53
Secondly, the persistence of strong seasonal food price variations appears to be a major
determinant of child malnutrition, as admissions clearly rise – year after year – even in
periods of relatively abundant harvests because of limited investments in storage at the
collective and household level, limited credit availability, and inadequate policy responses in
the field of strategic food reserves. The market-based price stabilization mechanisms
introduced by the SAP of the 1980s and 1990s have proven to be too weak to deal with price
seasonality and instability in countries like Niger and Malawi, where inter-temporal and
spatial price arbitrage by private traders is hindered by lack of infrastructures (transport,
communication, storage), limited competition, the distorting impact of economic decisions
in larger and richer neighboring countries and the limited development of insurance,
hedging and future contracts. As noted in section 5, research should ascertain whether food
price seasonality can be dealt with only through targeted transfers and/or public works (at
done at the moment) or also by improving food production (see above), by using flexible
mechanisms to ensure some degree of pan-seasonal pricing for the main food staples,
greater investment in efficient public/private storage, infrastructure to improve market
integration, and the promotion of cereal banks (Devereux 2008). On the other hand, erratic
government interventions in grain markets have to be avoided as they may cause
uncertainty and under-investment in seasonal storage, transport and logistical networking,
(Minot et al. 2007).
Finally, child malnutrition was found to rise, as expected, during recurrent famines which still
stalk many African countries with surprising regularity. Here too, comparison between the
four food crises/famines analyzed in the paper suggests a number of policy lessons: the first
is that reliance on food imports to cover domestic production shortfalls in countries like Niger
and Malawi is a dangerous strategy. Both countries are small, poor, landlocked and with a
poor transport infrastructure. Both neighbor larger and richer economies whose exchange
rate variations can shift large amounts of food towards them. And both depend on imports
from countries which are often affected by covariant shocks. There is a need therefore for
rethinking policy responses in the field food security during crises. Most likely, this rethinking
should consider assigning a greater role than done during the last two decades to a more
efficient early warning system, larger domestic or sub-regional food security reserve, free
food/fodder distribution, cereal banks, public work schemes and active management of child
malnutrition. The response to the Niger crisis of 2010 is, in many respects, a positive example
of how governments and donors can respond to a food crisis. Such response also paved the
way to the implementation of a long term nutritional strategy which combines actions
directed at satisfying immediate needs at the individual level (e.g. the nutritional
rehabilitation through intensive care or therapeutic feedings) with actions at the households
level. In contrast, analysis of the Malawian famines of 2002 and 2008/9 suggests that new
rules of interventions are needed for parastatals so as to avoid the ‘informational mistakes’
behind the food crises of 2002 and 2008/9 which exacted a very high price in terms of child
malnutrition.
54
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