The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has developed an initiative to eliminate intra-regional food import and export bans to improve food security and promote vibrant trade.

COMESA technical advisor Jackson Kiraka said food import and export bans have impacted negatively on access to affordable food in the region.

Mr Kiraka is concerned that countries with food surpluses are unable to export to member countries that may be facing deficits because of haphazard food import and export bans.

He said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that the COMESA region has failed to leverage better food production in some member countries that can export to countries experiencing food deficits.

“Members of Parliament drawn from 19 member countries of COMESA will meet in Lusaka from August 11 to 13 to deliberate on the issue and come up with policy recommendations,” Mr Kiraka said.

He said there is a 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.

“The inevitable consequences of this scenario include the frequent spate of food insecurity and poor economic performance in the agriculture 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,” Mr Kiraka said.

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 production level, resort to informal trade channels including smuggling, cases of corruption and ultimately higher transaction costs and consumer prices.

Mr Kiraka said food trade experts are of the view 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.

He said the initiative will be bolstered by the launch of the Pan African Food Exchange which will be held in October in Kenya.