IPS Stakeholder Engagement Forum highlights Major Challenges for Food Security
29 November 2018
IPS, Colombo
While more than 80% of Sri Lanka’s food is produced locally, Sri Lanka continues to struggle with food security issues, IPS research has shown. The increase in the population and the increase in average income means that the agricultural sector is finding it challenging to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for food, noted IPS Research Fellow, Manoj Thibbotuwawa.
He further outlined some of the risks to Sri Lanka’s food security situation, including stagnating yield levels, declining investments in research and development (R&D), rising cost of food production and subsequent rise in food prices, the lack of access of nutritious food, and impacts of climate change and natural disasters.
He made these remarks at the Stakeholder Engagement Forum on Food Security, organised by IPS, on 29 November 2018.
Making stakeholders aware about IPS research, identifying research gaps and new research areas, and exploring possibilities of collaborative research, oriented towards policy are the main objectives of IPS’ Policy Engagement Forums. The roundtable discussion saw the participation of many key stakeholders working on food security and related issues, such as public officials, representatives from international organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector, and the academia.
