Executive Director of WFP to visit Sri Lanka amid looming food shortage

David Beasley, Executive Director at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to visit Sri Lanka after accepting the invitation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

The top official of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is planning to visit Sri Lanka on the invitation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at a time when the crisis-hit island nation is grappling with an impending food shortage.

The Prime Minister’s request comes after experts have warned of a possible shortage of rice and other essential food items from September this year because of lower production due to the impact after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had enforced a ban on fertilisers in April last year and due to the inability to import amid an acute dollar shortage.

Prior to the fertiliser ban, Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in rice production.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said he spoke to David Beasley, the Executive Director at the UN WFP on June 10 and invited him to visit Sri Lanka. “He accepted my invitation and is planning to visit shortly. We appreciate all the support extended to us by the WFP,” Mr. Wickremesinghe tweeted on June 10.

On June 10, the United Nations appealed for $47.2 million to provide life-saving assistance to crisis hit Sri Lanka, as it noted that shortage of medicines and surgical consumables will ease in the medium term with the support of a credit line from India and other partners.

The UN team in Sri Lanka and non-governmental organisations launched the joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan on June 9, calling for $47.2 million to provide life-saving assistance to 1.7 million people worst-hit by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka over a four-month period between June and September.

Additionally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also planning to send an in-person mission in the coming weeks to Sri Lanka for policy discussions on a financial arrangement, its spokesman has said but emphasised that the country needs to take steps to restore debt sustainability before the global lender can move on a financing programme.