Representatives of farmers’ organizations have revealed that no farmer organization has been invited to the 37th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference to be held in Colombo these days by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Sri Lanka Latest News
They reveal that the focus of this conference is only on commercializing agriculture and earning dollars.
“Government has no answer to the real problems of farmers and fishermen, and representatives of farmers’ organizations revealed this information at a press conference held yesterday (20th) by the Land and Reform Movement at Guru Madura, Colombo, based on a conspiracy with FAO.
Terence Gamini, vice president of Rajangana United Farmers Organization, who spoke at the press conference, said that the topics of food and agriculture will not be discussed in this conference. He said that small farmers provide food to more than 80 per cent of the country’s people, and the government is currently making efforts to employ small farmers to grow crops for export.
Vimukti de Silva of the Land and Reform Movement said that the real farmers’ problems are not revealed in this international conference, and the conference talks about exporting crops and earning dollars through agricultural innovation and digitization. She also protested against the lack of focus in this conference on the farmers of the rural community.
Gamini Kulatunga, who participated in representing the Walava movement, said that this conference was a conference without farmers. He said that countries like India, China and Malaysia have become the arbiters of the price of agricultural equipment, seeds, and pesticides sold in this country. He said that no one engaged in the agriculture sector is providing proper service, the farmer is engaged in farming only as an additional job, and the government is holding conferences without looking into the hunger of the people. –
Source: Aruna
