Sri Lanka’s bold steps on organic agriculture in global spotlight

COLOMBO: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed the hope that more countries would be inspired by Sri Lanka’s bold approach to sustainably transform its agricultural system to organic agriculture in order to ensure food security and nutrition for future generations.

The President made these remakes addressing the virtual session of the Pre-Summit of the UN Food System Summit, yesterday (July 26). In partnership with the Government of Italy, the Pre-Summit takes place in Rome.

Leaders from a number of countries are taking part in the three-day summit, which is chaired by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The conference discusses the impact of food systems on achieving the desired sustainable development goals by 2030. Representatives from a wide range of fields, including young people, farmers, indigenous people, civil society activists, and researchers, are joining the conference with a new approach.

The Right to Food is a fundamental human right, the president said and added that though the governments act individually to safeguard this right for their people, they must broaden their understanding of the complexities of the global food system.

Sri Lanka in inherent with agriculture deeply entwined with a long-lasting, ancient, and yet highly advanced irrigation system. Therefore, sustainable organic agriculture is not new to this country.

The president said measures will be taken to revitalize historic practices with new scientific advances and management techniques