Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey
We assess food insecurity in Sri Lanka using the BRIGHT National Household Survey data for 2024-2025, which collected data on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) developed by the FAO. • 32.8% of households in Sri Lanka experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the 12 months prior to...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Brief |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178098 |
| _version_ | 1855520896184221696 |
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| author | Headey, Derek D. Stifel, Elizabeth Hülsen, Vivien Munasinghe, Dilusha Ranucci, Immacolata Sabai, Moe van Asselt, Joanna Weerasinghe, Krishani |
| author_browse | Headey, Derek D. Hülsen, Vivien Munasinghe, Dilusha Ranucci, Immacolata Sabai, Moe Stifel, Elizabeth Weerasinghe, Krishani van Asselt, Joanna |
| author_facet | Headey, Derek D. Stifel, Elizabeth Hülsen, Vivien Munasinghe, Dilusha Ranucci, Immacolata Sabai, Moe van Asselt, Joanna Weerasinghe, Krishani |
| author_sort | Headey, Derek D. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | We assess food insecurity in Sri Lanka using the BRIGHT National Household Survey data for 2024-2025, which collected data on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) developed by the FAO.
• 32.8% of households in Sri Lanka experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the 12 months prior to the survey, with 29.6% classified as moderately and 3.2% classified as severely food insecure. In contrast, food insecurity was just 12% in the 2019 Household Income and Expenditure survey (HIES), such that food insecurity has almost tripled since the 2022 economic crisis.
• A very high 54.5% of Estate households (households that reside in housing on an estate/plantation) experienced food insecurity (43.2% moderate, and 11.4% severe), compared to 35.3% of urban and 31.8% of rural households. Eastern (39.1%), Uva (38.5%), and Southern (38.1%) provinces recorded the highest food insecurity rates.
• Dry-zone households show slightly higher moderate and severe insecurity (34.6%) than inter-mediate (31.1%) and wet zones (24.6%).
• Households dependent on informal employment are more than twice as likely to report food in-security (41% moderate, 5% severe) compared to formal employment households (18% moderate, 1% severe).
• Fishing households are the most food insecure across all livelihoods with 58% experiencing moderate or severe insecurity, including 10% reporting severe food insecurity. Households de-pendent on construction (41%), agriculture (38%), textiles/artisans (35%), manufacturing (29%), food and beverage preparation (27%) and services (23%) also reported high food insecurity.
• Splitting by wealth quintiles, the poorest 20% of households in Sri Lanka have a food insecurity prevalence of 45% including 10% who are severely food insecure. Food insecurity declines as wealth increases but is still high for the second (34%) and middle quintiles (25%).
• The FIES-based indicator reports much higher food insecurity in 2024 (32.8%) than the WFP’s alternative CARI method of estimating food insecurity (16%).
• FIES-based measures can support more frequent monitoring of food insecurity in Sri Lanka via phone surveys and help assess the impacts of programs such as Aswesuma. |
| format | Brief |
| id | CGSpace178098 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1780982025-11-22T02:04:44Z Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey Headey, Derek D. Stifel, Elizabeth Hülsen, Vivien Munasinghe, Dilusha Ranucci, Immacolata Sabai, Moe van Asselt, Joanna Weerasinghe, Krishani food insecurity food security households climate We assess food insecurity in Sri Lanka using the BRIGHT National Household Survey data for 2024-2025, which collected data on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) developed by the FAO. • 32.8% of households in Sri Lanka experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the 12 months prior to the survey, with 29.6% classified as moderately and 3.2% classified as severely food insecure. In contrast, food insecurity was just 12% in the 2019 Household Income and Expenditure survey (HIES), such that food insecurity has almost tripled since the 2022 economic crisis. • A very high 54.5% of Estate households (households that reside in housing on an estate/plantation) experienced food insecurity (43.2% moderate, and 11.4% severe), compared to 35.3% of urban and 31.8% of rural households. Eastern (39.1%), Uva (38.5%), and Southern (38.1%) provinces recorded the highest food insecurity rates. • Dry-zone households show slightly higher moderate and severe insecurity (34.6%) than inter-mediate (31.1%) and wet zones (24.6%). • Households dependent on informal employment are more than twice as likely to report food in-security (41% moderate, 5% severe) compared to formal employment households (18% moderate, 1% severe). • Fishing households are the most food insecure across all livelihoods with 58% experiencing moderate or severe insecurity, including 10% reporting severe food insecurity. Households de-pendent on construction (41%), agriculture (38%), textiles/artisans (35%), manufacturing (29%), food and beverage preparation (27%) and services (23%) also reported high food insecurity. • Splitting by wealth quintiles, the poorest 20% of households in Sri Lanka have a food insecurity prevalence of 45% including 10% who are severely food insecure. Food insecurity declines as wealth increases but is still high for the second (34%) and middle quintiles (25%). • The FIES-based indicator reports much higher food insecurity in 2024 (32.8%) than the WFP’s alternative CARI method of estimating food insecurity (16%). • FIES-based measures can support more frequent monitoring of food insecurity in Sri Lanka via phone surveys and help assess the impacts of programs such as Aswesuma. 2025-11-21 2025-11-21T20:54:55Z 2025-11-21T20:54:55Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178098 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Headey, Derek D.; Stifel, Elizabeth; Hülsen, Vivien; Munasinghe, Dilusha; Ranucci, Immacolata; et al. 2025. Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey. BRIGHT Sri Lanka Project Note 4. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178098 |
| spellingShingle | food insecurity food security households climate Headey, Derek D. Stifel, Elizabeth Hülsen, Vivien Munasinghe, Dilusha Ranucci, Immacolata Sabai, Moe van Asselt, Joanna Weerasinghe, Krishani Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey |
| title | Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey |
| title_full | Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey |
| title_fullStr | Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey |
| title_short | Food insecurity in post-crisis Sri Lanka: Evidence from the 2024-2025 BRIGHT survey |
| title_sort | food insecurity in post crisis sri lanka evidence from the 2024 2025 bright survey |
| topic | food insecurity food security households climate |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178098 |
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