Food security in Southern Africa

In 1980, the Heads of State and Government of nine countries formed the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) to coordinate their efforts to encourage the economic and political development of their region and to reduce their dependence on South Africa. Agriculture is one of the main areas of SADCC cooperation because it involves most of the people in this region which has a chronic food deficit. Security of food supply, environmental protection, exploitation of natural resources, agricultural research and livestock health are all covered by this cooperative programme. Apart from the meetings of the Heads of State or ministers, SADCC consists of a permanent secretariat based in Gabarone, Botswana, supported by technical committees coordinated by the member countries which have assumed responsibility for a particular subject: Angola - energy Botswana - agricultural research and livestock health Lesotho - soil conservation and land use Malawi - fisheries, forestry and wildlife Mozambique - transportation and communication Swaziland - human resources and training Tanzania - industrial development Zambia - mining Zimbabwe - food security. agriculture and food production As in most African countries, agricultural production in this region has not kept up with population growth. Between 1970 and 1982, only Malawi and Swaziland have shown a per capita increase in food production. Some countries, such as Zimbabwe and Zambia, are able to export surplus maize thanks to the use of HYVs and better production prices. They are thus headed in the right direction but still import increasing quantities of other foodstuffs. Coordinated by Zimbabwe, a project on food security has been developed to encourage regional programmes involving: - technical assistance - early warning systems - information systems - inventories of agricultural resources - food reserves - programmes to reduce post-harvest losses - food processing technology - food marketing infrastructure - food aid - recruitment of technical staff for agriculture departments - seed production and distribution programmes, and - irrigation improvement and management plans. These subjects were discussed during a seminar organized by the Institute for Southern Africa Studies in Maseru from January 12-14 1987. Proceedings will be available towards the end of 1987 from CTAseminar organized by the Institute for Southern Africa Studies in Maseru from January 12-14 1987. Proceedings will be available towards the end of 1987 from CT