Assembly/AU/ 7 (X)I Page 6 actions, the immediate short-term actions, will address immediate needs for food assistance and increased food availability. The second set of actions, the medium to long-term investment actions, will address the need to build a more resilient food system that can meet ongoing and future challenges. 16. The eight policy actions proposed are the following: (a) The immediate short-term actions: 1. Expand emergency responses and humanitarian assistance. National emergency agencies typically respond to natural disasters and complex humanitarian emergencies but not to slow-onset disasters like this price crisis. This pattern must change. Emergency agencies need to adopt triggers that will activate them under crises like the current one. They need to invest more in preparedness and mobilize their often strong capabilities to monitor and assist the population groups that need to be targeted. National emergency agencies also need to collaborate with organizations that deal with chronic food, agriculture and nutrition issues at the national and international level. Given the nature of the price crisis, decision makers must give due attention to the urban poor. Food or cash transfers should be expanded and should target the poorest people, with a focus on early childhood nutrition, regions in distress, school feeding with take-home rations, and food and cash for work. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations have an important role to play in the related actions. Targeted transfers will protect the food consumption levels of people served by existing programs. Increased funding would prevent further deterioration of food and nutrition security and increase emergency preparedness. 2. Eliminate agricultural export bans. The export bans among developing countries have created a new trade policy theater. Governments have a legitimate interest in caring for their citizens first. Hence there should be no illusion: the problem of export bans cannot be addressed country by country. Although the new wave of export restrictions requires urgent international attention, this issue should not be added to the WTO Doha Round. Instead, it should be addressed by an ad hoc forum of global players negotiating according to a code of conduct and in a spirit of mutual trust building. At the very least, export trade for humanitarian purposes should be reopened now even before a forum is convened. The elimination of export bans will stabilize grain price fluctuations, reduce price levels by as much as 30 percent, and enhance the efficiency of agricultural production. 3. Undertake fast-impact food production programs in key areas (seeds, fertilizer, credit). Short-term action to promote agricultural growth requires access to seeds, fertilizers, and credit for the small farm sector. Today, good seeds for rainfed agriculture, especially in Africa, are essential for expanding production. Also, small farmers should have access to procurement programs for their agricultural products at guaranteed minimum prices that reflect longterm international market prices. Carefully subsidized programs for seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, electricity, and water should involve the private sector from the beginning and facilitate a transition from initial “cash programs” to