Farmers are counting the cost of the nation’s worst drought in decades, which has caused widespread crop failure and food shortages while compounding the nation’s existing malnutrition crisis. Drought conditions now exist in all but two of the country’s 25 provinces, and more than 1.2 million people are affected, including over 600,000 children.
Rice paddy cultivation from the harvest just ended was down 63 per cent compared to the average, making it the worst major harvest in over 40 years. “The biggest harvest of the year has just finished and it’s been a massive failure for most farmers living in areas crippled by the drought,” said Chris McIvor, Save the Children Country Director in Sri Lanka.
Widespread food and water shortages across the country have been visible, and it could get worse if the next harvest in Yala season due in August is also below the norm. Thousands of water tanks are running low or drying out with some water stores becoming contaminated because they’ve been stagnant for too long. There have even been reports of wild elephants coming into villages in search of food and water, often destroying remaining crops and potentially putting children’s lives in danger. McIvor warned that the drought was also compounding Sri Lanka’s long struggle with malnutrition, which affects nearly a third of children and a quarter of women.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2017/03/12/farmers-face-worst-harvest-in-40-years/
