No critical shortage of essentials as of now
Amid the devastating floods that have swept across Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Food Security has assured that there is currently no critical shortage of essential goods in the country.According to the Disaster Management Centre’s Rapid Needs Assessment as of Tuesday (2), approximately 1.5 million people reside in districts classified as having moderate to high food insecurity risk. According to the assessment, the floods have caused severe crop losses, disrupted inland fisheries and shrimp farming, and damaged fishing vessels and landing sites.
Livestock farmers and markets have also faced significant disruption. Vegetable prices have reportedly surged by 30–200% due to supply shortages, while rice and dhal have seen only slight increases.Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Deputy Minister of Food Security R.M. Jayawardana said that although vegetable crops had been damaged, the situation did not yet constitute a critical shortage.“A verdict to import vegetables has been taken, although no imports have been made so far. Approval is in place to import if the need arises,” he added.
He further explained that although an estimated three million egg-laying hens had been lost due to the floods and cyclone, a pre-existing surplus of eggs had balanced the supply.“There have been proposals to gradually increase egg prices, but this has not been implemented as there is currently no shortage,” Jayawardana said.
The Deputy Minister also stressed the need to monitor other volatile food items, including milk and meat, even though no shortages have been reported at present. Rice stocks remain in surplus, and there is little risk of a shortage in the coming months. To support affected farmers, the Government has decided to provide Rs. 100,000 per hectare in compensation, along with the necessary fertilizer free of charge.Jayawardana said that while some paddy crops would be unrecovered due to the floods, the losses would not result in a shortage of essential food items.