Fertilizer policy intervention and agriculture supply chain sustainability: an investigation of impacts of the chemical fertilizer ban on farmers in sri lanka

Abstract

There has been an immediate change in fertilizer policy in 2021 in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan government has limited and banned the import of fertilizers and agrochemicals with the objective of making its agriculture 100% organic. Sri Lanka’s leading agricultural economists and experts have indicated that this fertilizer policy reform will lead to a dramatic drop in agriculture production and has adverse impacts on farm incomes and farming families. This research aims to investigate it through a longitudinal analysis of the data to verify whether the fertilizer policy reforms have a negative impact on agricultural productivity and more importantly on the welfare of farmers. The empirical data has been collected from farmers by interviewing them face to face. Results shows that this fertilizer policy change leads to major yield losses and farmers’ livelihoods have been highly affected. This study could serve as a starting point for future studies that revolve around upcoming fertilizer policy reforms.