📈 Co-operative Push to Safeguard Sri Lanka's Food Security

• Rising Risks & Vulnerabilities: Sri Lanka faces potential food security threats due to a 2.3% contraction in agricultural activities in Q2 2026, global supply route risks (36% of fertilizer imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz), and El Niño climate impacts. • Smallholder Impact: Around 1.65 million small farmers produce nearly 80% of Sri Lanka's domestic food supply. Co-operatives provide them direct market access, shared machinery, and protection against inflated prices from private traders. • Key Sector Highlights: • Agriculture & Paddy: Mechanized farming (transplanting equipment) lowers water, seed, and fertilizer needs. Local seed production reduces external dependency. • Pulses & Crops: Collective cultivation enhances irrigation management, improves nutrition, and cuts import reliance. • Fisheries: Co-ops link fishers directly to equipment producers (nets, boats), offer low-interest credit to avoid debt traps, and host fair-price fish auctions. • Dairy & Palmyra: Small-scale processing strengthens localized value chains and rural employment. • Northern Model Leading the Way: Backed by the Northern Co-operative Development Bank (NCDB)—owned by over 1,200 member co-operatives—the region demonstrated a co-op-led food security system at a major August 2026 conference. Scaling this model nationally could buffer Sri Lanka against volatile global supply chains and domestic market disruptions.