An emergency food distribution site in Sri Lanka, hosted by BGR partner Karuna Trust.
By BGR Staff
An economic collapse in Sri Lanka—the worst since the nation gained independence in 1948—has resulted in crisis-level hunger across this nation of 22 million people. Between January and August, 2022, as inflation in Sri Lanka rose from 14.2 percent to 64.3 percent, food prices have risen by 90.9 percent. Nearly 1 in 6 children here suffer from chronic wasting, and 7 in 10 families have reduced the number of daily meals they eat, according to a UNICEF spokesman. More than 1 in 4 Sri Lankans overall are food insecure, according to August data from the World Food Programme and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Soaring fuel costs have closed schools, brought ground transportation to a halt, and resulted in power shortages, making cooking impossible.
In response to this crisis, this year Buddhist Global Relief has approved nearly $20,000 in emergency grants to organizations working on the ground in Sri Lanka. Hunger-relief grants were given to Sarvodaya’s “We Are One” program, the Seruwila Food Program (operated by the Seruwila Raja Mahavihara), and the United Sangha Council USA for aid to Sri Lanka. A grant to BGR partner Karuna Trust funded essential school supplies—exercise books, writing paper, a school bag, and a pair of shoes—for hundreds of students who otherwise would not have been able to attend school.
These emergency-relief grants are in addition to five projects BGR is sponsoring in Sri Lanka in the 2022–23 fiscal year. A project with longtime BGR partner CENWOR (Centre for Women’s Research) is providing technical vocational training for women from low-income families. Two projects with the Sri Lankan Buddhist nonprofit Shraddha Charity Organization are supplying healthy breakfasts for undernourished schoolchildren and clean water for paddy-farming families. A new project with Child Action Lanka supports a feeding program based out of five child-development centers serving impoverished families; the project will provide weekday meals for 161 children in need.
As the crisis has evolved, BGR and our partners continue to adapt to serve those most in need. Our partner Karuna Trust, for example, has adjusted its 2022 vocational project, providing graphic-design training for underserved women. When the classes were delayed by fuel and power shortages, Karuna Trust used the interest on grant funding—far higher rates than usual, a byproduct of runaway inflation—to provide meals to 50 widowed elders. When the trainings resumed, they included a small daily stipend, to ensure that the women participating in the classes will have at least one meal to eat that day.
