Opening of the consultation
1. The Regional Expert Consultation of the Asia-Pacific Network for Food and Nutrition on Concretizing Actions on Establishment of Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS) was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and held at Villa Ocean View Hotel in Wadduwa, Sri Lanka from 9 to 12 November 1999 under the aegis of the FAO (RAP). Seventeen experts from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam attended the Consultation. Dr Barbara A. Burlingame, Senior Officer, ESNA, FAO Headquarters attended the Consultation as a resource person. In addition, representatives from WFP, UNICEF, FAO (RAP), FAO (Sri Lanka) office as well as the related government department officials from Sri Lanka participated in the meeting. A complete list of the participants and guests is given as Appendix I.
2. Highlights of the opening ceremonies included the symbolic lighting of the traditional oil lamp and the welcome address given by Dr Nimal Ranaweera, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. He stressed the importance of the theme of the Consultation as a timely and important concern which transcends country and even regional boundaries.
3. Dr Biplab K. Nandi, Senior Food and Nutrition Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand likewise extended his warm welcome to all the participants and guests and gratefully acknowledged the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and FAO Sri Lanka office for their valuable assistance in organizing the Consultation in Sri Lanka. He also informed those present of the mandate and composition of the Asia Pacific Network on Food and Nutrition and the specific objectives of the Consultative Meeting being conducted.
4. Mr A.W. Jalil, FAO Representative a.i. in Sri Lanka, speaking on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Dr Jacques Diouf, put into context the role of FIVIMS within FAO's mandate. He stressed that a well designed food insecurity and vulnerability information and mapping systems or FIVIMS, in this regard, served as a logical instrument towards identification of food insecure groups, prevalence of undernutrition and causes of food insecurity and vulnerability. The FIVIMS framework was an information system that provided information from household to national levels by which the awareness of policy-makers was raised. FIVIMS initiatives resulted in improved policy formulation and programme management, more effective design and targeting of interventions in addition to co-ordinated intersectoral and inter-institutional dialogue. The Consultation would provide an update on the status of Nutrition Country Profiles (NCPs) and data banks; establish Networks for identification of indicators, data collection and information dissemination and catalyze initiatives for implementation of FIVIMS action plans-he maintained.
5. Prof T.W. Wickramanayake, Professor Emeritus, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in his Keynote Address discussed urban malnutrition in Asia with special reference to the City of Colombo. He stressed to the Consultation that rural and urban development must occur synergistically.
6. Urbanization, according to Prof Wickramanayake, impinged on the nutrition situation of vulnerable groups, especially those with poor purchasing power. With the majority of food in Sri Lanka being imported and coupled with the proliferation of supermarkets promoting sale of relatively expensive foods and products, the purchasing power of the low income population groups, especially the rural farmer had markedly been affected.
7. The constraints related to improving urban nutrition and health include poverty, unemployment, inflation, decentralization of political power, and lack of local level action. Development policies so far had promoted free play of market forces. This called for economic reforms and structural adjustment programmes which would help to readjust economies, improve standards of living, and reduce state expenditure on health and education. The urban public sector had to be given due attention and extended families in urban areas must be assisted to take care of the needs of vulnerable members. Increased food prices and living cost arising from abolition of food subsidies and price controls, needed to be likewise addressed. The farmers must be encouraged to promote rice cultivation which was the cornerstone of Sri Lankan culture so as to enable the subsistence farmer to become food secure and maintain himself and his family above starvation level.
8. The Chief Guest, Mr Chamal Rajapaksha, Honourable Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Lands expressed his appreciation of FAO (RAP) for having chosen Sri Lanka as the venue of the Consultation. He pointed out that though Sri Lanka was a developing country, it still enjoyed a high physical quality of life index (PQLI) because the Government of Sri Lanka had always accorded high priority to providing assistance to vulnerable groups. Sri Lanka had adopted measures to minimize food insecurity among vulnerable groups through a two-pronged-strategy namely, income support to the poor income groups and promoting their participation in developmental activities. The Poverty Alleviation Programme (Samurdhi Programme) implemented by the Government had been a successful model in this regard. The full text of the speech of the Honourable Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Lands is given as Appendix II.
