Buffer stocks for gum
Chad, Nigeria and Sudan have agreed to set aside the equivalent of a year s production of gum arabic (a total of around 40,000 t). These stockpiles will serve to supply the international market should outside events disrupt the harvest in any one of the three countries, which together account for 95% of global output. Signatories to the Khartoum Declaration have made the move in an effort to reassure their industrial clients for whom the acacia tree sap is a vital ingredient in the manufacture of soft drinks and cosmetics, amongst other products. In the past two 2 years, world export prices for gum arabic have tripled due to the conflict in Darfur (see Spore 114) and the huge differences in production levels ranging from 100 to 1000 g per tree between regions. By using buffer stocks to stabilise prices, gum arabic producers will have a better chance of protecting their product against competition from substitutes, both natural and synthetic. The goal is to double global consumption of natural gum over the next few years. FAO, the World Bank, the Association for the International Promotion of Gums (AIPG) and the Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa (NGARA) are all supporting the initiative, which should gradually be extended to other countries. Producers will be able to choose between from three options: selling their harvest by themselves, selling it to the arabic gum bank which will pay them on the spot and sell it on at the right moment, or entrusting it to the bank for storage until prices pick up.
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
2005
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/48037 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99625 |
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