Extreme drought has reported hit Sri Lanka following heavy
rainfalls with large swaths of cropping areas, threatening the food security of
some 900,000 people, NaijaAgroNet
reports.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), while confirming this
to NaijaAgroNet, saying that the
joint Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission, showed that drought conditions
in 2016 and early 2017 led to widespread crop failures, in particular for rice
paddy - the country's staple food.
This NaijaAgroNet
reported has resulted in a Total paddy production in 2017 worth forecast at 2.7
million tonnes, almost 40 per cent less than the last year's output and 35
percent lower than the average of the previous five years.
Other crops, including various pulses, chillies and onion,
which rely mainly on rainwater, were also heavily damaged by the dry weather.
The situation was exacerbated by subsequent heavy rainfalls
in May. Floods and landslides in the south-western parts of the country caused
deaths, large population displacements and damage to infrastructure. The rains
did not ease the water supply constraints in the drought-impacted north-central
and eastern parts of the country.
Now, nearly 225,000 households (or about 900,000 people)
face food insecurity. The most vulnerable groups are struggling to earn an
income after losing their own crops and have fewer employment opportunities. In
ten districts, a previous joint assessment showed that about one third of the
drought-affected population had its regular income reduced by more than half,
compared to the income generated from the 2015-2016 Maha season.
The situation may further deteriorate if the next cropping
season fails. Due to a critical shortage of seeds and a lack of water for
irrigation, the second 2017 paddy harvest - known as Yala, due to be harvested
in August and September - is forecast at 1.2 million tonnes, 24 percent below
last year's level.
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