Accumulating global food stocks

Description

Accumulating global food stocks involves systematically building and maintaining reserves of essential food commodities at international, regional, or national levels. This strategy aims to ensure food security, stabilize markets, and provide rapid relief during crises such as natural disasters, conflicts, or supply chain disruptions. By creating buffer stocks, it remedies shortages, curbs price volatility, and supports vulnerable populations, enabling coordinated responses to emergencies and reducing the risk of widespread hunger and malnutrition.

Implementation

In 1975, the International Emergency Food Reserve (IEFR) was established and placed at the disposal of the World Food Programme (WFP) as an emergency reserve to strengthen the capacity of WPF to deal with crisis situations in developing countries. It is the major international source of food for initial emergency interventions. The target of the IEFR is 500,000 tonnes of cereals, but this has been regularly surpassed. WFP's effectiveness in responding to the initial phases of emergencies has been based largely on its ability to borrow from WFP food stocks already in-country for development projects, or from other stocks. The ratio of global cereal stocks at the end of the 1993/94 season to anticipated utilization in 1994/95 is expected to remain at 17 to 18%. This is the minimum set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for maintaining world food security. A substantial build-up of global cereal stocks was achieved in the 1992/93 period.