Drought: food security and livelihoods affected by erratic weather, Sri Lanka — April 2014
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Download document Report on the key findings of a survey conducted in April 2014 to assess the severity of the 2014 Maha season drought, and the impact this had on food security and livelihoods.
KEY FINDNGS
The Maha 2014 drought seriously damaged agricultural production and is threatening to significantly limit the upcoming yala harvest.
Three consecutive years of natural disasters has undermined household resilience: populations in affected areas have built up unsustainable levels of debts, have insufficient access to water for irrigation, have limited quality seed supply and are exposed to a continue decline in agricultural income.
As a consequence, food insecurity has increased dramatically to an estimated 768,000. More than double the caseload in 2012.
Household food consumption deteriorated sharply: 18 percent of households consume inadequate diets of low calorie and/or diversity. This used to be around 6 percent. A threefold increase.
Immediate coordinated relief and agricultural inputs specifically targeting the vulnerable households, are recommended to prevent a further collapse in household resilience.