Colombo, Sri Lanka
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: First of all, let me say I feel so privileged and humbled to be back in Sri Lanka representing the United States. I was part of the Obama Administration – I was the Human Rights Advisor to President Obama and then I was the Ambassador to the UN – and traveled to Sri Lanka multiple times and I’ve had a chance over the years to get to know the Sri Lankan people, who have a very, very special place in my heart. And I feel really lucky, right now, to be the Administrator to USAID because USAID has such a long tradition of working with the Sri Lankan people to try to spur economic development, support incredible resilience and heart of Sri Lankans as they seek to build better futures for their kids.
And so, I’m here now, representing President Biden and USAID at a really difficult time for this country, economically, and very specifically at a very difficult time for Sri Lankan farmers and people who work in the agriculture sector. So that is one of the reasons, having just arrived in the country, that I have come here to these rice paddies to talk to farmers here at Ja-Ela, outside of Colombo. The farmers that I just met with described the enormous challenges that the economic crisis has placed on them and their families and really on the whole community. They described a phenomenon that was unimaginable two, three years ago. You know, having grown accustomed to being able to buy fish in the market, now, in some cases, to be forced only to eat local leaves and not being able to bring home, to their children, the biscuits that their children had become accustomed to.
According to the World Food Programme, more than six million people – nearly 30% of Sri Lanka’s population – are currently food insecure and require humanitarian assistance. And obviously, that’s a really big change for this country and it is the consequence of the economic crises that Sri Lankans know so well.
Today, here, having talked to these farmers and heard about their needs, I am announcing an additional $40 million in assistance to Sri Lanka from the American People. Through USAID, this new funding is going to help one million local farmers get the fertilizer and the agricultural necessities they need, just in time for the next planting season. We heard from farmers today how difficult the last two planting and harvesting seasons have been. How the prices of fertilizer, it’s have gone out the roof, we say. How the prices for fuel, for equipment, of course, not only has gone up, but fuel has become increasingly difficult to obtain, as has fertilizer, as have agrochemicals. So, what we are doing with this $40 million support is really focusing on these critical inputs – the things that farmers need to ensure the kinds of harvests that we know these paddies are capable of producing.
This assistance will help farmers, like the ones I met today, weather this emergency phase and provide for their families and their communities. And just to be clear, USAID and the United States stands with Sri Lanka at this time of great, great vulnerability and great need. And I look forward, over the course of the next couple days, to talking to more Sri Lankans, talking to officials, to gain insights as to how best the US-Sri Lankan partnership – which has been so substantial and so important for so long – how best we can meet this very difficult time together. Thank you so much.
KIRSHAN FRANCIS: Your Excellency, this additional funding that you just mentioned, will it be dispersed in time – the whole thing will be dispersed – in time for the next harvesting season? Also, the assistance that has been dispersed up to now, through USAID to the farming sector, if you could explain?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Yes. So, we have previously announced $6 million in support for farmers. And that $6 million will go to the very, very poorest farmers – those who are really living on the edge – I believe, those who make 49,000 rupees or less in a year. So, those who are really feeling the crunch, even more than others. So, that assistance is just now beginning to flow to those farmers and they will feel the effects of that additional support really in the coming days. On top of that, this $40 million will go to support a million additional farmers, on top of the very poorest. And that assistance we are working with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and coming together to support as many farmers as quickly as possible. And to your question – yes, absolutely – we intend for these resources to reach these farmers really in the nick of time, so that the next time we see paddies like this, they are of the quality that Sri Lankans are used to and they produce the kinds of yields that we know are needed to meet the food insecurity that is now griping so much of this country.
ZULFICK FARZAN: Ambassador, you spoke to the farmers here today and they told the sentiment of all farmers in the country and about fuel shortages as well. And recently in New Delhi, when you were speaking to Prime Minister Jayshankar at a program in July. You said you were deeply concerned about the crises ongoing in Sri Lanka especially agriculture, do you still maintain that position or have you seen any improvement or has it deteriorated?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Thank you Sir, for that question. First, let me say that one of the most important topics of conversation during my trip to India was the crisis in Sri Lanka. And, we have been very appreciative, as I know so many Sri Lankans have been, of India stepping forward and providing financial assistance, and loans, and lines of credit, particularly at the height of the crisis – that was extremely important, and we join with India and all friends of Sri Lanka and friends of the Sri Lankan people in supporting Sri Lanka as it seeks to obtain the IMF program that it has reached preliminary agreement on, but that needs to be seen through. And so, certainly, I think the progress that has been made in the engagements with the IMF are significant, that’s not something that had reached that stage when I was in India. I think there are still very large questions about debt distress in this country and how the government can and Sri Lankans can get the access they need to keep the economy fueled. I will be meeting, later this evening, with private sector actors, business leaders as well, to hear what more the United States can do, but also how the private sector feels the crisis is being managed or needs to be managed, what adjustments need to made or reforms need to happen and how they should be prioritized. So, I think that, clearly, it is a more stable circumstance right now in the sense that there is a system for rationing fuel. It’s more stable in the sense that there is a new government trying to implement a set of reforms. But it is extremely difficult for the people of this country. You would know better than me whether people feel as if their quality of life has improved, I’ve only just arrived in the country. But I think it will take some time and some more difficult months and more support from Sri Lanka’s friends, in order to, again, help the people get through this – the kind of crisis that I think this country never really imagined it would have to go through – I mean, never imagined defaulting on debt. And never imagining – these wonderful farmers saying we know how to feed people, we have the fertilizer, if we had the seeds, if we could keep the pests away, count on us – we can feed this country. So, I think that is what is so heartbreaking is here is a set of dynamics beyond the control of the ordinary people, that have left ordinary people and vulnerable people facing challenges, the likes of which they have not encountered before. And, again, that is why we are here – knowing that this is such a difficult time for the Sri Lankan people – to show that America stands with you, that we will continue to look to see what more we can do to support you. Given that, even though, there is more calm in the country then there was a couple months ago, the day to day challenges that families are facing remain acute.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Administrator.