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Tons of produce and food dumped every day
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Narahenpita Economic centre: Rotting veggies being discarded. Pic by Eshan Fernando
By Nadia Fazlulhaq
Post-harvest losses and food waste are at high levels in Sri Lanka despite the prevailing food insecurity.
This week, farmers who arrived at the Dambulla economic centre complained that wholesale vegetable prices had dropped and they were willing to either sell at low prices or to dump them. There are no cold storage facilities.
The Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera this week said post-harvest losses are at a high level with about 40% of the total harvest wasted.
Annually, 221,955MT of vegetables and 290,151MT of fruit go to waste during transport.
Prof. K.K.D.S. Ranaweera of Sri Jayawardenepura University’s food science and technology department told the Sunday Times the authorities, farmers and people were reluctant to address the issue.
Dambulla economic centre: With wholesale vegetable prices being low farmers had to either sell at low prices or dump them
“In many countries, waste is due to excess supply of vegetables and fruit. However, here it is mainly due to improper handling, delays in transport, lack of a strong distribution network, non-availability of cooler containers and storage,” he said.
To control post-harvest waste, the Ministries of Agriculture, Trade and Commerce and Science and Technology should coordinate and introduce standards for food transport, identify suppliers annually, identify specific demands and set up cold storage in provinces with private sector involvement, he said.
“When wastage is high, middlemen try to gain more profit by increasing prices,” he said.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, too, has predicted that food waste is expected to be a growing problem in the country.
About 4,000MT of food is wasted a day. The Colombo district accounts for the biggest amount of waste.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the food that was wasted in 2021 would have been sufficient to feed 10 million people.
“Food waste is seen in households, events, religious observances and food festivals,’’ Prof Ranaweera said. Excess food should be collected and distributed to deserving families.
(Additional reporting by
Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa)
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