Sri Lanka: Food Security Response Dashboard (June 2022 - March 2023)

Sri Lanka has experienced its worst economic crisis since it gained independence in 1948. Coming on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, this multi-dimensional crisis has pushed more families into hunger and poverty and continues to undermine the country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the humanitarian sectors’ ability to Leave No One Behind.

During this period, reduced domestic agricultural production, scarcity of foreign exchange reserves and depreciation of the local currency with food commodities inflation levels have caused food shortages and a spike in the cost of living, which has severely limited people’s access to healthy and affordable meals.

In 2022, 6.3M people were acute food-insecure (CFSAM 2022) and in response, through the Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) Plan implemented through the period June 2022 and March 2023, the Food Security Sector has supported 1,868,400 people with food assistance (cash or in kind) to save lives and mitigate the deterioration of food insecurity.