Sri Lanka celebrates World Food Day 2014
World Food Day (WFD) celebrations in Sri Lanka this year were organized in Kilinochchi and in Kandy this week with the participation of farming families from the two districts.
The United Nations has designated 2014 as the ‘International Year of Family Farming’.
Family farming is not new in Sri Lanka. Farming was the main livelihood of the country’s ancestors for centuries and still continues to be the main livelihood today. Family farmers have long engaged in the cultivation of paddy, but even when taking up new varieties of crops, for example those introduced by the colonial rulers, the farmers did not neglect traditional farming.
According to a FAO media release, FAO and WFP (World Food Programme) joined hands to mark WFD. The commemoration held in the Kilinochchi co-operative hall was under the patronage of Ponnuthurai Ayngaranesan, Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Services, Animal Husbandry, Irrigation and Environment, Northern Province and the officials of the Kilinochchi district secretariat. In Kandy the event was marked at the Horticultural Crops Research & Development Institute (HORDI) auditorium under the patronage ofTikiri Kobbekaduwa, Governor of the central province and the officials of the department of agriculture and the provincial agriculture ministry.
José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director General in his WFD speech, said: “When family farmers are stronger, it is a win-win situation: more food available locally translates into more food security and into the possibility of producing and buying food for and in local markets. In turn, this means fresher and healthier meals that respect local culture and values local foods, contributes to better nutrition and enables more money flow in local economies helping them flourish”.