safeguard the interests of small-scale farmers, food producers, and consumers?

Moreover, the government cannot regulate prices, with successive administrations endorsing the dismantling of established mechanisms designed for price control. As a consequence, the average Sri Lankan consumer is now confronted with the challenge of accessing both nutritious and affordable food. Alarming statistics from the World Food Program (WFP) indicate that 6.3 million Sri Lankans are currently grappling with food insecurity, urgently requiring humanitarian assistance. The WFP also notes that 5.3 million Sri Lankans are forced to skip meals, a trend that poses a significant setback to the strides previously made in human development.

In 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a publication titled ‘Leaving no one behind: How Blue Growth can benefit women, youth, indigenous groups, and migrants.’ This document emphasizes the goal of promoting the sustainable development of aquatic resources to benefit communities dependent on these resources for their livelihoods and food security. However, it appears that the FAO is advocating for certain policies, such as agricultural modernization, commercialization, Private Public Partnerships for food production, digitization, and the promotion of one country, one crop. These initiatives tend to overlook the concerns and needs of rural farmers, small-scale fishermen, milch farmers, and other small-scale food producers.

As farmers, we seek clarity on how the aforementioned policies are positively impacting our well-being. The implementation of these policies often requires a level of harshness that raises questions about the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) commitment to upholding human rights, as outlined in the UN declaration.

The United Nations should ideally function as a platform for mitigating and preventing climate change. However, certain UN institutions are now endorsing the financialization of climate change. Additionally, we strongly oppose the push for agriculture modernization and private sector investments in agriculture, as these initiatives appear to primarily benefit the corrupt elite rather than provide tangible advantages for farmers and consumers.

Fundamentally, we reject false solutions that fail to tackle the underlying issues confronting food producers. Our demand is for a transformation of agriculture towards agroecology, an approach that addresses global warming, upholds the dignity of all communities, and fosters food sovereignty. We call upon the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to play a proactive role in encouraging nations worldwide to endorse and ratify the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, a declaration approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council.