Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya addressed the Global Conscious Food Systems Summit 2026 in Bhutan, urging nations to draw lessons from Sri Lanka's ancient sustainable agriculture practices while embracing contemporary solutions to tackle food security challenges.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya delivered remarks at the Global Conscious Food Systems Summit 2026 in Bhutan, calling on the international community to integrate traditional knowledge with modern approaches in addressing the world's food crisis. She emphasized that solving contemporary food security issues requires neither abandoning the present nor discarding the lessons of history, but rather finding a balanced path forward that respects ancestral practices while leveraging current technological advances.
The Prime Minister highlighted Sri Lanka's ancient Wewa-Gama or tank-village cascade system as a model of sustainable resource management developed over nearly 2,000 years. This interconnected network of reservoirs across the dry zone was designed to sustain entire ecosystems and communities by supporting agriculture, forests, livestock and rural livelihoods. Dr. Amarasuriya referenced the principle attributed to King Parakramabahu the Great—that not a single drop of water should flow to the sea without productive use—as demonstrating sophisticated understanding of stewardship and collective responsibility. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has recognized this system as a globally important agricultural heritage model due to its resilience and sustainability.
Dr. Amarasuriya outlined additional traditional practices that reflected embedded sustainability principles, including selective fishing methods that allowed juvenile fish to mature and traditional hunting practices that protected vulnerable animals. She noted that agricultural communities practiced Kurulu Paluwa, deliberately reserving farmland portions for wildlife to maintain biodiversity essential to farming ecosystems. However, she warned that many such values are eroding, citing national data showing post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables between 20 and 30 percent, while grain losses range from 10 to 12 percent.
The Prime Minister cautioned against romanticizing the past while acknowledging that decades of colonization, industrialization and rapid technological change have fundamentally altered global food systems. She highlighted how processed, packaged foods increasingly replace traditional meals prepared from fresh local ingredients, contributing to rising non-communicable diseases including diabetes among younger populations. Dr. Amarasuriya advocated for community kitchens and shared food preparation systems as innovative approaches to making healthy local food more accessible while addressing modern lifestyle constraints.