Daily FT (Sri Lanka) published an op-ed by Jeevika Weerahewa and senior research fellow Devesh Roy. In the op-ed, the authors state that recent agriculture policies proposed by the Government of Sri Lanka can best be described as a bogie in a large and speeding ‘ban wagon’. In a bid to control and command the agri-food sector, particularly as a post-COVID response, a surfeit of bans has ruled the policy choices in Sri Lanka. The ban wagon started with the imposition of a range of restrictions on food imports after the first wave of COVID-19. Economies do face different problems that need policy interventions in face of market failure. The solution to market failure is not in obliterating markets, it is in getting the incentives right. Self-reliance is a dangerous game in COVID. Let’s get better trade, better production, not lesser trade and lesser production.
