Food security in southern Africa

The role of regional trading, early warning systems and migration

This short brief presents food security policy issues for southern Africa that arise at the regional, or supra-national, level.

Three particular aspects are examined as being of particular importance for food security:

- trade, stocks and commodity exchanges

- early warning systems and disaster preparedness

- migration

Regional trading, stocks, commodity exchanges, and early warning of production problems all have potential to make staple food available through the different countries. There may be correspondingly less scope for supra-national policy in resolving issues of economic and social access (or entitlement) to food, since these largely relate to poverty reduction and relief. Policy for these, other than for overall economic growth and the relief of emergencies, tends to be primarily national. Migration, however, can be important for the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable households, and thus to their access to food.

Policy questions that arise with stocks and commodity exchanges:

- is it necessary for government to hold public stocks of food grains, or can this be left to the private sector?

- if there is a public role in grain stocks, should reserves be in physical stocks or funds to buy imports?

- if there are public stocks or reserves, should these be held nationally, or is there scope for regional cooperation?

- if there are public stocks, who will manage them, to what rules, and how much will they publish details of operations?

- is there scope for using futures and options on commodity exchanges such as Safex to insure against price risks?

Policy questions that arise in regional cooperation for early warning and disaster preparedness include:

- what indicators, methods and techniques should be used when collecting data for vulnerability assessments and early warnings?

- how should the information be analysed and results disseminated so as to contribute to public policy more effectively?

- how can the information and analysis be used to assist private actors in food systems?

Policy challenges associated with migration include:

- understanding more about migrations by generating more data on the phenomenon;

- harmonising policies on movement between countries;

- protecting the rights of migrants whether legal or not, as part of basic human and employment rights to fair treatment at work, access to education, health, and other social services;

- rolling back xenophobia and discrimination against foreigners.

- Wiggins, S.
Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa , ODI , 2003