The Southern African Response to Food Security and the Global Food Crisis

This report analyzes the policy responses of Southern African nations to the global food price increases of 2006–2008. It argues that the region exists in a state of permanent food insecurity, making the global crisis a "spike" in a long-term trend rather than an isolated event. The report emphasizes the role of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) as the primary framework for coordinated regional responses, focusing on long-term structural improvements over short-term reactionary measures.

• Southern Africa experiences a chronic, long-term food security crisis, and the global food price increases of 2006–2008 represented a temporary peak in this ongoing trend rather than a separate event.
• The Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) serves as the central coordinated policy response for the region, organized around four pillars: sustainable land and water management, rural infrastructure and market access, increasing food supplies and emergency response, and agricultural research and technology.
• Short-term policy responses to the food crisis in Southern Africa included input subsidies, cash transfers, and food vouchers, but the report warns that these can be expensive, prone to misappropriation, and may create dependency if they do not build an asset base for the poor.
• The Southern African Development Community (SADC) identified specific constraints for small-scale farmers, including limited access to improved seeds—with only 10% of seed used in the region being improved—and a lack of agricultural credit due to a lack of collateral.
• SADC intends to establish a regional strategic food reserve of 500,000 tons consisting of white maize, wheat, sorghum, rice, and livestock, to be built over three years.
• The report argues that domestic production capability provides a critical buffer against global price spikes; in South Africa, local prices during the 2008 peak tended toward lower export parity rather than higher import parity, potentially saving approximately USD 210 per ton.
• There is a concerning trend of non-African countries, such as China, South Korea, and Arab nations, procuring agricultural land in Africa to secure their own food supplies, exemplified by South Korea leasing half of Madagascar's arable land on a 99-year lease.
• The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) promotes a "development oriented" approach to food aid, partnering with the World Food Program (WFP) to purchase relief food locally to stimulate rural incomes and production.
• The report suggests that the global food crisis could theoretically facilitate the Doha trade round by reducing the need for First World agricultural subsidies as market prices rise, though deep-seated resistance to reform persists.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). The Southern African Response to Food Security and the Global Food Crisis. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/southern_african_response_food_security.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. The Southern African Response to Food Security and the Global Food Crisis. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/southern_african_response_food_security.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=The Southern African Response to Food Security and the Global Food Crisis |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/southern_african_response_food_security.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndsouthern, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{The Southern African Response to Food Security and the Global Food Crisis}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/southern_african_response_food_security.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }