Menu

Sri Lanka

Country Nutrition Situation

According to the Global Nutrition Report, Sri Lanka is on-course to achieve two of its nutrition targets for maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN) and the exclusive breastfeeding target, with 82.0% of infants aged 0 to 5 months exclusively breastfed. Further, the country has also made some progress in few other areas: infants having a low weight at birth with 15.9%, the target for stunting with having 17.3% of children under 5 years of age are still affected. Meanwhile Sri Lanka indicates little-to-no progress in achieving the target for wasting, with 15.1% of children under 5 years of age affected and the target for obesity. Moreover, micro-nutrient deficiencies, overweight, obesity remain significant nutrition problems in the country.

Coordinator

Poornima Rodrigo

Scaling Up Nutrition Network Coordinator poornima.rodrigo@wfp.org

Governance structure

In Sri Lanka, SUN Business Network is currently facilitated by the United Nations World Food Programme along with a SUN focal point appointed by the Presidential Secretariat. Since the time of the launch, 36 businesses have signed up as SUN Business Network Sri Lanka members, with all members encouraged to participate in one or more of three SBNSL working groups that drive the agenda of the network.

SUN Business Network Sri Lanka is a composition of SBN SL Steering Committee, SBN SL Membership, SBN SL SME Membership and SBN SL Technical Committee.

What is SBN doing in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the SBN’s overarching aim is to bring together, assess and advocate the private sector with regards to nutrition and nutrition-led initiatives – with a goal of reaching 60 members, comprising actors at both national and sub-national levels, in the coming years.

In light of this expansion, SBN Sri Lanka has four focal points of activity:

Enhancing workplace health and nutrition. Educating employers on the importance of good nutrition; helping them access healthy foods for their staff; and encouraging commitments from companies to make this a priority.
Producing nutritious food products. Supporting the fortification of foods to improve their nutrient value; pursuing new initiatives; and championing national policies and standards.
Promoting nutritious foods. Increasing awareness of, and subsequently demand for, nutritious foods; seeking new opportunities to educate consumers on making healthy choices; and supporting communication strategies.
Helping small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grow. Providing guidance and support in areas such as finance, digitisation, and marketing, to assist these businesses in their development and enhance their impact in the wider nutritious food chain.