Achieving food security through stronger markets (The Times)

The Times (Malawi) published an op-ed by senior research fellow Todd Benson who writes, “Malawi’s food systems are in crisis and, over the past 10 years, an average of 2.3 million Malawians annually have been vulnerable to hunger.  Yet the country’s policy approach to food security continues to center on subsistence production. In the IFPRI book titled, Disentangling food security from subsistence agriculture in Malawi,’ Benson presents a set of approaches that are advanced to change how most Malawians obtain their food away from reliance on their own production to dependence on strengthened markets.” The book stresses the importance of successful participation, “All market participants must profit – farmers must always be able to find sufficient traders offering remunerative prices for their increased crop output at the same time as households that increasingly rely on non-farm livelihoods must always be able to find the food they require from traders at reasonable prices. Stronger markets that operate predictability for the benefit of producers, consumers, and traders will facilitate reliable access to food for all Malawians.” (Reach 18.7K) Also published in Business Malawi.