Food Price Stabilization in an Age of Overlapping Emergencies: The Case for Multilevel Buffer Stocks

This working paper is based on a study produced for the G20 Food Security Task Force

Food price volatility is increasingly affected by overlapping emergencies including climate change, armed conflicts and trade wars. Buffer stocks can stabilize food prices and contribute towards long-term goals such as food sovereignty and sustainable farming. We propose a regional African food reserve comprising regionally grown and imported grain, to stabilize prices over time and across locations as well as to incentivize more sustainable food cultivation in the region. Additionally, we propose global virtual and physical reserves to stabilize the prices of globally traded commodities and support regional reserves.