Being prepared
View(s):Sitting down to write about public holidays in 2018, I am halted midway when Kussi Amma Sera brings in the morning tea and engages in a conversation. Annoying as it can be, I engage, since trying to shoo….….shoo her away creates a bigger ruckus (cooking angrily in a noisy kitchen), as I have bitterly learnt from a previous experience.
As I take a long sip of Pure Ceylon Tea and imbibe the aroma (how long will it be ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ or transform to ‘Partially Pure Ceylon Tea’ with trader demands to import tea, is anybody’s guess), KAS starts talking.
“Mahattaya, paththare kiyanawa … Lankawa pitaratin pol genawa, haal genawa……Aei……apey rate mewa wawanne nadda?”
I give a long response about the vagaries of the weather and climate change which has impacted on harvests and production of two key crops and thereby threatened the food security of the nation. I also explain that there are demands to import tea though for reasons other than weather and demands on local consumption. But wait, if tea is imported, the chances of domestic consumers drinking ‘Partially Pure Ceylon Tea’ and exporting ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ would be greater as authentic Ceylon tea sells at a higher premium abroad than the blended variety.
While leaving that discussion for another day, the point is that Sri Lanka is fast becoming a food import nation with the blame being pointed at droughts and floods resulting in falling yields.
A penny-for-your-thoughts Kussi Amma Sera chips in, saying, “Lankawey haal pitarating genawa, pol genawa saha tey genawa. Mokakda wenne apey ratata?”
Good point indeed and one also expressed in a recent comment to this week’s government decision to import coconut to meet a shortfall. “I am in two minds. Personally this is not a good idea. But as a manager in the coconut industry sector there are no any other options. I don’t know what is happening to our country,” said one response in a newspaper website. Kussi Amma Sera’s concerns are also understandable since her extended family has small plots of coconut and paddy and imports affect prices.
The dilemma that Sri Lanka faces today and in recent years is: How do you protect your farmers in getting a reasonable price for their crop and at the same time protect the consumer from high prices? The solution is to lower taxes and import limited quantities when supplies run dry. However, the problem today is two-fold: Droughts and floods are unplanned and irregular and cause regular shortages while demand is rising not only from consumers but also exporters of finished products, particularly coconut.
Trawling through the Internet to find some research on food security, I came across a study by Buddhi Marambe, Professor, Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya titled: ‘Future of Agriculture and Food Security in Sri Lanka’ where it is stated that in the 1940s when Sri Lanka’s population was 6 million, 60 per cent of the rice was imported, no agrochemicals used and production was based on traditional technology. Life expectancy was 46 years. Fast forward to 2015 and the study says with 20.7 million people, there is excess rice production amidst the use of high-yielding varieties, new technologies and agrochemicals. Life expectancy? 76 years.
Today it appears Sri Lanka has come full circle from an import-dependent nation (1940s) to a food secure country (1980s) and back to a food import nation (2016/17).
While it is easy to blame the weather, the politicians or policy-makers, these are not going to solve the core challenge of food security in the context of rapidly changing weather patterns. The answer lies in preparation, preparation and preparation.
Being prepared means creating crops, with much research, to withstand any adverse weather – prolonged droughts or prolonged rain; being prepared means being able to shift or alternate crops speedily in response to changing weather patterns; being prepared means creating state mechanisms that can swiftly engage in crop substitution to meet changing weather patterns through incentives or tax concessions; being prepared means getting national policies in place with the consent of all stakeholders – farmers, producers, traders, consumers, governing and opposing politicians, policymakers and multilateral agencies. Being prepared means having a set of policies that doesn’t spring a surprise on any connected stakeholder and is an expected, not unusual, response to a crisis.
As if reading my thoughts, Kussi Amma Sera shouts out from the kitchen while preparing kiri-bath and lunu miris (this is Friday and as she has to go to the ‘gama’ for the weekend, the Saturday morning favourite meal is being prepared on a Friday), ‘Mahattaya, oh-gollo liyanawa witharie, kauruwath ganan-ganne nehe.” Another point well taken but I resist the temptation of a shouted out response and engaging in a long drawn explanation with a newspaper deadline looming ahead.
On the topic of “being prepared”, last week an eminent Sri Lankan oceanographer Prof. Charitha Pattiaratchi, a scientist attached to the University of Western Australia, spoke of how Australia is prepared for frequently-occurring high intensive winds and gale-storms with homes having stronger rooftops and power lines underground. He was speaking in the context of heavy rain and 80 kmph-strong high intensity winds that hit parts of Sri Lanka last week, causing havoc to homes in Colombo and power lines, etc. While flooding occurred in some areas, the north-central region continued to be in the throes of a drought.
Sri Lanka is famous for not being prepared. For instance, a few months ago in August a UN-led discussion was held to analyse reporting on the May 2017 disasters. While it was acknowledged that such a dialogue is important, it was also pointed out by some participants that equally or more important is what pre-emptive steps and measures of preparedness are in place in case another natural disaster occurs. Response from state officials? Silence and the discussion veers away to mechanisms for post-disaster management. Taking a cue from legendary American folk singer Peter Seeger’s anti-war song, ‘Where have all the flowers gone’, it’s a case of “Oh…, when will they ever learn. When will they ever learn”.
The coconut crisis was also raised in Kussi Amma Sera’s April 16 column: “The plantations are in despair. Old retired planters are ganging up against today’s planters running estates managed by the private sector. Both sides are trading accusations on how to run estates well or run them to the ground. The coconut industry is in turmoil. Remember M.S. Fernando’s famous song ‘pol, pol, pol, pol, pol, pol, pol pol … lankawe wathuwala wavana pol’. MS must be turning in the grave to see his beloved motherland once filled with coconuts now having to probably import coconuts or rather forego our favourite creamy curries with coconut milk.”
While flashfloods and high intensity winds will be a regular occurrence, the challenge facing Sri Lanka and any country for that matter is being prepared. Our annual export revenue target of US$20 billion in coming years will not materialise if there is no state of preparedness. With that will vanish laudable goals of transformation to a cash-rich nation from a nation burdened with debt.
The goal of the Coconut Research Institute (and this is no reflection on the current administration or that of the past) as listed in its website is “increase yield of coconut to meet culinary and industrial needs of the country”. These goals need to be changed to also include “creating high-yielding, weather-resistant crops”.
There is a lot of documented research on the ‘way-forward’ for Sri Lanka’s agriculture. The question is how do you combine all these well-researched ideas into national policy and policies that are (a) effective, (b) implementable, and most importantly (c) like the weather, withstand political pressure and changing administrations.
At that time, the kitchen reverberates with the Sunil Perera favourite ‘Lankawe ehema wenne naha’ from Kussi Amma Sera’s old Sony radio. Rather than ending on the note that Sri Lanka needs to be prepared like the Scout motto ‘Be Prepared’, I sit back, relax and watch Sunil’s funny YouTube version of this song.