Publication: Regional Trade in Food Staples : Prospects for Stimulating Agricultural Growth and Moderation Food Security Crises in Eastern and Southern Africa
Date
2008-12
ISSN
Published
2008-12
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
This report focuses on growing trade in
food staples in the Southern and Eastern African region of
Africa as one of the largest growth opportunities available
to African farmers. This paper examines the impact of
regional trade in food staples, both for maintaining farmer
incentives in surplus food production zones and for
moderating price spikes in deficit areas. The paper begins
by identifying the geographic extent of major maize market
sheds in Eastern and Southern Africa. It then focuses on the
South Eastern Africa market shed, the one centered in
Malawi, Northern Mozambique and Zambia. This analysis
concentrates on the regions two most important food staples,
maize and cassava. Given the volatility of the region's
rainfed maize production, this section aims to empirically
evaluate the impact of maize production shocks on staple
food prices, production incentives, consumption and trade.
To do so, the paper develops a spatially disaggregated model
o f maize and cassava markets in order to evaluate the
impact of supply shocks, with and without cross-border trade.
Citation
“World Bank. 2008. Regional Trade in Food Staples : Prospects for Stimulating Agricultural Growth and Moderation Food Security Crises in Eastern and Southern Africa. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/cd2e64ab-6bc0-5e89-b97f-5ed45bf4c861 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”