Mitigating the Food Crisis in Southern Africa : From Relief to Development
More than 10 million people in southern Africa-Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swazilan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe-are currently threatened with famine, with the crisis being particularly severe in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The immediate causes of the f...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/03/2454984/mitigating-food-crisis-southern-africa-relief-development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9739 |
| Summary: | More than 10 million people in southern
Africa-Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swazilan, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe-are currently threatened with famine, with the
crisis being particularly severe in Malawi, Zambia and
Zimbabwe. The immediate causes of the food shortage, namely
of maize, the region's staple crop, are drought,
flooding, and low levels of planting. However, what has made
these countries so vulnerable to famine is chronic poverty,
inadequate development policies and, in some cases, poor
governance. Shocks such as drought bring collapse only to
systems that are already weakened by these factors. The key
to preventing food shortages and possibly famine, therefore,
is effective and appropriate food security policies and
responsible governance. Policies for mitigating the effects
of a critical food shortage or famine lie on a spectrum
ranging from immediate relief to recovery to initiating
development. Preventing future famines requires long-term
development policies. In addressing the crisis, policymakers
should design measures that not only provide relief, but
which also lay the foundations for development.
Interventions must be combined and sequenced with each
other, depending on a country's context, to generate
the greatest possible short- and long-term benefits.
Described here are policy approaches, that IFPRI research in
Africa has shown to be effective in mitigating severe food
shortage and enabling development. |
|---|