Malnutrition rising in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Nutrition surveys by the Sri Lankan government and international agencies show rising levels of acute malnutrition in the northern Jaffna district.

19 Jul 2007

Livelihoods and markets have been disrupted by conflict and displacement, the closure of a major highway, and security-related restrictions on farming and fishing. Food assistance for the internally displaced and other vulnerable groups has been in short supply for months.

Jaffna - The Jaffna District Government Agent, K. Ganesh, says 96,500 families, 51 percent of the Jaffna population, are farmers or farm labourers. Their productivity has been hit hard by the lack of fertilizer and other farm inputs and because land is out of production in high security zones. Severe restrictions imposed by the Sri Lankan military also limit the livelihoods of the 17,500 fishing families (9 percent of the population) whose production is only an estimated 10 percent of pre-conflict levels.

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