Sri Lankan floods could leave 400,000 children without enough food

Worst floods in country's recent history have destroyed homes, schools and agricultural land
Karen McVeigh guardian.co.uk 20 Jan 11;

Up to 400,000 children in Sri Lanka are facing a food crisis caused by devastating floods, a children's charity warned as it launched a £1m appeal to help those in the worst-hit areas today.

As the floodwaters begin to recede, many of the 350,000 displaced people driven into temporary refugee camps are returning home only to find that their homes, schools, crops and livelihoods have been wiped out by the rains.

In the worst-affected part of the country, the Eastern Province, the damage to agricultural land could leave up to 1 million people, including 400,000 children, without enough food, Save the Children said.

Sri Lanka's agricultural ministry reported that 21% of the country's rice crop had been destroyed.

The warning came as the UN launched an urgent $51m (£31m) appeal for victims of the floods – the worst in recent history – which have killed dozens and destroyed thousands of homes and vital clean water sources.

More than 1 million people in the country are affected, with over half estimated to be facing food shortages and the threat of waterborne disease.

It is an enormous setback for an area that was only just beginning to recover from the decades-long war and the 2004 tsunami which killed 400,000 people and left 2.5 million homeless.

"The average ten-year-old in eastern Sri Lanka has lived through conflict, the tsunami and now risks facing a food crisis in the coming weeks caused by these floods," Gareth Owen, Save the Children's emergencies director, said.

"It is absolutely essential that the world does not wait until these children are starving to act.

"Many families in affected areas are facing a nightmare scenario in which both their food source and their livelihoods have been washed away by the rains. They need help to survive until the next harvest. It may not have been possible to prevent the floods, but we can avoid a food crisis if help is given to families now."

An estimated quarter of a million acres of agricultural land and more than 240,000 livestock are thought to have been lost when the east of the island was hit.

Children are particularly at risk from a food crisis because they are more vulnerable to disease and other health problems if they suffer from malnutrition and through bad sanitation that floods inevitably cause.

One of the worst-affected districts is Batticaloa, within Sri Lanka's breadbasket region in the east of the country, where up to 80% of the rice crop is believed to have been destroyed by the rains.

Speaking from Batticaloa, Mark Patterson, Save the Children's co-ordinator for the eastern region, said: "In Batticaloa, almost all villages have been affected by the floods. The impact is huge. It is not just the agricultural crop, but many poor families here depend on cash for labour work in the paddy fields.

"If the landowners do not cultivate when the land recovers, then they cannot do the work."

He warned of a child labour crisis 3-6 months timein the near future if families had no regular income and needed to rely on their children to work.

"The government are discussing a package to help, but it will be a long process for the government to intervene," Paterson said. "In three to six months time, if those families do not have a regular income, then you then get children dropping out of school and they may be forced into child labour."

Save the Children has already distributed food, clothing and other essential items to thousands of families living in camps in the worst-affected areas. It is appealing for £1m to scale up its work and ensure that families affected by the floods are given the assistance they need in order to avoid a food crisis.

The UN assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Catherine Bragg, launched an appeal for flood victims "who were desperately vulnerable to begin with" after visiting the east today.

The UN warned that the floodwaters may have shifted unexploded landmines planted during the conflict into areas thought to be safe.

The floods were a once in a century event, according to the UN Global Disaster Alert and Co-ordination System.

Local newspapers reported that, during the period from 1 December to 12 January, more rain fell in Batticaloa than it normally receives in a year.