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Record inflation and skyrocketing prices leave over 6 million Sri Lankans food insecure: WFP

Published

4 years ago

2022/07/8

As prices keep healthy meals out of reach, some 61 per cent of households are regularly using coping strategies to cut down on costs, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious meals.

And with opportunities to make enough income in the medium to long-term decreasing for an estimated 200,000 families, the UN food relief agency anticipates that even more people will turn to these coping strategies as the crisis deepens.

“These days, we don’t have a proper meal but eat only rice and gravy,” one woman told WFP.

WFP is warning that a lack of nutrition has grave consequences for pregnant women, putting both their own and their children’s health at risk.

“Pregnant mothers need to eat nutritious meals every day, but the poorest find it harder and harder to afford the basics,” WFP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Anthea Webb said last month.

She told a local television station that by skipping meals, pregnant women were putting themselves and their children’s health at risk in a way that “carries throughout your life”.

To combat the food crisis and its effect on malnutrition, WFP has been distributing monthly food vouchers to pregnant women, valued at $40, in some of the poorest neighbourhoods, alongside antenatal care provided by the local government.

Debilitating inflation

Amidst a staggering 57.4 per cent inflation rate, steeply increasing food prices have crippled the population’s ability to put sufficient and nutritious meals on the table, rendering two in five households without adequate diets.

The food security situation is worst among people working in the farming estates sector – such as large tea plantations – where more than half of households are food insecure, according to WFP.

In all measures of food insecurity and coping strategies, these households have consistently poorer outcomes than urban and rural populations.

While urban households are depleting savings to cope for now, families on rural estates are already turning to credit, in order to buy food and other necessities.

“Poor families in cities and those who work on estates have seen their incomes plummet while market prices have soared,” the WFP official said.

A gloomy picture

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said WFP.

A current oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice.

Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation, have fuelled the shortages.

The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty – some for the first time – adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic.

WFP steps up

To address the downward spiralling situation, last month WFP launched a $60 million emergency appeal for food and nutrition to assist three million of the most at-risk Sri Lankans.

“We must act now before this becomes a humanitarian catastrophe,” warned WFP chief David Beasley in a tweet.

To date, the agency has delivered 88 per cent of the first batch of 2,375 vouchers it has available, and targeted three million people to receive emergency food, nutrition, and school meals, until December.

As prices keep healthy meals out of reach, some 61 per cent of households are regularly using food-based coping strategies, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious food.

And with the medium- to long-term income-generating capacities at severe risk for an estimated 200,000 families, the UN food relief agency anticipates that even more people will turn to these coping strategies as the crisis deepens.

“These days, we don’t have a proper meal but eat only rice and gravy,” one woman told WFP.

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Chemmani mass graves: Govt to seek international forensic help

Published

3 hours ago

2026/06/28

Thilina Walpola

ECONOMYNEXT –International assistance for forensic analysis of the remains unearthed at the Chemmani mass grave will be sought when the need arises, Sri Lanka’s Minister of has Justice said after opposition legislators urged the government to seek help.

“We have spoken to embassies, we have made all the local finances necessary for excavation. But when it comes to DNA analysis, depending on the type and nature we will definitely have to go for internationally recognised places,” Harshana Nanayakkara said in response to a query in Parliament.

Nanayakkara said that request for international expertise is dependant on the direction the courts give on what needs to be done, after which they will decide which agency best suits the proceedings.

The minister also recognised that local expertise is lacking in the forensic department, and the need to train local staff with the help of international experts.

Opposition MPs argued that the present need is direct help in forensics from international entities, rather than the longer term need to train the staff on analysis.

Currently, the investigation is in the excavation and exhumation stage, conducted by archaeologist Raj Somadeva and his team.

The existence of the Chemmani mass grave was first brought to light in 1998, during the trial of the rape and murder of schoolgirl Krishanti Kumaraswamy.

In February 2025, construction workers found remains near the Sinthupathy Cemetery, and following investigations ordered by the Learned Magistrate, the mass grave was discovered.

412 bodies have been discovered, with 409 bodies recovered as of 23 June 2026. According to the Office on Missing Persons, this is the 17th recorded mass grave in Sri Lanka.

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ADB approves $57.4 million package to boost Lanka’s rooftop solar drive

Published

3 hours ago

2026/06/28

Thilina Walpola

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $57.4 million financing package to help Sri Lanka expand access to affordable clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a large-scale rooftop solar aggregation and virtual net metering programme.

The financing comprises a $35 million concessional loan, $16.9 million in grants from the European Union and $5.5 million from the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism. With additional contributions from implementing agencies, the total estimated cost of the project is $80.5 million.

Under the Rooftop Solar Aggregation and Virtual Net Metering Project, two state-owned utilities — Electricity Distribution Lanka (Private) Limited and Lanka Electricity Company (Private) Limited — will introduce a scalable model to collect electricity generated from large rooftop solar installations and allocate the benefits virtually among eligible consumers.

The initiative will allow consumers to access solar power benefits without having to install individual rooftop solar systems.

ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Shannon Cowlin said the project would broaden access to affordable renewable energy while strengthening the resilience and inclusiveness of the country’s power sector.

She said the initiative would also support grid modernisation and digital transformation, while creating employment opportunities and encouraging greater participation of women and youth in the clean energy sector.

The project is expected to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises and community organisations that face financial or space constraints in installing their own rooftop solar systems. Through a social compensation mechanism, eligible groups will receive reductions in electricity costs under the virtual net metering system.

The programme will support around 25 megawatt-peak of rooftop solar capacity while strengthening distribution networks, improving digital capabilities and preparing the national grid to accommodate higher levels of distributed renewable energy.

A dedicated training facility will also be established under the project to develop green skills, enhance women’s participation in the sector and build technical expertise in advanced low-carbon technologies.

News

Bond scam case against Mahendran, Ravi K fixed for July 22

Published

3 hours ago

2026/06/28

Thilina Walpola

The Colombo High Court on Friday ordered that proceedings in the case filed against 11 defendants, including former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, over alleged irregularities in the Central Bank bond auction be taken up again on July 22.

The case was called before Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Thilakaratne, who informed court that the Trial-at-Bar bench appointed to hear the matter had not been properly constituted.

Accordingly, the judge directed that the case be recalled on July 22 for further proceedings.

The Attorney General has filed indictments under the Public Property Act against 11 accused, including Mahendran, Karunanayake, Perpetual Treasuries Limited and its directors Arjun Aloysius and Geoffrey Aloysius.

The accused have been charged over alleged irregularities connected to a Treasury bond auction conducted by the Central Bank in March 2016.