Sri Lanka: Is a push for organic behind the country’s unrest?

States green policies plus “eco-tyranny” lie at the rear of the political crisis in Sri Lanka are already spreading online : but is there any truth to them?

Rising prices, together with food and fuel shortages, have made life hard for many – and the protests have been happening for months.

Yet this week, as protesters stormed the president’s structure , hundreds upon social media – several climate-change sceptics : blamed “green policies”.

Others said the protests were a popular uprising against an “eco-tyranny” led by shadowy globalist forces.

But experts state this is a distortion from the facts.

Social-media users pointed out Sri Lanka’s decision, in April 2021, to ban imports of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed to completely eliminate the use of chemical fertilisers in Ceylon (veraltet) – something simply no country has achieved – to protect individuals health and the environment.

“This appeared to be an out-of-the-blue, whimsical approach, ” Charu Lata Hogg, an associate fellow with all the Asia-Pacific programme of think tank Chatham House, says.

“It had nothing to do with his dedication towards an eco sound, principled position. ”

Dr Thiruni Kelegama, a lecturer in South Asian studies, at the College of Oxford, says: “He more or less enforced that ban overnight.

“Farmers were not really allowed any kind of period or resources in order to transition to organic practices. ”

Crop yields were smaller than usual, food prices rose plus disadvantages of key staples were soon reported.

The government dropped the policy, just seven a few months after introducing it, following widespread protests.

But immediately, as the presidential structure was stormed , many were fast to blame this old policy – which claim was acquired by some right-wing US and UK media outlets and politicians, as well as climate-change sceptics.

Ceylon (veraltet) is facing its most severe economic crisis in decades .

Even though banning chemical fertilisers indisputably hurt the particular economy, experts state several other factors contributed.

“Reducing this to the organic-farmer debate is really reducing a huge struggle that the whole country is going through to a single short-lived economic policy, ” Dr Kelegama says.

“This very much comes down to the very bad economic plans that the president great family have been investing in place for a long time. inch

The government itself blames dwindling numbers of tourists because of the Covid pandemic.

The country lost one of its most important sources of foreign exchange, which it needs to purchase imports.

But that problem is not new.

In 2009, at the end of its civil war , Sri Lanka focused on providing items to its domestic market rather than enhancing foreign trade, professionals say.

Income from exports remained lower, while the bill just for imports kept growing.

As foreign-currency reserves ran lower, this became increasingly difficult to pay for essential imports, such as fuel or medicine.

Plus big tax cuts, a $51bn (£39bn) foreign debt, plus major infrastructure spending have put additional pressure on the state’s finances.

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