These problems would be best addressed by investing in infrastructure and agricultural research and development. The scale of costs of buffer stocks thus leads to major opportunity costs because not enough investments are made in those programmes that are best suited to tackle volatility. World Bank (2012b) notes that as a result, buffer stocks in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia are even thought to increase price volatility because they were not able to address the causes of volatility and took away resources from programmes that could.