Climate change in Sri Lanka :

Food security alert!

by Rukshana Rizwie

Gamini Dissanayake

Gamini Dissanayake, 52, tends to his towering nutmeg trees as if they were growing saplings. He knows all fruit and spices by their scientific names and would tell you their age. In his quarter acre home garden in rural Pethiyagoda, Gamini doesn't depend on the daily weather forecast or temperature measuring tools to tell if the rains would be delayed this year. He relies on age old wisdom. And, if that fails him, it's either the sky or the soil.

He uses extracts of Neem leaves as a natural pesticide, and fresh coconut husks to retain water. In a country which relies heavily on the use of fertilizers and agro chemicals to increase crop productivity and ensure food security, it was a relief to find home-gardeners like Gamini who do things differently.

Home gardening in Sri Lanka have been identified as an integral part of rural life and culture for centuries and remains today, one of the major and oldest forms of land use in the country. Home gardens are an agro-forestry system, which combines both forms of farming - annual and perennial - within a multi-functional landscape to satisfy household food requirements, income generation and employment, among other basic needs.

"Producing enough nutritious food that everyone can access, and doing so sustainably in the face of severe challenges such as, water scarcity and climate change, requires multidisciplinary, science-based approaches. The translation of research knowledge to the most affected and to those who are drafting polices for the most affected is key," Eskil Mattsson, a researcher at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Gothenburg, Germany, said, after his tour of the Kandyan home gardens.

Half of forest cover

Based on research by Agriculture Professor Buddhi Marambe of the University of Peradeniya, in 2014 alone 14.3% of the total extent of the country was occupied by home gardens (HG), which extent has continued to grow at an annual rate of 1.6 %.

Cloves

Sri Lanka presently has a forest cover of 23.5% of which 13.1% is actually tree planted home gardens. The district with the highest percentage of HGs is Kandy, 30.4% followed by Kegalle 23.2% and Badulla 17.7%.

National Adaptation Plan

Research has shown that HGs collectively contribute to ensuring food security in the country. In recognition of this, Sri Lanka's National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change (NAP) for 2016 - 2025 prepared by the Climate Change Secretariat of the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment has prominently featured home gardens. NAP notes, there is a need to promote the traditional methods of biodiversity conservation for increased crop resilience, the lessons of which could be learned from studying HGs. The Plan is to be officially launched by the President in October this year.

Dissanayake knows the rainfall patterns, the pollen viability and changes in temperature like the back of his hand. This year he complained of prolonged dry spells and torrential rains.

"It rained heavily in February, when, actually, the period between January to March are generally considered as dry spells," he said. "We no longer get the correct amount of rain at the correct time.

Countering climate change

These erratic patterns will definitely continue," he said, adding that the changes in rainfall patterns and temperatures are a direct consequence of climate change.

Prof Marambe said, research indicates a slow and continuous rise of ambient temperature (an increase of 0.01 to 0.03 Celsius per annum). He adds, there has been a frequent occurrence of extreme weather patterns such as droughts, floods, landslides, intense lightning strikes and tornado type of winds.

As a result, the number of dry days has increased and the number of cold nights has decreased.

An Asian Development Bank report published in 2009 highlighted that Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh were highly exposed, sensitive and vulnerable to changes in climatic conditions. "A significant component of the small holdings in the region is represented by home garden farming systems," he said.

Fruits from the home garden

Academics, researchers and policy makers alike, he says, are concerned that climate change may have detrimental effects on GHGs.

According to The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change home garden will be able to cushion off the effects of climate change by increasing crop production during unpredictable or harsh climatic conditions.

"Food security in rural South Asia and food production in HGs is intrinsically related and hence, climate change may have significant implications on food security," said Prof. Gamini Pushpakumara, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Peradeniya University.

The Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, an intergovernmental organization that promotes policy-oriented research which spearheaded a project to assess the changes in the composition of HGs in Sri Lanka under changing climate found that home gardens were not significantly affected.

The two year project APN funded, titled, Vulnerability of Home Garden system to climate change and impact on food security in South Asia, done in collaboration with the Peradeniya University and other stakeholders in India and Bangladesh, found that home gardeners were highly adaptive to variable and changing climate.

Some of the specific adaptation strategies used by the home gardeners in the study sites were, the changing of planting dates, changing agronomic practices such as fertilization, and pest control, changing technology such as the use of new varieties/breeds, irrigation and the optimal use of soil and water conservation measures.

Despite the evidence that climate change has taken place in the past 50 years, the composition of HGs in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh has not changed substantially. The report concluded that home gardens in Sri Lanka are more climate resilient than those in India and Bangladesh due to a high diversity.

The HGs were occupied by more nutritional and dense stands of tree species. In Sri Lanka, Cloves, Nutmeg and Durian are the main income generator where much of the harvest is usually sold. In Keeriyagaswewa, the main income generating food tree species was the Tamarind, where 86% of the total harvest was sold. Dissanayake from Pethiyagoda would profit around Rs. 35,000 from a single nutmeg tree. Apart from Nutmeg, Avocado, Jackfruit, Coconut and Durian were sold to markets.

Farmers like Dissanayake, also have paddy fields of their own, which years ago would reap bountiful harvests, but not anymore. "There came a time when we were encouraged to use fertilizers and agro chemicals to increase yield, which we did voluntarily," he said. "However, within a few years, due to the excessive use of these chemicals we couldn't plough the fields to the point that it's now in ruins." Most paddy fields nearby now have to deal with wild boars, issues which even the government had no pragmatic solution for. Chandrasiri Perera, Provincial Director of Agriculture, Central Province said, since it was illegal to kill and sell wild boars, officials were powerless and have advised farmers to put up fences to keep wild boars at bay.

Fertilizer use

In an attempt to curb the use of such fertilizers and chemicals that have led to the degradation of paddy fields, the government recently converted the fertilizer subsidy into cash allowance.

Accordingly, farmers were given a stipend of Rs.25, 000 per annum which was proportionally increased, depending on the extent of their fields. The move was meant to curb their dependency on fertilizer subsidies.

However, Dr Rohan Wijekoon, Director General of Agriculture told the Sunday Observer, it was not possible to ascertain if farmers had decreased their fertilizer use.

"We have no mechanism to ascertain that. All we can say is, based on the last harvest, we believe they may have used the required amounts and excess."