Regional trade and food security in SADC
Abstract A number of pertinent questions on regional trade and food security in southern Africa is addressed in this paper, namely: Should a country go it alone or should it belong to a regional trade bloc? Within the SADC region, should countries be content to be cereal importers? How can free trade be phased in? How can intra-SADC trade be expanded? Potentially sensitive agricultural products are listed and the sensitivity in grain milling and cereals is discussed in detail. The major conclusion is that trade in the region can contribute substantially to provide improved food security. There is also considerable scope for greater intra-regional trade in grain and other food products, and for greater cross-border investment in agriculture and agro-industry.
Economic effects of market and trade liberalisation on agriculture in the Western Cape Province of South Africa
This paper attempts to estimate the effects of some of the changes in the marketing system on the Western Cape Province of South Africa, utilizing a regional linear programming model of the agricultural sector of the region. The model includes supply, demand and production risk, and simulates the present agricultural production structure well. Market and trade liberalisation have major impacts on the structure of Western Cape agriculture, particularly the grain and livestock sub-sectors, with only marginal and mostly insignificant effects on horticultural products.
FOOD SECURITY IN THE SAHEL: VARIABLE IMPORT LEVY, GRAIN RESERVES, AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE ASSISTANCE
The confluence of droughts and high world grain prices in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the Sahel produced widespread famine, resulting in extensive and displacement of people. The region is extremely poor in normal times and the drought was simply a crisis superimposed on chronic misery. The area has recovered somewhat since 1974 but has made little real progress. There has been, in particular, little growth of real income among agricultural populations, a steep increase of food imports, a high rate of permanent rural emigration (due partly to poor economic opportunities in agriculture), and chronic inflation