crisis and poor handling of the economy by the previous government, including tax reduction to win votes and an overnight ban of chemical fertilizer by the regime led by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, people have been facing severe food, fuel, medicine and power shortages since early this year.
The country’s tourism sector, one of the main foreign income generator, has been badly affected due to the crisis after already reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
