Publication: Assessing Safety Net Readiness in Response to Food Price Volatility
Date
2011-09
ISSN
Published
2011-09
Author(s)
Abstract
In 2008, when food prices rose
precipitously to record highs, international attention and
local policy in many countries focused on safety nets as
part of the response. Now that food prices are high again,
the issue of appropriate responses is again on the policy
agenda. This note sets out a framework for making quick,
qualitative assessments of how well countries' safety
nets prepare them for a rapid policy response to rising food
prices should the situation warrant. The framework is
applied using data from spring 2011, presenting a snap?shot
analysis of what is a dynamically changing situation. Based
on this data safety net readiness is assessed in 13
vulnerable countries based on the following criteria: the
presence of safety net programs, program coverage,
administrative capacity, and to a lesser degree, targeting
effectiveness. It is argued that these criteria will remain
the same throughout time, even if the sample countries
affected will be expected to vary. Based on this analysis
the note highlights that though a number of countries are
more prepared than they were in 2008, there is still a
significant medium term agenda on safety net preparedness in
the face of crisis. In this context, strategic lessons from
the 2008 food crisis response are presented to better
understand the response options and challenges facing
governments and policy makers. The note concludes by calling
for continued investment and scale up of safety nets to
mitigate poverty impacts and help prevent long term setbacks
in nutrition and poverty.
Citation
“Grosh, Margaret; Andrews, Colin; Quintana, Rodrigo; Rodriguez-Alas, Claudia. 2011. Assessing Safety Net Readiness in Response to Food Price Volatility. SP Discussion Paper;No. 1118. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/26825 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”