Repurposing agricultural support to improve fruit and vegetable availability and affordability in Sri Lanka: a historical policy analysis

Agricultural support has historically favoured a narrow range of staple and export commodities, with comparatively limited investment in the food-system functions that shape the availability and affordability of nutritious foods. Repurposing agricultural support is increasingly recommended as a means of addressing this misalignment, but there is limited empirical evidence on how countries can operationalise repurposing within existing agricultural policy systems. We used Sri Lanka as a case study to examine where agricultural investment could be redirected to strengthen fruit and vegetable availability and affordability, and how historical policy priorities shape opportunities for doing so. We conducted a qualitative historical policy analysis drawing on 37 semi-structured interviews with food-system and nutrition policy actors and analysis of contemporary and historical policy documents. Hall’s framework of policy paradigms and policy change was used to examine how agricultural policy goals, instruments and investment priorities evolved over time and their implications for repurposing. Policy actors widely recognised inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption and identified affordability, unstable supply, market coordination and farmer viability as important constraints. Government had introduced initiatives supporting production, value-chain coordination and consumption, but major agricultural investment remained oriented towards staple security and export competitiveness. Historical analysis showed how these investment patterns reflected longstanding agricultural policy paradigms. Opportunities for repurposing included greater investment in producer coordination, research and development, post-harvest infrastructure and rural–urban market linkages. Repurposing agricultural support requires more than fiscal reallocation: established policy purposes shape what governments invest in and therefore what can feasibly be redirected. In Sri Lanka, progressively redirecting investment towards under-supported functions of domestic fruit and vegetable systems provides a potential starting point, while incremental changes to existing policy instruments may create opportunities for broader change in what agricultural policy is expected to deliver.