The SADCC regional food reserve project

Abstract

Food security is achieved when people have access to sufficient staple foods to enable them to lead healthy working lives and participate in the growth and development of the societies in which they live. In the present state of knowledge it is impossible to define precisely what constitutes sufficient staple food. The requirement varies widely among individuals, environments, and conditions especially when people are under sustained nutritional stress. Nevertheless, nutritionists have broadly established the general requirement needed for reasonable health and activity. Access means more than just having available a supply of food. It also means the ability of a family to acquire (grow or buy) sufficient food to meet its perceived needs. Recent performance clearly indicates that the region as a whole has experienced deteriorating food security, although this deterioration is not uniform. Food security has improved markedly in some areas of the SADCC community, especially where household incomes have increased such as among emergent commercial farmers.