Policy Options to Stabilize Food Supplies: A Case Study of Southern Africa

by Michael Trueblood, Shahla Shapouri, and Shida Henneberry

For the southern Africa region, both a grain stocking program and an import insurance program would have reduced food supply variability more than historical food aid during 1970-95. The stocking program and the import insurance program would have been less expensive than food aid from a donor point of view. These options may be attractive policy alternatives for donors and countries in other regions, given the decline in food aid budgets in recent years and projections of rising global food gaps.

Keywords: Food security, supply stabilization, food aid, Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), grain stocks, and import insurance

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Abstract
• Contents
• Summary
• Introduction
• Background: Food Security in Southern Africa
• Regional Grain Stock Program
• Regional Grain Import Insurance Program
• Would These Programs Be as Effective as Food Aid in Stabilizing Grain Supplies?
• Would These Programs Be More Cost Effective than Food Aid?
• Conclusions
• References