Food shortage issues
While Sri Lanka is harping on the shortage of food since the recent past and expecting worst scenarios in the years to come, lack of prominence is given to food security in the country, according to Delano Dias, President of the Sri Lanka Food Processors Association (SLFPA) who was speaking during the national dissemination workshop held at the Jaic Hilton in Colombo last week.
Mr. Dias said, “Food is important to us all while we want to ensure food security. We talk about shortage of food, but focus has not been given to food security and reduction of food wastage.” Small and medium sized enterprises have the potential to partner with big conglomerates and help farmers produce more yield. “We want to see equal opportunities, youth empowerment and no disparity among the societies,” added Mr. Dias.
International Labour Organisation (ILO), Chief Technical Advisor, Thomas Kring stressed, “Agriculture in Sri Lanka has a huge potential. If companies look at ways to make a productive outcome from the farmers, then Sri Lanka does not have to rely on food imports.” Over the years the engagement of ILO with SLFPA has evolved. ILO’s initiative with the SLFPA, the local empowerment for economic development and reconciliation project (LEED+) is coming to an end in June this year. “We are looking for partners on how to make this sustainable. It’s a time where Sri Lanka needs food security and stop food wastage,” noted Mr. Kring. The collaboration of ILO with SLFPA, aims to promote an inclusive value chain concept within the agro-food processing sector in Sri Lanka. SLFPA in coordination with LEED+ has provided support to private sector companies in developing strategies to foster inclusive models in their supply chains. The project was launched by facilitating workshops across 50 industries in the Sri Lanka food processing sector, discussing issues of sustainability and inclusive value chains while presenting the projects completed by the ILO together with private sector members in the food processing sector in the past.
One of the programme highlights was the opportunity for companies to apply for grants to help develop their own inclusive business strategies within their supply chains. Two companies were selected to receive these grants, Janrich (Pvt) Ltd and Wild Vegan (Pvt) Ltd. The companies invested in developing their value chains in specialty chillies and king coconut respectively.
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