Comesa banks on removal of trade barriers to boost food security

A farmer inspects maize crop. Africa's place at the high table of food security remains unoccupied largely due to unpredictable agricultural trade policies.

The organisation seeks to eliminate intra-regional import and export bans which affects access to food

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) region has started an initiative to eliminate intra-regional food import and export bans as it seeks to improve food security situation through a vibrant trade in food.

Food import and export bans have negatively impacted access to affordable food in the region, as countries with more surplus of food are unable to export to member countries that may be facing deficits because of the haphazard food import and export bans.

The situation has meant the region has failed to leverage on better food production in some member countries that could be export to countries experiencing food deficit.

Members of Parliament drawn from 19 member countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) will meet in Lusaka, Zambia on August 11 to 13 to deliberate on the issue and come up with policy recommendations.

"There is persistent concern that Africa's place at the high table of food security remains unoccupied largely due to a very challenging and unpredictable agricultural trade policy environment," said Jackson Kiraka, Technical Advisor at Comesa Secretariat.

"The inevitable consequences of this scenario include the frequent spate of food insecurity and poor economic performance in the agricultural sector and when big shocks like the 2008 food price crisis and financial meltdown occur, they only help to reveal the soft underbelly of the national economic systems, further destabilising the majority who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods," he said.

Several studies by the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) show that the implications of food import and export bans include market gluts at the producer level, resort to informal trade channels including smuggling, cases of corruption and ultimately higher transaction costs and consumer prices.

Food trade experts say that while governments resort to these options with the good intention of securing food security at the national level, the unintended results are always counterproductive and only help to worsen the very situation that was to be addressed.

The initiative will be bolstered by the planned launch of the Pan African Food Exchange (PAFEXE) in Kenya later this year.

The portal connects African farmers to local, regional and international marketplaces.