Sri Lanka's Broken Dreams
Sri Lanka's organic dreams that turned to a nightmare
Sri Lanka's president Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election in 2019, campaigning on promises of a green, organic future. But today, Sri Lanka faces its worst financial crisis since independence.
'We require a new agricultural revolution that has sustainability at its core' - words spoken by Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa which defined his 2019 election campaign. In April 2021, the importation of artificial fertilizers and pesticides was banned; the country became organic overnight. 'Organic agriculture has been practiced in Sri Lanka for at least 3000 years. This is nothing new', says ecologist Dr Ranil Senanayake. But the government has failed to deliver on its promise to provide farmers with organic alternatives to the banned chemicals - meaning mass crop failures. 'All the farmers who farm here are angry. We went on rallies protesting against them implementing this', says one rice farmer. As crops fail, protests continue and the country's economy suffers.
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