SRI LANKA
IFPRI Publications on Sri Lanka
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Nutrition and diet profile: Sri Lanka
Koyratty, Nadia; Silva, Renuka; Ranathunga, Thilanka; Olney, Deanna K.. 2024
Koyratty, Nadia; Silva, Renuka; Ranathunga, Thilanka; Olney, Deanna K.. 2024
Abstract | View
• Sri Lanka faces a double burden of malnutrition with the co-existence and persistence of multiple forms of malnutrition, e.g., stunting, wasting, underweight, overweight/ obesity, anemia, and micronutrient deficiences.
• Inadequate intake of many micronutrients is common across several population groups in Sri Lanka, indicating low intake of nutrient-dense foods such as F&Vs and animal-source foods. • A diverse diet with adequate intake of nutrient-dense foods should be encouraged to address nutrient gaps among Sri Lankans and reduce the risk of NCDs.
• Many government-issued diet- and nutrition-related policies, strategies, and programs have been adopted in Sri Lanka. However, these often do not place enough emphasis on F&Vs. • While national food based dietary guidelines exist, as well as other guidelines and policies, there is uncertainty about the level of public awareness and the population’s adherence to the recommendations. • Evaluations of diet- and nutrition-related interventions are also scarce, indicating a need for rigorous evidence on what works to help guide programs and policies that aim to improve diet and nutrition outcomes among Sri Lankans.
• Inadequate intake of many micronutrients is common across several population groups in Sri Lanka, indicating low intake of nutrient-dense foods such as F&Vs and animal-source foods. • A diverse diet with adequate intake of nutrient-dense foods should be encouraged to address nutrient gaps among Sri Lankans and reduce the risk of NCDs.
• Many government-issued diet- and nutrition-related policies, strategies, and programs have been adopted in Sri Lanka. However, these often do not place enough emphasis on F&Vs. • While national food based dietary guidelines exist, as well as other guidelines and policies, there is uncertainty about the level of public awareness and the population’s adherence to the recommendations. • Evaluations of diet- and nutrition-related interventions are also scarce, indicating a need for rigorous evidence on what works to help guide programs and policies that aim to improve diet and nutrition outcomes among Sri Lankans.
Food systems interventions for nutrition: Lessons from six program evaluations in Africa and South Asia
Neufeld, Lynnette M.; Nordhagen, Stella; Leroy, Jef L.; Aberman, Noora-Lisa; Barnett, Inka; Wouabe, Eric Djimeu. 2024
Neufeld, Lynnette M.; Nordhagen, Stella; Leroy, Jef L.; Aberman, Noora-Lisa; Barnett, Inka; Wouabe, Eric Djimeu. 2024
Abstract | View
While there is growing global momentum behind food systems strategies to improve planetary and human health—including nutrition—there is limited evidence of what types of food systems interventions work. Evaluating these types of interventions is challenging due to their complex and dynamic nature and lack of fit with standard evaluation methods. In this paper, we draw on a portfolio of six evaluations of food systems interventions in Africa and South Asia that were intended to improve nutrition. We identify key methodological challenges and formulate recommendations to improve the quality of such studies. We highlight five challenges: a lack of evidence base to justify the intervention; the dynamic and multifaceted nature of the interventions; addressing attribution; collecting or accessing accurate and timely data; and defining and measuring appropriate outcomes. In addition to more specific guidance, we identify six cross-cutting recommendations, including a need to use multiple and diverse methods and flexible designs. We also note that these evaluation challenges present opportunities to develop new methods and highlight several specific needs in this space.
Should Sri Lanka attempt to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses?
Natarajan, Kiruthika; Thibbotuwawa, Manoj; Babu, Suresh. 2024
Natarajan, Kiruthika; Thibbotuwawa, Manoj; Babu, Suresh. 2024
Abstract | View
Agriculture is the mainstay of Sri Lanka’s rural economy and employs about 26.5 percent of the country’s total employed population, rural and urban (Department of Census and Statistics [DCS] 2023a). Paddy occupies the largest portion of cropland; tea, rubber, coconut, spices, fruits, vegetables, pulses, and other cereals occupy the rest (Thibbotuwawa 2021; Senanayake and Premaratne 2016; Adhikari nayake 2005). Nonetheless, food and nutrition security remain a major challenge: nearly 3.9 million people, or 17 percent of Sri Lankans, experience moderately acute food insecurity; nearly 10,000 are severely acute food insecure; and 56 percent of households have adopted food-based coping strategies, including reducing meal portion sizes (36 percent) and skipping meals (19 percent) (FAO 2023a). Moreover, the prevalence of underweight in women and anaemia in adolescent girls and women is high in South Asia (UNICEF 2023), and micronutrient (iron, zinc, and/or folate) deficiencies are also highest there (72 percent).
India's rice export restrictions and BIMSTEC countries: Implications and recommendations
Kamar, Abul; Roy, Devesh; Pradhan, Mamata; Saroj, Sunil. Washington, DC 2023
Kamar, Abul; Roy, Devesh; Pradhan, Mamata; Saroj, Sunil. Washington, DC 2023
DOI : 10.2499/p15738coll2.136875
Abstract | View
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) brings together five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and two Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand). Recent events have raised global concerns on food security, including for BIMSTEC countries; these events include Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Ukraine, India’s prohibition on the export of non-basmati white rice, and its 20 percent export duty on parboiled rice. This policy note spells out the likely impact of one of these events, that is, India’s restrictions on rice exports to its fellow BIMSTEC nations.
Trade moves food from surplus to deficit regions and hence is crucial for maintaining a stable food supply. Historically, the global supply of cereals has been stable (Bradford et al. 2022); this implies that trade (or the lack of it) can be directly mapped onto area-specific food insecurity. At the same time, shocks leading to trade disruption can pose serious challenges, particularly for countries with high import penetration in food.
Trade moves food from surplus to deficit regions and hence is crucial for maintaining a stable food supply. Historically, the global supply of cereals has been stable (Bradford et al. 2022); this implies that trade (or the lack of it) can be directly mapped onto area-specific food insecurity. At the same time, shocks leading to trade disruption can pose serious challenges, particularly for countries with high import penetration in food.
More is not enough: High quantity and high quality antenatal care are both needed to prevent low birthweight in South Asia
Neupane, Sumanta; Scott, Samuel; Piwoz, Ellen; Kim, Sunny S.; Menon, Purnima; Nguyen, Phuong Hong. 2023
Neupane, Sumanta; Scott, Samuel; Piwoz, Ellen; Kim, Sunny S.; Menon, Purnima; Nguyen, Phuong Hong. 2023
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001991
Abstract | View
Antenatal care (ANC) is an opportunity to receive interventions that can prevent low birth weight (LBW). We sought to 1) estimate LBW prevalence and burden in South Asia, 2) describe the number of ANC visits (quantity) and interventions received (quality), and 3) explore associations between ANC quantity, quality and LBW. We used Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Afghanistan (2015), Bangladesh (2018), India (2016), Nepal (2016), Pakistan (2018) and Sri Lanka (2016) (n = 146,284 children <5y). Women were categorized as follows: 1) low quantity (<4 ANC visits) and low quality (<5 of 10 interventions received during ANC), 2) low quantity and high quality (≥5 of 10 interventions), 3) high quantity (≥4 visits) and low quality, 4) high quantity and high quality. We used fixed effect logistic regressions to examine associations between ANC quality/quantity and LBW (<2500 grams). LBW prevalence was highest in Pakistan (23%) and India (18%), with India accounting for two-thirds of the regional burden. Only 8% of women in Afghanistan received high quantity and high quality ANC, compared to 42–46% in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, 65% in Nepal and 92% in Sri Lanka. Compared to the low quantity/quality reference group, children of women with high quantity/quality ANC had lower odds of LBW in India (Adjusted Odds Ratio 0.84, 95% CI 0.78–0.89), Nepal (0.57, 0.35–0.94), Pakistan (0.45, 0.23–0.86), and Sri Lanka (0.73, 0.57–0.92). Low quantity but high quality ANC was protective in India (0.90, 0.84–0.96), Afghanistan (0.53, 0.27–1.05) and Pakistan (0.49, 0.23–1.05). High quantity but low quality ANC was protective in Sri Lanka (0.76, 0.61–0.93). Neither frequent ANC without appropriate interventions nor infrequent ANC with appropriate interventions are sufficient to prevent LBW in most South Asian countries, though quality may be more important than quantity. Consistent measurement of interventions during ANC is needed.
Assessing the hidden burden and costs of COVID-19 pandemic in South Asia: Implications for health and well-being of women, children and adolescents
Owais, Aatekah; Rizvi, Arjumand; Jawwad, Muhammad; Horton, Susan; Das, Jai K.; Merritt, Catherine; Moreno, Ralfh; Asfaw, Atnafu G.; Rutter, Paul; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Menon, Purnima; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.. 2023
Owais, Aatekah; Rizvi, Arjumand; Jawwad, Muhammad; Horton, Susan; Das, Jai K.; Merritt, Catherine; Moreno, Ralfh; Asfaw, Atnafu G.; Rutter, Paul; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Menon, Purnima; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.. 2023
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001567
Abstract | View
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations. With its intensity expected to be cyclical over the foreseeable future, and much of the impact estimates still modeled, it is imperative that we accurately assess the impact to date, to help with the process of targeted rebuilding of services. We collected data from administrative health information systems in six South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), to determine essential health services coverage disruptions between January–December 2020, and January–June 2021, compared to the same calendar months in 2019, and estimated the impact of this disruption on maternal and child mortality using the Lives Saved Tool. We also modelled impact of prolonged school closures on continued enrollment, as well as potential sequelae for the cohort of girls who have likely dropped out. Coverage of key maternal and child health interventions, including antenatal care and immunizations, decreased by up to 60%, with the largest disruptions observed between April and June 2020. This was followed by a period of recovery from July 2020 to March 2021, but a reversal of most of these gains in April/May 2021, likely due to the delta variant-fueled surge in South Asia at the same time. We estimated that disruption of essential health services between January 2020 and June 2021 potentially resulted in an additional 19,000 maternal and 317,000 child deaths, an increase of 19% and 13% respectively, compared to 2019. Extended school closures likely resulted in 9 million adolescents dropping out permanently, with 40% likely being from poorest households, resulting in decreased lifetime earnings. A projected increase in early marriages for girls who dropped out could result in an additional 500,000 adolescent pregnancies, 153,000 low birthweight births, and 27,000 additional children becoming stunted by age two years. To date, the increase in maternal and child mortality due to health services disruption has likely exceeded the overall number of COVID-19 deaths in South Asia. The indirect effects of the pandemic were disproportionately borne by the most vulnerable populations, and effects are likely to be long-lasting, permanent and in some cases inter-generational, unless policies aimed at alleviating these impacts are instituted at scale and targeted to reach the poorest of the poor. There are also implications for future pandemic preparedness.
Data issues in analyzing agri-food trade in BIMSTEC: Challenges and recommendations
Saroj, Sunil; Roy, Devesh; Kamar, Abul; Pradhan, Mamata. Washington, DC 2023
Saroj, Sunil; Roy, Devesh; Kamar, Abul; Pradhan, Mamata. Washington, DC 2023
DOI : 10.2499/p15738coll2.136645
Abstract | View
The focus of research on international trade has recently shifted from industries and countries to firms. Firm heterogeneity is shown to be a determinant of trade at both the intensive margin (increase exports per firm/product) and extensive margins (the number of firms exporting – new products, new partners, new varieties, and new prices). It is now widely accepted that exporting firms are larger, comparatively productive, more skilled, and capital-intensive, and pay higher wages than non-exporting firms.
The innovations in international trade literature that explains both the emergence as well as levels and the nature of trade flows through value chain integration necessitates examining trade-based exchanges at the highest possible levels of product disaggregation. Developments in trade theory emphasize that it is individual firms not countries that trade and analysis needs to incorporate firm characteristics in decisions and ability for exporting and importing. Firms are the appropriate unit of analysis for trade flows. It helps several paradoxes once the import of firm heterogeneity is understood.
Despite the substantive importance of granular level data and the significant level of disaggregated product-level bilateral trade flow data and enhanced computing power that are becoming available, most studies have tended to rely on analysis with high level of aggregation. Recent research on firm heterogeneity in international trade highlights the importance of extensive margins i.e., new products, new partners, new varieties, and cumulative of these i.e., new prices in trade patterns and firms' responses to trade liberalization and other policy changes. However, the high dimensionality of the data and the large number of responses to changes can easily overwhelm researchers. Additionally, bigger data sets may contain more noise, which can mask important systematic patterns. In analysis of trade flows, notwithstanding the rising incidence of differentiated products (varieties) and value chains that transcend national boundaries, methods in agri-food trade analysis in particular have not kept pace in terms of empirical methods and suitable data.
The innovations in international trade literature that explains both the emergence as well as levels and the nature of trade flows through value chain integration necessitates examining trade-based exchanges at the highest possible levels of product disaggregation. Developments in trade theory emphasize that it is individual firms not countries that trade and analysis needs to incorporate firm characteristics in decisions and ability for exporting and importing. Firms are the appropriate unit of analysis for trade flows. It helps several paradoxes once the import of firm heterogeneity is understood.
Despite the substantive importance of granular level data and the significant level of disaggregated product-level bilateral trade flow data and enhanced computing power that are becoming available, most studies have tended to rely on analysis with high level of aggregation. Recent research on firm heterogeneity in international trade highlights the importance of extensive margins i.e., new products, new partners, new varieties, and cumulative of these i.e., new prices in trade patterns and firms' responses to trade liberalization and other policy changes. However, the high dimensionality of the data and the large number of responses to changes can easily overwhelm researchers. Additionally, bigger data sets may contain more noise, which can mask important systematic patterns. In analysis of trade flows, notwithstanding the rising incidence of differentiated products (varieties) and value chains that transcend national boundaries, methods in agri-food trade analysis in particular have not kept pace in terms of empirical methods and suitable data.
Unlocking agricultural trade potential in the BIMSTEC region: Policy challenges and implications
Kamar, Abul; Roy, Devesh. Washington, DC 2023
Kamar, Abul; Roy, Devesh. Washington, DC 2023
DOI : 10.2499/p15738coll2.136626
Abstract | View
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization that comprises seven nations, five of which are from South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka) and two from Southeast Asia (Myanmar and Thailand). BIMSTEC aims to increase trade including agri-food products to much higher levels than its historical low values lying much below potential. In 2020, intra-BIMSTEC trade accounted for a mere 6.15% of the total trade among its member countries. In contrast, intra-ASEAN trade made up around 23% of the total trade within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). These figures highlight the significant room for growth
in intra-regional trade among BIMSTEC member countries. Importantly the low share of intra BIMSTEC trade is not due to greater integration with supra-BIMSTEC partners. This policy note seeks to spell out some of the key agricultural trade policy-related challenges in the BIMSTEC region and their implications for economic integration in the area.
in intra-regional trade among BIMSTEC member countries. Importantly the low share of intra BIMSTEC trade is not due to greater integration with supra-BIMSTEC partners. This policy note seeks to spell out some of the key agricultural trade policy-related challenges in the BIMSTEC region and their implications for economic integration in the area.
Food prices and the wages of the poor: A low-cost, high-value approach to high-frequency food security monitoring
Headey, Derek D.; Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Marshall, Quinn; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Mahrt, Kristi. 2023
Headey, Derek D.; Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Marshall, Quinn; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Mahrt, Kristi. 2023
DOI : 10.2499/p15738coll2.136614
Abstract | View
International food prices have become increasingly volatile in recent decades, with “global food crises” in 2008, 2011 and most recently in 2022. The 2008 crisis prompted international agencies to ambitiously extend their monitoring of domestic food prices in developing countries to strengthen early warning systems and food and nutrition surveillance. However, food inflation by itself is not sufficient for measuring disposable income or food affordability; for that, one must measure either changes in income or changes in an income proxy. Here we propose the use of a low-cost income proxy that can be monitored at the same high frequency and spatial granularity as food prices: the wages of poor unskilled workers. While not all poor people are unskilled wage earners, changes in the real “reservation wages” of low skilled activities are likely to be highly predictive of changes in disposable income for poorer segments of society (Deaton and Dreze 2002). We demonstrate this by estimating changes in “food wages” – wages deflated food price indices – during well-documented food price crises in Ethiopia (2008, 2011 and 2022), Sri Lanka (2022) and Myanmar (2022). In all these instances, food wages declined by 20-30%, often in the space of a few months. Moreover, in Myanmar we use a household panel survey data to show that the decline in food wages over the course of 2022 closely matches estimate declines in household disposable income and proportional increases in income-based poverty. We argue that the affordability of nutritious food for “all people, at all times” is a critically important dimension of food security, and we advocate for monitoring the wages of the poor as a cheap and accurate means of capturing that dimension.
The Ukraine war and its food security implications in Sri Lanka
Thibbotuwawa, Manoj; Dissanayake, Nimesha; Niwarthana, Sachini. Washington, DC 2023
Thibbotuwawa, Manoj; Dissanayake, Nimesha; Niwarthana, Sachini. Washington, DC 2023
DOI : 10.2499/p15738coll2.136591
Abstract | View
The Ukraine War has had major implications for food security and food systems across the world given the important role both Russia and Ukraine play in global food, fertilizer, and energy markets. Russia and Ukraine together supply about 12% of global agricultural exports on a caloric basis and over 30% of global wheat exports.1 Fertilizer and energy markets experienced rising prices and supply disruptions as well. The Russia-Ukraine conflict heavily impacted food security in Sri Lanka which is dependent on imports from the Caspian region. The impact of this shock has been compounded for Sri Lanka which has been suffering from a severe economic crisis due to a lack of foreign reserves, a debt default, high inflation, import restrictions, and shortages of critical goods and services. These compound crises have halted Sri Lanka’s progress on economic development and its achievement of the SDGs. Progress had been significant with the share of undernourished population declining from 16.7% in 2001 to 3.4% in 2020.2 During the same period the prevalence of stunting declined from 20.6% to 16%.3 The prevalence of wasting among children under age five declined from 15.9% in 2000 to 15.1% in 2016. Sri Lanka was ranked 65th out of 116 countries on the Global Hunger Index and 77th out of 113 countries on the Global Food Security Index in 2022 suggesting the need for some improvements in the food system. The latest food security assessment by the World Food Program (WFP) notes that about 30% of the population of 22 million (6.26 Mn people) are food insecure.4 Further, most households are regularly employing food-based coping strategies such as eating less preferred and less nutritious food and reducing the amount of food they eat. Further, an estimated 200,000 households are using emergency livelihood coping strategies that are likely to severely impact their income-generating activities and it is anticipated that more people are turning to these coping strategies as the crisis deepens. Against this backdrop, this policy brief explores the impacts of the evolving crisis in Ukraine on the nexus of poverty, agriculture, and food security in Sri Lanka and the possible avenues for mitigating the negative implica-tions of export restrictions, rising import costs, and inflation.
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