The author would like to acknowledge the help given by many people and organisations, both wittingly and unwittingly, in contributing to the preparation of these guidelines. They draw heavily on the thoughts and experiences expressed by many FAO colleagues over the past twenty years, in particular Elmar Müller of the FAO Food Security Assistance Scheme. Special thanks go to Frans Van de Van of FAO Zambia and his team for the many discussions relating to issues involved in market liberalisation and the establishment of strategic grain reserves in a market economy and the abundance of information provided which has been used extensively in the preparation of these guidelines. Other valuable contributions were made by senior staff of ADMARC (Malawi) and the Food Security Reserve (Tanzania). The author would also like to thank the delegates to the meeting of the Association of Food Marketing Enterprises in Eastern and Southern Africa (AFMESA) held in Lilongwe in October 1996, where the first draft of these guidelines was presented, for their helpful suggestions and comments for improving the relevance of the contents and their presentation.
The author would also like to thank colleagues of the Marketing and Rural Finance Service of FAO who assisted in the preparation and editing of this publication, especially Ed Seidler who conceived the idea and made valuable suggestions relating to the content and presentation.
