Activities Chapter 5


 Activity 2:
 Appraisal of the needs for food security/food buffer stock

1. As a first step, template A5 overleaf listing the determining factors for the requirements of a
 food buffer stock/food security reserve should be completed, using the following scores to
 indicate the degree of vulnerability to food insecurity and the implications for food stock
 requirements:

 +++ very strong, ++ strong + fair positive implications for food security, argument
 against the need for a food security/buffer stock;
 - very strong, - strong fair vulnerability to food insecurity, argument
 in favour of food security/buffer stocks;
 o not applicable or undetermined.

2. Then, in a second step, determine the scores of the factor groups (1-8) and finally the
 weighed average score for all the determining factors, giving due consideration to the relative
 importance of the different factor and groups as determinants of public food stock
 requirements.

3. If it turns out that public food stocks appear necessary and are recommended, make a
 proposal for the establishment of such stocks, taking the following issues into account:

 Main purpose (market intervention, emergency food reserve)
 Number of people to be covered
 Time to be covered (depending, e.g. on food import lag)
 Risk of total stock depletion
 Storage costs (investment and operation costs)
 Financial resources.

If the necessary data for your specific country are not available, make appropriate assumptions or
use the data from the Ethiopian case study contained in Box 5-2, Chapter 5.


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