different seasons and rainfall patterns and variability in production which will increase as climate change continues imply variable market conditions across countries where production variability is not highly correlated among most countries in the region integration through regional trade offers the prospect of cancelling the effects of small country size on production volatility koester studies have calculated the amount of stocks needed for each country within a defined region so as to stabilise cereal consumption in times of fluctuations in cereal production and import prices dorosh et al these studies have compared those stock levels to the levels required by the same countries when cooperating regionally