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Monday Nov 25, 2024
Tuesday, 17 December 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Q: Could you highlight about FAO’s work in the global context?
A: We are a technical agency of the UN. At the heart of our efforts is achieving food security for all. We focus on ensuring people have regular access to safe and sufficient food that will help them to lead active and healthy lives. FAO works in the areas of improving nutrition, increasing agriculture productivity in a sustainable manner, raising the standard of living in the rural population, and contributing to global economic growth.
The FAO has five strategic objectives under which its work is structured. These objectives have been developed in close consultation with FAO’s 197 member states. The five objective and priorities of the institution are; to help eliminate hunger food insecurity and malnutrition, to make agriculture, including forestry and fisheries, more productive and sustainable, to reduce rural poverty, to enable inclusive and efficient agriculture and food systems, and to increase the resilience of livelihood from disasters.
FAO is also a knowledge organisation which collects, analyses, and shares huge amounts of data and information to aid development. This information is readily available in the FAO website and includes things like the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in Sinhala and Tamil as well.
Q: In Sri Lanka what is FAO’s area of work?
A: In Sri Lanka, just like anywhere else, we make sure that we focus on the areas of our comparative advantage in the five strategic areas that I previously mentioned. We work in collaboration with the Government and provide assistance in line with its national priorities. FAO also works in collaboration with other UN agencies under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).
FAO in Sri Lanka has a number of national and regional projects which targets farmers, fishers, agricultural and environmental policy makers, and researchers. Projects FAO implements in the country are funded by our resource partners.
Q: What are the issues FAO sees in Sri Lanka and how does it help address them?
A: In the past years, FAO has focused a lot of its efforts on rehabilitation and recovery. After the Tsunami we were heavily involved in rebuilding the fishery livelihood and constructed, for example, over 100 fisheries landing sites.
Following the end of the conflict, we focused on recovery in the affected areas in the north and east regions of Sri Lanka mainly by providing inputs to the agriculture sector, such as seeds, poultry, livestock, water pumps, agri-wells, and fisheries support. In this period, FAO also rehabilitated over 140 small and medium tanks to help with the irrigation. This was all done with the generous support of our resource partners, for which we are very grateful.
Having done huge amounts of work in the above mentioned areas, and taking into consideration that Sri Lanka is now a middle income country; we see a turning point for our work in the nation.
FAO is now focusing on longer-term development issues. One example is the agriculture extension project that we are implementing in conjunction with the Government, which focuses on agriculture enterprise development. Farmers attend farmer business schools and learn to be more market oriented about the way they approach their work. I visited this project area recently and it was amazing to see how quickly the farmers were able to turn around the way they worked after learning how to do a market analysis and develop a business plan. The women farmers in particular also spoke about the way the farmer business school had helped them change their mindset. The Department of Agriculture is now adopting this extension model island-wide.
Sri Lanka also aims to become self-sufficient in dairy and milk production. In this regard, FAO has two projects aimed at increasing milk production which it is implementing with the Government, one on improving the genetic stock of the cattle and another on improving the feeding technique.
Q: Sri Lanka has done well in reducing the level of poverty. What more can be done to further reduce this?
A: Sri Lanka is certainly doing very well in improving the poverty situation but there is always more that can be done. I think areas for improvement include focusing more on market orientation, sustainable agriculture production, and income generating opportunities.
The sustainable issue is a major focus for FAO since we have to make sure that our efforts reduce food insecurity and poverty not only for this generation, but for future generations as well.
A lot can be done in the area of capacity building and diversification for small scale producers so they can grow different types of crops that generate higher value.
In many developing countries we observe that agriculture does not reach its full potential. This is at least partially because women do not have equal access to resources and opportunities. FAO tries its best to focus on gender equality in all its projects since this has a major role to play in ensuring sustainability in agriculture and food security. When looking at small enterprise loans for example, it is generally more likely that men will gain access to resources. However, in the 2014 Budget Speech for Sri Lanka, a Women Micro Enterprise Credit Guarantee Scheme was announced, where working capital loans up to Rs. 250,000 will be provided without the need of security. This is an excellent initiative the Government is taking.
Another issue that we note in the country is high post-harvest losses. In Sri Lanka about 30% to 40% of harvests are lost. When taking into account the financial, human, and environment costs that goes into the production, a 40% loss is a big issue. That is another area where there is potential for improvement.
Q: In terms of food security what is the situation in Sri Lanka?
A: The statistics show that food insecurity is in the range of 20% with some variations by region. Food insecurity and poverty are of course closely interlinked.
Another important aspect of the food insecurity situation is nutrition. Food insecurity doesn’t necessarily mean there is not enough food; it also means the people are not getting the right nutritional requirements from the food consumed.
The Government recently launched a multi-sector action plan for nutrition, which is a very important initiative. This plan brings together a number of elements to improve food security and provide access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene to households at risk. The Government has asked FAO, UNICEF, and WFP to work together with them on implementing this strategy.
Q: Comparing to other countries how is Sri Lanka doing in terms of achieving food security?
A: Sri Lanka was ranked 60th among 107 countries in the Global Food security Index in 2013. And the World Bank in a recent study identified, poor infant feeding practices, maternal under nutrition, and limited access to nutritious food as key factors of food insecurity in the nation.
Q: How has the organisation’s partnership with the Government been so far?
A: FAO always had a very good relationship with the Government. That’s what I heard before I arrived, and after I came here that certainly has been my experience. It is sort of a natural partnership as well because in Sri Lanka 70% of the population lives in rural areas and depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Therefore FAO and the Government have a good reason to be working together.
Q: In which areas do you think the Government can do more?
A: The Government has comprehensive long term development plans and we work with them in the implementation. In the 2014 Budget we saw many important areas highlighted, such as strengthening extension services, producing quality seed materials, encouraging home gardens, and, in the area of nutrition, popularising the consumption of home grown vegetables, milk and eggs. These are areas that we fully agree with and support and it is important that we now move ahead actively and effectively to make strides in these areas.
Q: Having recently being appointed as the Representative for FAO in Sri Lanka, what are the FAO’s future plans in Sri Lanka?
A: FAO has an agreed medium term plan that was developed last year in conjunction with the line ministries, which highlights priority areas within the Government’s agricultural and food security development objectives which could be supported by FAO. It is the plan for the next five years and adjustments will be made when necessary and if things change.
In the coming years, we will be broadly focusing on a few priority areas. One is achieving sustainable food and nutrition security in the country while developing the livelihood of the rural agricultural sector. Under the food crops sub-sector, we will be focusing mainly on non-rice food crops because the country is largely sustainable in rice.
In fisheries we will be focusing on inland capture fish industry, and farmed and cultured fish. Within that we will be working towards increased fish consumption for nutrition and income from fish products.
In the livestock sub-sector, we will be focusing on improvements in the dairy and poultry sectors.
Furthermore, we will be working with the plantation sector by focusing on expert crops, with emphasis on the spice sector since it is an important area for the Sri Lankan economy.
FAO believes that by focusing on these areas, it will help the nation take the next step towards improving market viability and its economic situation. We will aim to build capacity and improve technologies for sustainable production.
Q: What is FAO’s theme for 2014?
A: FAO has marked 2014 as the ‘International Year for Family Farming’, which I think is a topic of great relevance for Sri Lanka. The aim is to highlight the profile of family farming and small holder farming. It will showcase the significant role of family farming in achieving food security and nutrition, and in improving livelihoods sustainable agriculture practices.
