East African grains lobby calls for cross border trade in staple food

Governments across the Eastern African region should enact robust policy and legislative frameworks to promote cross border trade in key staples like maize, said executives from East African Grains Council (EAGC) on Monday.

The executives who met in Nairobi on the heels of the just concluded United Nations Conference on Trade and Development urged governments to address bottlenecks that undermined cross border trade in grains.

According to a press statement, the executives from the grains lobby were emphatic that regulated cross border trade in staples will boost food security and economic growth.

"Governments in this region should facilitate trade in staple foods to help alleviate hunger and malnutrition while boosting incomes," said the executives adding that a streamlined grain value chains would create new jobs.

The East African region has recorded bumper harvest in traditional staples like maize, sorghum and millet thanks to favorable weather and timely provision of subsidized inputs.

Executives said that cross border trade will help alleviate uneven supply of staple food occasioned by red tape and disjointed value chains.

"Our region will only be food secure if governments eliminate artificial barriers to cross border trade in grains. In particular, costly permits for traders should be done away with to ease movement of staple food across borders," remarked the executives.

They added that lengthy clearance procedures for trucks at border points eroded the revenue base of grain traders.

A recent study by EAGC and the UN food and agricultural organization concluded that a liberalized cross border market for grains was key to achieve the sustainable development goals on eliminating hunger, poverty and stunting.

It revealed that regional trade in staple foods had increased tremendously in the last decade thanks to harmonization of policies and regulations among east African community member states.

Executives said that regular consultation among industry and governments were key to support establishment of a structured cross border grains trading regime. Endit