Fluctuations of seasonal paddy production on food security in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Food security refers to the ability of everybody to access the sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their daily dietary needs and food preferences to be well and active. While Sri Lanka is in 66th place in global food security index in 2017, rice is the staple food and paddy cultivation is the major agricultural activity of Sri Lankan farmers. However, paddy production is highly fluctuated with the seasonal variations. Therefore, this study was carried out to analyze the impact of paddy seasonality on food security in Sri Lanka. The secondary data available from the period 2000-2012 was used for the analysis where Pearson correlation test was performed to develop the relationship. In order to find out the relationship between seasonal paddy production and food security, following food security measures were considered; diet quality, diet quantity and current economic vulnerability. Results revealed that there is a positive correlation between diet quality parameters and current economic vulnerability with the seasonal paddy production. However, the indicators of diet quantity showed a negative impact on food security. Therefore, it can be concluded that the overall food security level of Sri Lankan consumers is affected by the fluctuations of seasonal paddy production in Sri Lanka.