To bolster existing social safety net programmes, WFP’s emergency response plan aims to assist a million children through the Government’s national school meal programme, together with another million people participating in the Thriposha programme – which provides nutritionally fortified food to mothers and children – and a further million who are now relying on emergency food rations, in the form of produce, cash or vouchers.
Action plan
Existing donors to WFP’s Sri Lanka programme include Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Mastercard, Russia, Switzerland, United Nations Peacebuilding Fund and the United States.
Nearly five million people, or 22 percent of the Sri Lankan population, are food insecure and in need of assistance, the agency said. Nutritious foods, such as vegetables, fruits and protein-rich products are now out of reach for many.
WFP has long supported the Sri Lankan Government’s national nutrition programmes, which have been severely depleted by the crisis, which began in 2019.
On Wednesday, the Government announced it was giving the country’s one million public sector employees, and extra day off each week for the next three months, partly to ease demand for fuel, but also to encourage them to become smallholder farmers to help feed themselves and their families, according to news reports.
Vouchers for mothers
Given its concern that food and nutrition needs under the joint HNP will persist beyond September, WFP estimates it will require million to assist three million people from June through to December.
“Pregnant mothers need to eat nutritious meals every day, but the poorest find it harder and harder to afford the basics”, said Anthea Webb, WFP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific from Colombo. “When they skip meals they’re putting their and their children’s health at risk.”
WFP surveys indicate that 86 percent of families “are resorting to at least one coping mechanism, including eating less, eating less nutritious food and even skipping meals altogether.”