Over 48 million postal parcels delivered in 4Q 2024    RCRC announces 8 road projects costing over SR8 billion in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia participates in senior humanitarian officials meeting on Ukraine in Brussels    GCC residents, with tourist or transit visa, can perform Umrah    Sudden deviation tops the causes of traffic accidents in Riyadh    Lendo's $690 million deal with J.P. Morgan: A Game-Changer for Saudi SMEs Osama Alraee on driving SME Growth, Job Creation, and Financial Innovation in Saudi Arabia    Maintenance workers die in fire in Yanbu steam turbine unit    Saudi Minister to visit India for industrial and mining discussions    Saudi Crown Prince receives Syrian President in Riyadh    Israeli forces raid northern West Bank, impose curfew in Tammun and Al-Far'a camp    Canada, Mexico, and China vow retaliation as Trump imposes sweeping tariffs    Ukraine reports 14 killed in Russian missile strike on Poltava    Imavov knocks out Adesanya in second round as Riyadh Season hosts thrilling UFC night    Museum Authority to open second edition of 'Art of the Kingdom' exhibition in Riyadh    Al Ittihad stages dramatic comeback to defeat Al Kholood 4-3 in thriller    Al Hilal returns to winning ways with a dominant 4-0 victory over Al Okhdood    Al Nassr signs Colombian striker Jhon Durán from Aston Villa    Saudi composer Nasser Al-Saleh passes away at 63    Saudi drama icon Mohammed Al-Towayan passes away at 79    Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull dies at 78    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Record inflation and skyrocketing prices leave over 6 million Sri Lankans food insecure
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 07 - 07 - 2022

In the face of record food price inflation, skyrocketing fuel costs and widespread commodity shortages, some 6.26 million Sri Lankans, or three in 10 households, are unsure of where their next meal is coming from, according to the latest food insecurity assessment from the World Food Programme (WFP), released on Wednesday.
As prices keep healthy meals out of reach, some 61 percent of households are regularly using coping strategies to cut down on costs, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious meals.
And with opportunities to make enough income in the medium to long-term decreasing for an estimated 200,000 families, the UN food relief agency anticipates that even more people will turn to these coping strategies as the crisis deepens.
"These days, we don't have a proper meal but eat only rice and gravy," one woman told WFP.
WFP is warning that a lack of nutrition has grave consequences for pregnant women, putting both their own and their children's health at risk.
"Pregnant mothers need to eat nutritious meals every day, but the poorest find it harder and harder to afford the basics," WFP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Anthea Webb said last month.
She told a local television station that by skipping meals, pregnant women were putting themselves and their children's health at risk in a way that "carries throughout your life".
To combat the food crisis and its effect on malnutrition, WFP has been distributing monthly food vouchers to pregnant women, valued at $40, in some of the poorest neighbourhoods, alongside antenatal care provided by the local government.
Amidst a staggering 57.4 percent inflation rate, steeply increasing food prices have crippled the population's ability to put sufficient and nutritious meals on the table, rendering two in five households without adequate diets.
The food security situation is worst among people working in the farming estates sector – such as large tea plantations - where more than half of households are food insecure, according to WFP.
In all measures of food insecurity and coping strategies, these households have consistently poorer outcomes than urban and rural populations.
While urban households are depleting savings to cope for now, families on rural estates are already turning to credit, in order to buy food and other necessities.
"Poor families in cities and those who work on estates have seen their incomes plummet while market prices have soared," the WFP official said.
Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said WFP.
A current oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice.
Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation, have fuelled the shortages.
The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty – some for the first time – adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic.
To address the downward spiralling situation, last month WFP launched a $60 million emergency appeal for food and nutrition to assist three million of the most at-risk Sri Lankans.
"We must act now before this becomes a humanitarian catastrophe," warned WFP chief David Beasley in a tweet.
To date, the agency has delivered 88 per cent of the first batch of 2,375 vouchers it has available, and targeted three million people to receive emergency food, nutrition, and school meals, until December.
As prices keep healthy meals out of reach, some 61 per cent of households are regularly using food-based coping strategies, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious food.
And with the medium- to long-term income-generating capacities at severe risk for an estimated 200,000 families, the UN food relief agency anticipates that even more people will turn to these coping strategies as the crisis deepens.
"These days, we don't have a proper meal but eat only rice and gravy," one woman told WFP. — UN News


Clic here to read the story from its source.