Govt looking at addressing food security

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Pretoria - Government says it will actively participate in multilateral bodies and partner in efforts to boost production and productivity in the continent and to advance food security.

Briefing the media on Thursday, Cabinet spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said South Africa was cognisant of the fact that food was secure as it is available at the national level.

Manyi said Cabinet noted, however, that many households with little or no purchasing power were struggling to make ends meet.

This as the food prices continue to rise, with a number of African countries, food inflation continues to be higher than headline CPI inflation.

Economists have attributed the high food prices to high energy prices; adverse weather conditions such as floods, drought and fires; the demand for feedstock in biofuel plants and the demand for animal feed; and exchange rate volatility.

It is hoped that the action plan, which South Africa will implement, developed by the G20 countries, aimed at addressing these volatile food and agricultural commodity prices will in some way make a difference.

Meanwhile, given the current global turmoil, the country has received international recognition for its economic growth.

South Africa has moved by one place to rank 35 out of 183 economies in the World Bank's 2012: Doing Business in a transparent World Report.