SADC ponders regional food reserves

SADC ponders regional food reserves
By Joan Chirwa
Saturday June 28, 2008 [04:00]

ESTABLISHING regional food reserves can provide a solution to looming food shortages in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, the Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM) has noted. And the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives said SADC member countries have been tasked to study the establishment of regional food reserves as agreed by ministers of agriculture during the 2007 heads of state summit in Lusaka.

PAM executive director Paul Kapotwe said SADC member countries should critically look at having a regional food reserve to mitigate impacts of food shortages being experienced in some countries.

"Some countries in the region are already having food shortages while others are restricting exports of crops," Kapotwe said. "The best we can do is to have a regional food reserve which can service all member countries regardless of their production capacity in order to avoid food shortages."

And agriculture minister Ben Kapita said SADC ministers of agriculture last year held extensive discussions regarding the setting up of regional food reserves, adding that the venture needed to be carefully studied before individual countries could make decisions.

"In the first place, establishing this facility will not be cheap. We also need to decide whether we will have physical stocks or have the reserves in cash. Another problem that comes in is on the country that will host this facility.

The other problem is how to solve the genetically modified organisms (GMO) issue. Some countries in SADC accept GMO foods while Zambia's policy restricts the use of GMOs," said Kapita.