Sri Lanka: Children Go Hungry As Food Prices Soar
Sri Lankan families are struggling to buy food due to soaring inflation. Food has been at the centre of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. Incomes are shrinking and food prices soaring. Families are forced to skip meals and go hungry.
One such saddening example is of Nitisha, She cannot play as much as she used to. The three-year-old is losing weight and complains of leg pains and weakness. The doctor’s diagnosis is clear - Nitisha is underfed and malnourished. But the treatment suggested is difficult to come by for her family - wholesome meals. Like many people in Sri Lanka, this family from a tea estate village in Hanthana, in the centre of the country, have seen their
finances collapse.
Anoma Sriyangi Dharmawardhane, Vice Principal of Horawala Maha Vidyalaya in Mathugama in Southern Sri Lanka said: “Most of the children, from primary grades, were coming to school without eating anything, Daily at least 20-25 children were fainting during school assembly three to four months ago.”
The school started offering porridge and a midday meal programme with support of parents who volunteered to cook. It relies on donations to continue the program.
UNICEF estimates more than 50,000 children in the country are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Around a third of Sri Lankan households do not have a secure source of food and almost 70% are reducing meal sizes.
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