According to the World Bank, African countries could feed their populations if regional food trade was increased. Lifting trade barriers across the continent would reduce prices and enhance food security for the population, while concurrently raising income for small-scale farmers. For example, only 5% of Africa’s current imports of cereal come from other African nations. More food is being imported from Europe and Southeast Asia, thereby worsening trade balances. “Africa does have the means and opportunities to deal with and deliver improved food security for its citizens,” Makhtar Diop, World Bank vice-president for Africa, noted in the foreword to a new report published on Wednesday. “However, this potential is not being realised because farmers face more trade barriers in getting their food to market than anywhere else in the world.” Among the obstacles cited in the report are high transport costs, gaps in infrastructure, roadblocks and bribes at border posts, and outdated regulations, as well as a lack of agricultural knowledge-sharing among African countries, the bank said. Danielle Nierenberg, director of the US-based ‘Nourishing the Planet’ project, agrees with the need for more regional food trade within the African continent. However, she warned against approaches centered on expensive input such as hybrid seeds and chemical fertilisers. “I haven’t seen, from the World Bank or any other big funders, any significant new focus on agro-ecological solutions, even though all of the data is available,” Nierenberg told Inter Press Service.