Sri Lanka has reaffirmed its commitment to building resilient and sustainable agrifood systems at the 38th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC38), with Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation Minister K.D. Lal Kantha representing the country in a virtual address.
Speaking under the conference theme of resilience from within in the face of global shocks, Minister Lal Kantha set out three immediate priorities for Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector: strengthening domestic production, reducing import dependency and improving farmer livelihoods.
The minister told the gathering that elevated energy and fertiliser costs, falling income from agricultural exports to the Gulf and continued uncertainty stemming from the 2026 Middle East conflict are amplifying volatility in agricultural commodity markets. Sri Lanka is heavily exposed on both sides of that volatility — as a net importer of fertiliser and energy and as a significant tea, spice and produce exporter to Gulf markets where remittance flows have also slowed.
Sri Lanka chaired the previous APRC session in Colombo and used Friday’s intervention to reaffirm a working partnership with the FAO across technical assistance, innovation and financing. The country pledged to contribute to “a secure, nutrition-sensitive and sustainable food future through strengthened regional cooperation.”
The conference brought together agriculture ministers and senior officials from across the Asia-Pacific region to coordinate responses to compounding food-security shocks, including conflict in the Middle East, climate disruption and trade fragmentation. For Sri Lanka, the agenda overlaps directly with tariff and energy-cost pressures that continue to weigh on the rural economy.
