A World Food Reserve

MAC/WFY

Page-40

0230_553559_09_cha05

194570. Early Attempts: FAO's Pioneering Work

The dedication of surplus food stocks to development purposes, either in the

form of additional `food capital' through the creation of a `World Food Capital
Fund', which could be linked with, or form an additional part of, the propose
Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED),

or through

other channels, would have to be seen in the wider context of the fight against
chronic poverty and the promotion of economic development through organized
international assistance. Second, the international use of food supplies to fight
chronic malnutrition required methods that were almost entirely distinct from,
and largely incompatible with, the types of operation that a WFR would have to
perform for price stabilization purposes.

On the other hand, a number of benefits could be derived from the establish-

ment of national reserves in developing countries, including: insurance against
famine and other emergencies; protection against the effects of excessive and
erratic fluctuations in the prices of staple foods; and provision of some `elbow
room' in national planning for economic development. But, paradoxically, the
need for such reserves was greatest, and the ability to maintain them lowest, in
the very countries that were suffering from chronic malnutrition. These consid-
erations pointed to possibilities of international food surplus being used in the
wider context of economic assistance, taking into account the Principles of Surplus
Disposal recommended by FAO (see below). It was easier to plan multipurpose
reserves on a national basis than on an international scale. The same inter-
national pool of foodstuffs could not simultaneously serve the two different
purposes of counteracting market instability and relieving famine or chronic
poverty. The former would require something like a `world market stabilization
fund' or buffer pool, which might be replenished by something like a `world food
capital fund'.

Famine and other emergency relief

The report noted the close link between chronic malnutrition and famine in the
sense that the latter was most likely to occur, and reach drastic proportions, in
countries where normal food supplies were precariously low. It drew an analogy
with the state of health stating that `just as critical illness differed from lingering
sickness, so does famine differ from chronic malnutrition in that it is not only
more acutely serious but also lesser in incidence, more localized, intermittent, and
unpredictable'. This marked, perhaps for the first time, the important distinction
between chronic and transitory food insecurity, which was later revived in a
seminal World Bank study in 1986 (World Bank, 1986), with critical policy and
operational implications (see below).

In the great famines of history, people depended for food on the crops produced

by themselves, or at no great distance from their homes. Crops failed, usually
because of drought, and the people starved. There were no reserves in store, no
means of transporting food in sufficient amounts from elsewhere, and no admin-
istrative organization for procuring or distributing food to relieve famine.

While

steps had been taken to respond quickly and effectively in times of famine, the

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Useful links	A World Food Reserve MAC/WFY Page-40 0230_553559_09_cha05 40 194570. Early Attempts: FAO's Pioneering Work The dedication of surplus food stocks to development purposes, either in the form of additional `food capital' through the creation of a `World Food Capital Fund', which could be linked with, or form an additional part of, the propose Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED), 11 or through other channels, would have to be seen in the wider context of the fight against chronic poverty and the promotion of economic development through organized international assistance. Second, the international use of food supplies to fight chronic malnutrition required methods that were almost entirely distinct from, and largely incompatible with, the types of operation that a WFR would have to perform for price stabilization purposes. On the other hand, a number of benefits could be derived from the establish- ment of national reserves in developing countries, including: insurance against famine and other emergencies; protection against the effects of excessive and erratic fluctuations in the prices of staple foods; and provision of some `elbow room' in national planning for economic development. But, paradoxically, the need for such reserves was greatest, and the ability to maintain them lowest, in the very countries that were suffering from chronic malnutrition. These consid- erations pointed to possibilities of international food surplus being used in the wider context of economic assistance, taking into account the Principles of Surplus Disposal recommended by FAO (see below). It was easier to plan multipurpose reserves on a national basis than on an international scale. The same inter- national pool of foodstuffs could not simultaneously serve the two different purposes of counteracting market instability and relieving famine or chronic poverty. The former would require something like a `world market stabilization fund' or buffer pool, which might be replenished by something like a `world food capital fund'. Famine and other emergency relief The report noted the close link between chronic malnutrition and famine in the sense that the latter was most likely to occur, and reach drastic proportions, in countries where normal food supplies were precariously low. It drew an analogy with the state of health stating that `just as critical illness differed from lingering sickness, so does famine differ from chronic malnutrition in that it is not only more acutely serious but also lesser in incidence, more localized, intermittent, and unpredictable'. This marked, perhaps for the first time, the important distinction between chronic and transitory food insecurity, which was later revived in a seminal World Bank study in 1986 (World Bank, 1986), with critical policy and operational implications (see below). 12 In the great famines of history, people depended for food on the crops produced by themselves, or at no great distance from their homes. Crops failed, usually because of drought, and the people starved. There were no reserves in store, no means of transporting food in sufficient amounts from elsewhere, and no admin- istrative organization for procuring or distributing food to relieve famine. 13 While steps had been taken to respond quickly and effectively in times of famine, the back to top Next page
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