WB calls for renewed emphasis on agriculture

The World Bank yesterday called for renewed emphasis on agriculture development with a special reference to Sri Lanka. Its latest report on agriculture calls for greater investments in agriculture in developing countries to achieve the goal of alleviating hunger and extreme poverty by 2015.

This was noted during a press briefing held yesterday at the World Bank office, Sri Lanka.

During the conference the author of the Agriculture for Development Report, Derek Byelee said that the world could be facing a food shortage in the future.

“We are trying to improve the agriculture sector because there could be possibilities of a food shortage in the future. One of the main reasons for this food shortage is that wheat and other essential commodities are being used as energy supplies in most western countries today. This could affect the developing countries a lot, especially countries like Sri Lanka.”

Byelee also said that the World Bank is in the process of increasing funding for the agricultural sector and renewable energy in Sri Lanka.

“The agricultural growth in Sri Lanka is 1.2%. Compared to other countries in the region this figure is not so low,” Byelee said.

According to the Agricultural Report the President of The World Bank Group, Robert B. Zoellick stated that an agriculture development agenda can benefit more than 900 million rural people living in the developing countries.

“A dynamic agriculture for development agenda can benefit the estimated 900 million rural people in the developing world who live on less than one dollar a day. Their livelihoods are mostly based on agriculture. A greater focus on agriculture is essential when considering population pressure, declining farm sizes, water scarcity and environmental contamination, and the need to develop lagging high poverty areas.”

The Report also said the agriculture and rural sectors have suffered from neglect and under-investment over the past 20 years. While 75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas, four percent of official development assistance goes to agriculture in developing countries.

However, this is in contrary to the statement made by a World Bank official not very long time ago, when the official publicly claimed that Sri Lanka should stop engaging in agriculture and to opt for whatever the products the country can manufacture cheaply.