'We are going to die': Food shortages add to Sri Lanka's woes

Protestors stand on a water cannon vehicle as they shout slogans during a protest organised by students near the President's House, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 19, 2022. [Reuters]

Sri Lanka's prime minister has warned of a food shortage as the island nation battles a devastating economic crisis and vowed the government will buy enough fertiliser for the next planting season to boost harvests.

A decision in April last year by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to ban all chemical fertilisers drastically cut crop yields and although the government has reversed the ban, no substantial imports have yet taken place.