Ensuring Sri Lankan Food Security towards Zero Hunger: Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The second sustainable development goal (SDG) is “zero hunger, establish food security and enhanced health, and encourage sustainable agriculture”. However, even though Sri Lanka has achieved significant progress towards this goal over the past 15 years, achieving the second SDG is questionable due to the current economic crisis prevailing in the country. A country’s food security changes based on its economic conditions; it is necessary to carry out periodic surveys. As the Sri Lankan economy is currently facing a massive economic crisis, furthermore studies are needed to assess the country's current food security status. However, lacking review papers on food security hinders the advancement of Sri Lankan food security research. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is the systematization and categorization of the extant knowledge on food security in the Sri Lankan context of food security research. The study carried out a systematic literature survey. Published papers were downloaded from well-reputed databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Google scholar by using the keywords “food security” and “Sri Lanka” (2000-2022). Twenty-six papers were selected for the final review process. Thematic analysis was used to observe specific patterns of food security research in the Sri Lankan context. The paper discovered five major themes that the food security concept has been researched in the Sri Lankan context. Five recurring themes serve as the basis for the synthesis: i) the Role of home gardening in food security, ii) Measurements and determinants of food security, iii) Social protection and food security, iv) Food security under climate change, and iv) Covid-19 and food security. The government, development partners, and other stakeholders will need to innovate and work together in order to address and achieve the zero-hunger goal. Since this paper identifies several research findings and gaps in the field, it noticeably sets the path for future research on the concept of food security in Sri Lanka.