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In Brief: A regional take on food security

JOHANNESBURG, 19 March 2010 (IRIN) - A study commissioned by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has been taking stock of food security initiatives in Eastern Africa, and the authors urge those involved in such efforts to "think regionally".

Organizations should identify food and nutrition interventions that had worked in the region and scale them up. They should promote regional trade and cooperation to boost food production and flow across borders, and develop risk management interventions to help countries cope with climate change. The study includes a review of food security initiatives in the region.

The UN study noted that 20 million people are in need of food aid in East Africa and identified "inadequate food exchange or trade between places of abundant harvests on one hand, and those with deficit harvests on the other hand", as one of the key reasons for food insecurity.

The authors also listed frequent droughts and floods brought on by the unfolding impact of climate change, as well as poverty, poor economic performance, land availability and access, among the other main reasons for food insecurity.

The stock take was carried out by various regional governmental organizations such as Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Eastern African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of Great Lakes Region (CEPGL), and six countries - Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The region covered by IGAD comprises Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Eritrea, and is "still perhaps the most food insecure part of the world, with over 70 million people facing chronic hunger and poverty," the paper noted.

Read the report: An overview of the food security situation in Eastern Africa

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Theme(s): (IRIN) Environment, (IRIN) Food Security, (IRIN) Natural Disasters

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