In a move worthy of Portland, Oregon, in early 2021 Sri Lanka’s government announced an immediate and total ban on using chemical fertilizers or insecticides for agriculture. Essentially, the country was told to go 100% organic by government decree.
The result: Famine. Yields fell dramatically, and a country that once easily fed itself now cannot. Even worse, economic dislocation of the ban means that now, even with the ban hastily reversed, many farmers didn’t even bother planting this year. Now, the country is officially bankrupt, and on the verge of total collapse.