Constructing the Food Security Institution: The Early Warning System and Disaster Management Policy in Zambia

In Sub-Saharan Africa, establishment of an early warning system and disaster management policy has been an urgent matter since the 1970s. In Zambia, the initial effort for enhancing national food security started in the early 1980s. In FY 2008 research, we focused on the historical process of establishment of food security institutions and the system of food aid by examining administration documents in several organizations and field surveys. The purpose of my research is to analyse the political and social process of building food security institutions in which several international organizations have been involved, especially focusing on the establishment of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) and the Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC). This paper firstly examines the concept of ‘Food Security ’ that has a significant influence for development policies in Sub-Saharan African countries. The concept and its focus have been changed and sophisticated since the 1970s. Food aid is a main measure widely adopted to enhance the food security in the developing countries. Especially, the U.S. has continued to be the biggest supplier of food aid in the world. The recipient countries of food aid have increasingly shifted from Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa in the 2000s