Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa
In times of highly volatile commodity markets, governments often try to protect their populations from rapidly rising food prices, which can be particularly harmful for the poor. A potential solution for food-deficit countries is to hold strategic reserves that can be called on when international pr...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22557 |
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okr-10986-225572021-04-23T14:04:09Z Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa Larson, Donald F. Lampietti, Julian Gouel, Christophe Cafiero, Carlo Roberts, John average price commodity price cost of living financial market inflation international market inventory market volatility marketing price changes price levels price stability price stabilization price volatility stock storage capacity supply chain In times of highly volatile commodity markets, governments often try to protect their populations from rapidly rising food prices, which can be particularly harmful for the poor. A potential solution for food-deficit countries is to hold strategic reserves that can be called on when international prices spike. But how large should strategic stockpiles be, and what rules should govern their release? In this paper, we develop a dynamic competitive storage model for wheat in the Middle East and North Africa region, where imported wheat is the most significant component of the average diet. We analyze a strategy that sets aside wheat stockpiles, which can be used to keep domestic prices below a targeted price. Our analysis shows that if the target price is set high and reserves are adequate, the strategy can be effective and robust. Contrary to most interventions, strategic storage policies are counter-cyclical, and when the importing region is sufficiently large, a regional policy can smooth global prices. Simulations indicate that this is the case for the Middle East and North Africa region. Nevertheless, the policy is more costly than a procyclical policy similar to food stamps that uses targeted transfers to directly offset high prices with a subsidy. 2015-08-28T18:07:36Z 2015-08-28T18:07:36Z 2014-01-23 Journal Article World Bank Economic Review 1564-698X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22557 en_US CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article Middle East and North Africa Middle East North Africa Australia |
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Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
en_US |
| topic |
average price commodity price cost of living financial market inflation international market inventory market volatility marketing price changes price levels price stability price stabilization price volatility stock storage capacity supply chain |
| spellingShingle |
average price commodity price cost of living financial market inflation international market inventory market volatility marketing price changes price levels price stability price stabilization price volatility stock storage capacity supply chain Larson, Donald F. Lampietti, Julian Gouel, Christophe Cafiero, Carlo Roberts, John Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa |
| geographic_facet |
Middle East and North Africa Middle East North Africa Australia |
| description |
In times of highly volatile commodity markets, governments often try to protect their populations from rapidly rising food prices, which can be particularly harmful for the poor. A potential solution for food-deficit countries is to hold strategic reserves that can be called on when international prices spike. But how large should strategic stockpiles be, and what rules should govern their release? In this paper, we develop a dynamic competitive storage model for wheat in the Middle East and North Africa region, where imported wheat is the most significant component of the average diet. We analyze a strategy that sets aside wheat stockpiles, which can be used to keep domestic prices below a targeted price. Our analysis shows that if the target price is set high and reserves are adequate, the strategy can be effective and robust. Contrary to most interventions, strategic storage policies are counter-cyclical, and when the importing region is sufficiently large, a regional policy can smooth global prices. Simulations indicate that this is the case for the Middle East and North Africa region. Nevertheless, the policy is more costly than a procyclical policy similar to food stamps that uses targeted transfers to directly offset high prices with a subsidy. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Larson, Donald F. Lampietti, Julian Gouel, Christophe Cafiero, Carlo Roberts, John |
| author_facet |
Larson, Donald F. Lampietti, Julian Gouel, Christophe Cafiero, Carlo Roberts, John |
| author_sort |
Larson, Donald F. |
| title |
Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa |
| title_short |
Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa |
| title_full |
Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa |
| title_fullStr |
Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Food Security and Storage in the Middle East and North Africa |
| title_sort |
food security and storage in the middle east and north africa |
| publisher |
Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22557 |
| _version_ |
1764451410099830784 |