Snapshot of a crisis: food security and dietary diversity levels among disrupted conventional and long‐term organic tea‐smallholders in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, conventional and organic smallholder producers grow seventy percent of the country's tea, bring in significant export earnings, and are differentially exposed to input supply shocks. While tea production may be advantageous for the nation's economy, it is less clear whether it is good for the food security of those smallholders involved. This study examines how economic status (income and wealth) and method of tea farming (organic or conventional) influences food security and dietary diversity outcomes in the midst of a fertiliser supply shock. We used data collected in the summer of 2021, a time when an inorganic fertiliser ban went into effect, from 47 organic and 67 conventional tea smallholders in five rural communities in southern and central Sri Lanka. Our findings show that long‐term organic farmers had higher dietary diversity measures than the conventional tea smallholders who were unevenly disrupted by the aforementioned fertiliser ban. The haphazard ban on conventional fertilizer adversely impacted dietary outcomes of conventional farmers. We also discuss how the transition to organic farming would have worked better with more time and planning.