ASIA/SRI LANKA - A priest from Colombo: in the face of rice shortage, "the government should adopt measures in the interest of the poor"

Colombo (Agenzia Fides) - Faced with difficulties and the crisis that is also affecting the staple food of the population, rice, it is necessary to "look for solutions that are not ideological, but purely in the interest and for the benefit of the population, especially the poorest and the less well-off: this is the task of the government," Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando told Fides. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando, director of the Sinhala-language Catholic weekly "Gnartha Pradeepaya" ("The Light of Knowledge"), speaks about an issue that is currently dominating the island nation, the lack of rice. "In some regions of the country, such as the south, there is a shortage of red rice (a quality of rice that is the basis of the diet, ed.). There are various reasons for this: the impact of the drop in production that has already affected the country since 2022; Problems in the distribution chain from producers to traders; the existence of mechanisms that border on speculation because there are a few large producers who then determine the price of the product at retail; general inflation in the country," explains the Catholic priest. But rice, says Father Fernando, "is not a product like any other," but the staple food of every family. "That is why it is important that the government intervene with measures to regulate prices and ensure proper distribution in the markets," he demands.
Last December, the Sri Lankan government imported a total of 70,000 tons of rice from India to address what the authorities called an "artificial shortage" and agreed to take action against the main rice traders. The new President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, elected in September 2024, agreed to an import programme to meet the increasingly urgent needs of ordinary people, especially the poorer sections of the population, despite having said during his campaign that he was against rice imports and insisted on the country's self-sufficiency. In terms of production volumes, observers say, the country is self-sufficient on paper, but factors such as weather conditions (droughts and floods) or policies such as the ban on pesticides and fertilizers enacted in 2021 must be taken into account. That is why "it is always important to have emergency solutions ready," advocates Rajan Philps, columnist for the Colombo Telegraph newspaper, calling on the current government to "set up a comprehensive database covering rice production and the milling industry as well as the distribution system for the rice sector at all levels as soon as possible." Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's economic and political crisis in 2022 had begun precisely because of the severe food shortages that led to protests and forced then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. In a social situation where many families are still struggling to make a living in economic difficulties, "the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has launched several initiatives and projects of solidarity and closeness to the poorest for the Jubilee Year," says Father Cyril Gamini Fernando. "Our Holy Year will be a Jubilee with the poor," he concludes. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 15/1/2025)

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food safety

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poverty

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economy

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