Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Creation and Development of Market Institutions
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5. Public buffer stocks as a mechanism to reduce price volatility and increase food
security have not always proven to be a successful mechanism. It is challenged by
relying on purely public agencies to ensure food security rather than harnessing
market institutions and mechanisms. Such agencies could be more effective if they
were properly audited and monitored, but that is rare, especially in poorer countries.
National buffer stocks, as the Malian example shows, are costly and rarely effective in
stabilizing prices and reducing food insecurity. It would be better for the state to act as
policy coordinator and regulator, while leaving storage to private operators. The
experience of Mali illustrates this observation.