The government should institute food subsidies and regulate market prices, a research has suggested.

Researcher Dr. Augustino Ting Mayai of the think tank, Sudd Institute, gave the recommendations after a research on food security in the former Warrap and Northern Bhar al-Ghazal states.

He presented the findings at a lecture on ending the famine in the country. The event was organized by the think-tank, Ebony Center for Strategic Studies.

The research found that the causes of shocks related to food shortage include insecurity, poverty, climate change, economic depression, and unemployment.

Others include the free market, traditional methods of farming and the cost of transacting business.

Dr. Ting says the participants recommended instituting food subsidies right away, increase investment in mechanized agriculture, more market regulation, especially prices, and increasing food supply immediately.

Other recommendations include UN food distribution appropriate between February and April each year to enable hunger free farming season, reducing corruption in food distribution, normalizing relations with the Sudan to broaden the market, and improving national security.

Participants at the event acknowledged the findings of the research, particularly on the shocks, but they did not respond directly to the views of introducing subsidies and controlling the market prices.

Read full text here: Food Security