Think-tank bashes Food Reserve Bill 2020

THE Food Reserve Bill 2020 risks creating inefficiencies and a platform for rent-seeking behaviour by well-connected large- scale producers and political actors at Food Reserve Agency (FRA) if care is not taken. This is because the proposed bill does not address the historical inefficiencies of the FRA in its current form and this calls for serious consideration on its implications, says Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) Senior Researcher Trade and Development, Simon Manda. Dr Manda said in a statement yesterday that the Food Reserve Bill 2020 did little to address historical controversies associated with FRA such as increased presence in the commodity. He warned that the bill risked creating a FRA full of contradictions, inefficiencies and a platform for rent-seeking behaviour by well-connected large-scale producers and political actors. “We think, this is completely misleading and contradictory as it can only create a fittingly relevant platform for inefficiencies and scope for corruption,” Dr Manda said. He stressed that the Food Reserve Bill 2020 in its current form extended the existence of the FRA by redefining and extending its functions. Dr Manda explained that it also allowed the FRA to integrate social functions of maintaining strategic grains as well as commercial functions of grain marketing driven by profitability potential. According to the bill, FRA is allowed to market and trade designated agricultural commodity and buy on one hand and also allows the organisation to import, sell, trade or export a designated agricultural commodity on the other. The bill also states that a trader or processor shall, prior to selling a designated agricultural commodity to the agency, declare to the FRA or otherwise commits an offence. But Dr Manda said: “As CTPD, we find these provisions in the bill not progressive and we also think that the role of the private sector actors in agriculture marketing is not clear. “CTPD thinks that extending the mandate of FRA beyond the social role of maintaining strategic grain reserves can cause disruptions and unpredictability in commodity markets, which can have implications on growth of the sector and private sector participation.”