i Urban Food Systems Profile Sri Lanka ii Author affiliations Dushiya Ramamoorthi1 and Pay Drechsel2* 1 Aztute Global (Pvt) Ltd; formerly International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka 2 IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka *corresponding author Suggested citation Ramamoorthi, D.; Drechsel, P. 2024. Urban food systems profile: Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Cities. 24p. © The copyright of this publication is held by IWMI. This work is licensed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Acknowledgments This work was carried out with support from the CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Cities. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund. Cover photo: Urban farming demonstration plot at the Colombo Town Hall. Source: Authors CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Cities The CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Cities generates evidence, technologies and capacities that help improve urban food systems and secure equitable job and business opportunities, healthy diets for all, human and environment health, and a reduced carbon footprint. For more information see https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/resilient-cities/ Disclaimer This publication has been prepared as an output of the CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Cities and has not been independently peer reviewed. Responsibility for editing, proofreading, and layout, opinions expressed, and any possible errors lies with the authors and not the institutions involved. The boundaries and names shown, and the designations used on maps do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by IWMI, CGIAR, our partner institutions, or donors. IWMI is an international, research-for-development organization, targeting water and land management challenges for a water-secure world. IWMI is a Research Center of the CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/ RUAF is an international organization that aims to accelerate food systems transformation for greater environmental, social, and economic sustainability, resilience, and equity in cities and city regions around the world. RUAF is made up of two distinct but interacting elements: RUAF CIC (community interest company) and The RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems which is a consortium of strategically selected expert institutions, like IWMI. https://ruaf.org/ https://www.cgiar.org/funders/ https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/resilient-cities/ https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/ https://ruaf.org/ iii Contents 1. Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Purpose of the profile ..................................................................................................................... 4 3. Urbanization in Sri Lanka ................................................................................................................ 5 4. The CRFS of the Western Province ................................................................................................. 6 4.1. Climate related risks .............................................................................................................. 7 4.1. Food marketing, deficit and surplus areas ............................................................................ 7 5. Urban food systems in policies, planning and governance. ......................................................... 12 5.1. Boom for urban farming ...................................................................................................... 12 5.2. Other urban and peri urban agriculture initiatives ............................................................. 16 5.3. Private sector: Peri-urban piggeries and aquaponics .......................................................... 17 6. Threats to urban food supply ........................................................................................................ 18 7. Indicators for urban food system resilience ................................................................................. 19 8. Key issues and recommendations................................................................................................. 20 References ............................................................................................................................................ 21 Annex 1: Selected differences between rural and urban crop farming systems 4 1. Summary The most populated (urban) area in Sri Lanka is its Western Province with Colombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital. This “Megapolis” depends for its food supply significantly on different geographical areas of Sri Lanka. These foodsheds differ by commodity. Peri-urban agriculture plays a minor role and until very recently, urban farming did not get (institutional) attention, although the role of both, urban and peri-urban agriculture is mentioned in the national agricultural policy. The policy also calls for the identification and strengthening of city region food system (CRFS) to better link rural and urban communities, also in view of climate shocks and other disasters. The need for this became clear during the Covid-19 epidemic and subsequent economic crisis of the country when the Colombo Municipal Council started actively to support urban food production. 2. Purpose of the profile Sustainable food systems are a key element of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted in 2015, SDG 2 calls for major transformations to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition by 2030. To achieve this SDG, the global food system needs to be reshaped to be more productive, more inclusive of poor and marginalized populations, and has to consider drivers of change, such as urbanization and climate change. With populations becoming increasingly urban and cities developing into consumption hubs, their dependance on their hinterland (urban ‘food shed’), including urban and peri-urban agriculture, and the related rural-urban linkages require special attention (Prain et al. 2022). This complexity requires the combination of interconnected actions across administrative boundaries and sectors, at the local, national, regional and global levels. Box 1 explains some of the terms used in this report which differ in part from those common in rural farming systems. This country brief places the focus on the most urbanized and populated region of Sri Lanka, the Megapolis of the Western Province, and provides an overview of the factors shaping the city region food system (CRFS), highlighting key issues that the CGIAR and partners can help address to improve food supply and nutritional health, ensure food accessibility and sustainability, and increase the resilience of Sri Lanka’s most urban communities. Box 1: Key terms Food system: Food systems are the sum of actors and interactions along the food value chain—from input supply and production of crops, livestock, fish, and other agricultural commodities to transportation, processing, retailing, wholesaling, and preparation of foods to consumption and food waste disposal. Food systems also include the enabling policy environments and cultural norms and preferences around food. City-Region: A city region can be defined as a larger urban centre (or conglomeration of smaller urban centres or towns) and their surrounding and interspersed peri-urban and rural hinterland. City-Region Food System (CRFS): A CRFS is applying the food system perspective to the territorial approach of the ‘city-region’ to analyse e.g. rural-urban food flows and dependencies to support more resilient and sustainable urban food systems. Food shed: “Food sheds” describe the geographic area that supplies a population — whether in a city, town or community — with food, i.e. the flow of food from different geographical sources to a particular end point (in the case of an ‘urban food shed’ it is the urban area). Different commodities have usually different geographic food sheds. Closely related are the “Food Miles” which reflect the distance and environmental cost associated with a food’s transport from farmer to consumer. 5 Home gardens: Traditionally, home gardening is a well-known small-scale food production system to support predominantly individual households with food. This can be in rural or urban areas. Home gardens (or backyard gardens) are also common in urban areas and a very common form of urban agriculture, to be distinguished from open-space farming in urban areas. Open-space farming: The agricultural use of open areas, like along urban streams, under power lines, or on unbuilt land. The land use is often informal or even illegal, supports a number of farmers who might live in proximity or not, and usually grow crops for nearby markets. Urban agriculture (UA), peri-urban agriculture (PUA) and rural farming: While urban and rural farming systems are very different (Annex 1), peri-urban systems are often in-between showing characteristics of both. All three are part of the CRFS and comprise all components from farm work to marketing, or human and environmental health. 3. Urbanization in Sri Lanka Urbanization in South Asia has been slower than in other regions. South Asian cities, with some exceptions, still have poor livability as evidenced by the prevalence of slums and sprawl, not to mention poverty and pollution. Much of this urbanization has not been captured by official statistics (World Bank 2015) for which Sri Lanka is a good example according to UN-Habitat’s State of Sri Lankan Cities Report (GOSL 2018). The 2022 urban population in South Asia was with 36% significantly below the global average of about 55%, a percentage it will only reach around 2050. Sri Lanka’s total current population is approaching 22 m. The urban population of Sri Lanka is relatively low with estimates ranging in wide margins between 18% and 44% depending on the definition of ‘urban’1 (Weeraratne, 2016, GoSL 2018). The Colombo Metropolitan area, which is essentially the Western Province (Figure 1), hosts on 5% of the country’s land area, close to six million people, making the Western Province home to about 25% of the national population. The province is projected to add 3 million more in the next decade. This trend resulted in the conceptualization of the Western Region Megapolis2 to support urban planning, zoning, and development between Negombo in the north to Beruwala in the south. The drafted Megapolis (2016) masterplan identified as subunits 11 different zones or “cities”, like “the Industrial City”, the “Science and Technology City”, etc. From the food security perspective, the “Plantation City” and “Forest City” are noteworthy. The Megapolis concept and the related Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development (2015-2019) struggled under changing political leadership which jeopardized the implementation of the masterplan, while components remained supported. Compared to many African cities, inner-urban food production is significantly less prominent in the larger Colombo area. The high housing density pushed open cultivated spaces and livestock to the city margins. In contrast to the built-up area of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), the much larger Colombo district (Figure 2) has significant agricultural features on about one third of its lands. Home gardening is the main form that accounts for 26% of the total area in the Colombo District, and 26% of the land area is occupied by plantation crops such (as rubber and coconut). About 11% is covered by paddy lands, and 1% by other field crops. These paddy fields depend on irrigation outside the main monsoon seasons. 1 Definitions vary. For some time, Municipal and Urban Councils (UCs) were considered urban areas, while a more recent suggestion is to consider as ‘urban’ all areas with a minimum population of 750 persons, a population density greater than 500 persons per km², and less than 95% of households depending on firewood for cooking, or well water for drinking (Weeraratne, 2016). 2 https://www.dailymirror.lk/89227/the-flagship-project-megapolis-concept-and-scope-in-sri-lankan-context 6 Figure 1. The Western Province where most of the Megapolis is situated (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Region_Megapolis) Sri Lanka has a century-old irrigation history. However, water pollution is a prominent downside of urbanization, especially in the Western province (UDA 2019). Contamination of rivers and lakes due to various human activities is a serious issue with a high potential of downstream impacts on the environment, irrigated rice and vegetables, and food safety in general (Megapolis 2016). Wastewater treatment plants connected to sewers and fecal sludge treatment plants (for the dominant on-site sanitation systems in Sri Lanka) are rare across the country including the Western Province where most fecal sludge is dumped into Colombo’s old sewer system which ends without treatment in two sea outfalls. The infrastructure is more developed for municipal solid waste management with several landfills and more than 20 compost stations in the Western Province. 4. The CRFS of the Western Province The Western Province constitutes an important part of Colombo’s CRFS which, however, extends much beyond depending on the commodity (FAO 2018). From a geographical viewpoint, the Colombo city region includes for sure the Colombo district area with the CMC as its center, while commodity- specific foodsheds extend much beyond that boundary. In Colombo’s case, rice for carbohydrates, fish for protein, coconut for fat, and fruit and vegetables for vitamins and minerals have to be highlighted as important commodities. . Figure 2. Colombo district (Source: Dona et al. 2023) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Region_Megapolis 7 With its limited space for inner-city food production, larger farms, including plantations, can only be found in some peri-urban areas, where in particular fertile lowland soils are used for paddy rice cultivation. However, many of these areas are threatened by encroachment from housing and other sectors (Figure 3). A recent survey in three divisions of the Colombo District showed that most home gardeners and vegetable farmers were female while paddy and coconut farmers were male. Most home gardeners and many paddy farmers work for subsistence supply while over 80% of the vegetable farmers and also coconut farmers sell at least surplus production (Dominish et al. 2020). Figure 3. Fields with paddy rice downstream of the Thalangama irrigation tank in Battaramulla at the outskirts of Colombo (Source: authors). 4.1. Climate related risks Aside those peri-urban islands of food production, the city of Colombo largely depends on rural food production and on imported foods. This makes the food chains longer and sensitive to negative climate impacts on both agricultural production and transport (RUAF 2014, GoSL, 2018). Flood-related disasters are projected to increase, as will economic and social vulnerability to other effects of climate change3,4. These hazards can have negative effects on all parts of the food system. For the CRFS of Colombo, the traditional channels of paddy, coconuts, fish and most fruits and vegetables are vulnerable to oscillating climate conditions and extreme weather events as they are common across the island (Figure 4) (Esham et al. 2018; Thiel et al. 2019; Wickramasinghe et al. 2021). A major food flow mapping exercise supported by FAO and IWMI concluded that rural-urban connectivity should be strengthened to maintain food flows across the country, and transportation, suitable storage, and processing capacity of key commodities must be shored up to reduce disruption at times of shocks and stress5. 4.1. Food marketing, deficit and surplus areas Given the high population and housing density of urban areas, cities show commonly a food deficit and depend on their hinterland. As different crops grow under different climates and soils, the urban 3 https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.739.3523andrep=rep1andtype=pdf 4 https://www.slycantrust.org/blog-posts-knowledge/sri-lankas-food-systems-and-climate-risk-building- resilience-across-supply-and-value-chains 5 https://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/news/detail/en/c/1679308/ https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.739.3523&rep=rep1&type=pdf https://www.slycantrust.org/blog-posts-knowledge/sri-lankas-food-systems-and-climate-risk-building-resilience-across-supply-and-value-chains https://www.slycantrust.org/blog-posts-knowledge/sri-lankas-food-systems-and-climate-risk-building-resilience-across-supply-and-value-chains https://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/news/detail/en/c/1679308/ 8 foodsheds linking the deficit and surplus areas can vary in size and geographical direction. Some foodsheds might even extend beyond the boundaries of the country. Imported food items include e.g. canned fish, milk powder, sugar, vegetable oil and significance amount of wheat that derive from India, China, United States, Thailand and e.g. Ukraine. Figure 4. Colombo climate hazards map. Districts in grey produce highest quantities of the key commodities consumed by the City Region (Source: FAO, 2021, based on Thiel et al. 2019). 9 In Sri Lanka, the conventional food flow from farm to fork is largely channelled through ‘Dedicated Economic Centres’ (DEC) if not other wholesale markets. Marketing chains are long, and prices increase from stop to stop (Figure 5) (JICA 2013). Different supermarket chains reduce cost through dedicated supply chains starting with direct purchasing of agricultural products from farmers or, like Cargills, even own farms. Similar short supply chains have been set up by agri-business companies, like CIC, which manages a series of stages from production, processing to own retail shops. Those new business models allow controlling the quality of agricultural products along the supply chain. They use plastic containers or cardboard boxes to transport agricultural products to reduce damage of products and food waste to the minimum possible extent. Under Covid-19 lockdowns, the conventional supply chains struggled significantly more than those managed by the private sector (see also section 5). Halliday (2024) points at transport and storage as likely key bottlenecks within the CRFS. Figure 5. Comparison of conventional and modern marketing chains in Sri Lanka (Source: JICA 2013) In the following the vegetable and rice food flows towards Colombo are presented as examples. Vegetables: The Western Province has country-wide the largest vegetable deficit6 due to the high population concentration and lowest vegetable production. Most vegetables are supplied from vegetable surplus area, like Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Monaragala, etc. to the city of Colombo. Vegetable marketing involves six to seven channels (Figure 6), with dedicated economic centers handling about one-third of the total vegetable volume. Supermarkets acquire a smaller percentage however prioritize quality. Farmers also use the farmer-retailer-consumer channel and sell directly in local vegetable fairs. In Rathnapura district, approximately 69% of vegetable production is distributed to the Manning Market in Colombo, with only smaller shares reaching economic centers in Veyangoda, Minuwangoda, and Meegoda from Kurunegala, Puttalam, and Nuwara Eliya, respectively (Wijesinghe et al. 2021). 6 https://www.agrimin.gov.lk/web/index.php/en/statistics https://www.agrimin.gov.lk/web/index.php/en/statistics 10 Figure 6. Vegetable food flow towards the Western Province (Source: Wijesinghe et al. 2021). Rice: The complexity of rice flows between different stakeholders along the value chains is shown in Figure 7 for the Colombo district, which according to Wijesooriya et al. (2021), has the highest rice deficit (25%), next to Gampaha (22%) and Kalutara (10%), while the rest of the country shows surplus with the highest shares in the districts of Anuradhapura (20%), Polonnaruwa (17%) and Ampara (18%). Consequently, these surplus areas play an important role in supplying the Western Province with rice (Figure 8). 11 Figure 7. Rice flows between different stakeholders in the Colombo district (Halliday, 2024) Figure 8. Rice supply to Western Province (Source: Wijesooriya et al. 2021; Senanayake and Premaratne 2016) 12 5. Urban food systems in policies, planning and governance. In general, urban food system and/or urban and peri-urban farming did until recently not received any particular policy attention in Sri Lanka. Projects by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Global Partnership on sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems (RUAF) tried to identify within the CMC the appropriate department to host newly funded projects on city- region food systems however failed within CMC,or had to work through the food safety or veterinarian offices. However, the national agricultural policy gives urban food system significant and rural-urban linkages significant attention in its 2021 edition than ever before. This did not translate (yet) into action (institutionalization, implementation) at the local governance level however is a remarkable step, strongly supported by Sri Lanka’s development partners (FAO 2018). The 2021 national agricultural policy (MoA 2021) supports the promotion of home-gardening and different production technologies (e.g., vertical farming, family farming, rooftop gardening, community gardens), with emphasis on urban and peri-urban food systems and metro agriculture. It also calls for the identification and strengthening of CRFS to better link rural and urban communities, also in view of climate shocks and other disasters. The policy added in this way significant detail compared to its predecessor7 which [only] called for the “promotion of home-gardening and urban agriculture to enhance household nutrition and income”. However, attempts in the past to incorporate urban food production into urban planning faced at best mixed reactions (e.g. Ranasinghe 2005) given that every plot offers a much higher monetary value if used for other objectives than farming. Noteworthy Governmental initiatives in the past were e.g. the national programs (e.g., Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu 2007- 2010 and the Divi Neguma program) that focused on achieving greater self- sufficiency at household level through home gardening and included also urban households and schools aside rural ones (Amerasinghe et al. 2011). Among the few development projects, led by international partners, the one of RUAF in the Gampaha district (Western Province) is noteworthy as it led to an urban agriculture policy amendment in the Western Region and also targeted the national agricultural policy8. However, the recognition of the importance of urban farming and rural-urban linkages changed significantly in 2022 during Sri Lanka’s most recent economic crisis (Adam-Bradford and Drechsel, 2023). 5.1. Boom for urban farming Based on the prediction of an acute food shortage by September, 2022, the CMC launched “Urban Harvest” (https://www.colombo.mc.gov.lk/urbanharvest/) to call upon its citizens to become as food self-sustainable as possible by cultivating their front and backyards, roofs etc. in order to catalyze the cultivation of important food crops on 240 hectares of land within the city (Figure 9). To lead by example, the CMC started a demonstration farm (Figures 10 and 11, and cover photos) on its own lawns in the city center9. The city planted corn as well as vegetables (tomato, cabbage, chilies, eggplant, parsnip, onion, okra, aloe vera, spinach, cucumbers, beans, etc.), provided information on seeds and planting techniques, and distributed the harvested crops to the low-income settlements, elderly and children’s homes. 7 https://www.agrimin.gov.lk/web/images/docs/1252389643AgPolicy4.pdf 8 https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Success_Stories/PDF/2013/Issue_16- Urban_agriculture_gets_policy-level_support_in_Sri_Lankas_Western_Province.pdf 9 https://www.sundaytimes.lk/220925/news/veggie-plots-take-root-in-heart-of-capital-496857.html. https://www.colombo.mc.gov.lk/urbanharvest/ 13 .Figure 9. The Urban Harvest webpage of the CMC Figure 10. CMC gardening in December 2022 (Source: https://www.colombo.mc.gov.lk/news- more.php?id=224) Figure 11. UA project executed by Cargills PLC in collaboration with CMC (Source: Authors) 14 These positive efforts were supported by the Central Government, allowing all public servants to stay home on Fridays to grow crops, and even the army was mobilized to produce organic fertilizer and cultivate unused state lands including abandoned urban and peri-urban paddy fields (Adam-Bradford and Drechsel 2023). While the face of the city turned green for a few months, it did not last long, and with the economic recovery the demonstration gardens disappeared again. The Urban Harvest project also encouraged schools and communities to cultivate unused lands (Figures 12, 13) and identified on its land use plans possible areas for crop cultivation (Figure 14). Figure 12. UA project progress at Sri Sangaraja Central College (Source: https://www.facebook.com/urbanharvestbycmc/videos/1583795642063211/) Figure 13. Community Garden at Badruddin Mahmud College (Source: https://www.facebook.com/urbanharvestbycmc/photos/pcb.157929500302734/157929403636077) https://www.facebook.com/urbanharvestbycmc/photos/pcb.157929500302734/157929403636077 15 Figure 14. Examples of CMC suggested locations for urban farming (green spots) within selected parts of Colombo (Source: https://www.facebook.com/urbanharvestbycmc/photos) Plots include land inside the Vihara Maha Devi Park as well as premises surrounding the Municipal Slaughterhouse which will be among the 9.5 acres of land identified by the CMC for its urban agriculture program. In addition, 6,811 lots of bare lands (amounting to around 450 acres) in Colombo belonging to private owners have been pinpointed. These owners will be given notice by the CMC to start growing in case of a looming future food crisis. Further, the Sri Lankan Government is urging farmers, also in urban areas, to return to paddy cultivation. The efforts were supported by the private sector. Softlogic Life Insurance PLC, for example, created in late 2022 a 30 feet tall vegetable Christmas tree to show urban dwellers that farming can be done even on small spaces. This Christmas tree (Figure 15) consists of about 2,000 pots of natural vegetable plants. Many types of traditional vegetables and spices, like kankun, red tampala, spinach, brinjal, cabbage, okra, dangoa, chilies and many other plants have been used to decorate the tree. After the exhibition the crops will be harvested and distributed among the people and to a school in Borella10. 10 https://ceylontoday.lk/2022/12/23/christmas-tree-made-of-vegetable-plants/ https://ceylontoday.lk/2022/12/23/christmas-tree-made-of-vegetable-plants/ 16 Figure 15. Vegetable Christmas tree (Source: Authors) 5.2. Other urban and peri urban agriculture initiatives Different initiatives funded through the RUAF foundation (www.ruaf.org) supported over the years urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Western Province. In the flood-prone Kesbewa Urban Council area, for example, an inventory of home gardens and (used and abandoned) paddy fields was carried out and pilot projects launched on the rehabilitation of abandoned paddy lands and the intensification of home gardening, coupled with the promotion of rainwater harvesting and organic waste composting and (Figure 16). These activities were part of a project on ‘Monitoring impacts of urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry on climate change mitigation and adaptation’ between February 2013 to November 2014 (Dubbeling 2015). Figure 16. Home gardening Kesbewa (Source: Dubbeling 2015) http://www.ruaf.org/ 17 In another project (“From Seed to Table” 2009-2011), RUAF supported multi-stakeholder processes with the objective of the incorporation of urban agriculture in city planning through its institutionalization (Amerasinghe et al. 2013). In this multi-country project, Gampaha, in the Western Province was the Sri Lankan example. The project was supported by the Provincial Department of Agriculture which was familiar with the concept and had been practicing urban farming previously (Ranasinghe 2009; Figure 17). The RUAF project attracted the attention of the Western Provincial Council, which incorporated a new agenda on urban agriculture into its agriculture implementation plan. The Council also initiated a roundtable discussion with other provinces which resulted in the endorsement of a set of recommendations on urban agriculture by the Minister of Agriculture, who directed his ministry to correspondingly amend the national agriculture policy (which is visible in its 2021 edition; see above). Figure 17. Low-space farming manual. 5.3. Private sector: Peri-urban piggeries and aquaponics There are many commercial companies engaged in the Western Province, which host for example, one third of the national pig population. The piggeries benefit from the food waste (FW) generated in Colombo which constitutes a major feed source in the farms accounting for on average 82% of total feed. About 40% of the farms collect the FW from hotels, restaurants, and institutional canteens. Urban FW is supplied to farmers free of charge when collected directly from the sources, although 26% of the farmers collected FW via intermediaries against a fee. As FW is collected daily, the restaurants appreciate the reliable service, the farmers the low-cost feed, and the municipality the reduced FW volumes to be collected (Jayathilake et al. 2022). Another example is the case of Grow Eden (Figure 18) which runs a aquaponics system comprising aquaculture (fish cultivation, like Tilapia) and hydroponics for crop production. The crops are fertilized by the fish manure. The company produces at scale fresh herbs such as basil and parsley; leafy greens such as kale, chard, spinach, arugula known as rocket and several varieties of exotic lettuce – Romaine, butterhead, crispy or crystal and red coral – and salad cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. The greenhouse is North of the Western Province. The founder of grow Eden stated that, “When comparing this sustainable agriculture system with traditional practices, here only 20% of water is used across five years, while growing six times the produce for a set land area. We are also re-using 2 million liters per annum of rainwater”11. 11 https://www.sundaytimes.lk/230115/plus/a-sustainable-green-model-508124.html https://www.sundaytimes.lk/230115/plus/a-sustainable-green-model-508124.html 18 Figure 18. Grow Eden (Source: https://www.facebook.com/ GrowEdenFarm/) 6. Threats to urban food supply While extreme weather events, landslides, draught, or flooding can affect urban food supply in view of particular commodities, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a much larger level of vulnerability of the urban food system in Sri Lanka (Figure 19) as also in other countries (FAO, 2021; Esham and Wijeratne 2021). Pandemic related restrictions led to a lack of movement between districts at national scale, affecting rural – urban linkages for nearly all commodities. For example, Colombo’s supply with upcountry vegetables was seriously affected. Vegetable prices quadrupled, while ocean fish supply dropped 75 percent. With closed markets, mainstream supply chains, which serve the middle- and low-income communities, needed approximately two months to recover (RUAF 2020). The government of Sri Lanka in a desperate effort to revive the ailing economy, gave several directives to the agriculture sector even during the two-month lockdown period such as allowing the farming community to continue agricultural operations and allowing the establishment of private-public partnerships to provide door-to-door delivery of food items, e-auction of coconut, etc. (Marambe and Silva 2020). Figure 19. Covid 19 impacts on food systems, modified (Source: https://development.asia/insight/building-pandemic-resilient-food-system-sri-lanka) Reduced income https://development.asia/insight/building-pandemic-resilient-food-system-sri-lanka 19 Lockdown measures to contain the outbreak exposed in particular those (pandemic-related) unemployed consumers depending on daily wages. This situation became worse through those who had finance and started panic buying, causing the prices of commodities to spike up. In addition, the general vulnerability of the consumer – retail interface became obvious as the retail system was not designed for online shopping and door-to-door services. Only the larger supermarket chains managed to offer with much delay online services, while small shops tried to survive by selling through their back doors. Although the agrochemical ban was lifted in November 2021, the effects of the ban was an acute shortage of fertilizers on the market. Without foreign currency reserves, new imports were impossible. Increased food loss and wastage because regional wholesale markets were closed, added further to financial loss and low food supply. As a result of the economic crisis, many small businesses became non-lucrative, and people lost their livelihoods. 7. Indicators for urban food system resilience Urban food system resilience is a complex and multifaceted concept that involves the ability of a city or urban area to withstand, adapt to, and recover from various shocks and stresses while maintaining essential food functions. Monitoring and assessing urban food system resilience require a set of indicators that can capture the system's dynamics and response mechanisms. Such indicators have been proposed by RUAF and FAO also based on consultations also covering Colombo12. That such indicators are interlinked is shown in Figure 20 visualizing the cascading effects of climate hazards on food security and nutrition in the Colombo city region on the example of paddy rice. Figure 20. Cascading effects of climate hazards on food security and nutrition in the Colombo city region (Source: Esham and Wijeratne 2021). 12 https://ruaf.org/tool/city-region-food-system-indicators/ 20 8. Key issues and recommendations The case of Sri Lanka is not uncommon in Asia as well as Africa. Urban food systems and the value of (peri)urban farming are often more acknowledged and promoted by international agencies than that they receive any lasting national attention, like through institutionalization as increasingly seen in cities of the Global North (Prain et al. 2022). However, during an economic crisis as witnessed in Sri Lanka, the importance of rural-urban linkages and the role of urban (and peri-urban) agriculture for short supply chains, self-supply with nutritional food and its contribution to food security became obvious. Especially for the urban poor, harvesting small quantities of food on a regular basis from their own backyards or rooftops can be significant. Transforming the Sri Lankan food system into a resilient and regenerative food system should give due attention to the city region and its food sheds as well as the contribution of urban farming, even when it is a niche one or limited to certain perishable commodities. Halliday (2024) pointed also at peri-urban areas which have always played an important role in food flows into urban areas, such as Colombo. However, peri-urban areas across Sri Lanka are now being developed and urbanized at a faster rate than ever before and might soon be lost from an urban food security perspective. Adam-Bradford and Drechsel (2023) summarized recommendations from the comparison of different cities under similar conditions of urban supply chains under stress: • The resilience of urban food systems relies on functional rural-urban linkages, in particular transport and storage. Urban and peri-urban farming cannot compensate for the volumes of food cities need but contribute e.g. to selected commodities of high nutritional value. • In times of food insecurity, it is important to support food self-supply. Granting access to public or unused private land for the crop cultivation is essential as arable land is in short supply. It does not require changes in tenure regulations or policies, as temporary access can be granted on a case-by- case basis with simple agreements put in place by the relevant parties. • The ability of urban farming to extend its production to school fields, parks, lawns, or even limited spaces (balconies, rooftops, yards), via plant containers, vertical farming, the use of greywater for irrigation (Dona et al. 2023) and compost from food waste (Roy et al. 2021) shows the adaptability of urban farming systems. • Households might, however, need support to start farming. The supply of seeds can be an important step. Where cities have no agricultural extension officers, experienced urban farmers can help build local capacities. • While tiny backyards might not appear relevant from a larger urban planning perspective, thousands of them can constitute a notable support for poor families, women empowerment, or social networking. Thus, in urban agriculture terms – small is beautiful. • To promote urban gardening, it can be linked with recreational and fitness programs, as well as the support of community groups. 21 References Adam-Bradford, A.; Drechsel, P. 2023. Urban agriculture during economic crisis: lessons from Cuba, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. Policy brief. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 8p. Available at: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/items/6bde3b23-7ed2-4e96-a0e3-5498ee794992 (accessed on 14.08.2024) Amerasinghe, P., Gammanpila, U., Kodikara, S. and Mahindapala, R. 2011. Developing institutional synergies for effective urban agriculture development in Sri Lanka. 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Mixed cropping, often perishable crops. Policy attention High as cornerstone for SDG 2 No, low, or negative attention Focus of agricultural extension support High, and subject of its training curriculum Seldom; UA crops and farming challenges not part of extension training curriculum Importance for urban food supply Supplies most food of nearly all commodities (not counting imports, and easily perishable ones) Can supply the majority of easily perishable commodities likes exotic vegetables or serves niche markets (e.g. herbs, baby tomatoes) Livelihood importance ‘Farming’ is usually a primary (full-time) job Farming is often a secondary, part-time job Heritage Usually ‘born’ farmers (family tradition) Often ‘beginners’ (rural migrants, hobby farmers in backyards) Land tenure security Relatively high based on local customs Often illegal/informal land occupation (open-space farming) with low/no tenure rights Community integration Farmers constitute the majority of community members Open-space farmers are a minority; backyard gardening can be more mainstream where space allows System complexity More homogeneous system and external environment Diverse stakeholders and physical environment, crop choices follow closely market demand Common nutrient inputs Fertilizer, cow manure Urban waste compost, poultry manure, fertilizer Common water sources Surface and ground water Polluted streams and shallow wells, raw or diluted wastewater Main authority concern High yields Public health risks (unsafe irrigation water, contaminated soils, air) Carbon balance Long food miles and high carbon footprint Short supply chain, low carbon footprint