Food Aid

Food aid programs began more than 50 years ago largely as an outlet for farm surpluses. These programs have since evolved into more sophisticated and targeted initiatives for alleviating the causes of hunger and promoting development. Today, innovative food aid initiatives not only provide food to the weakest and poorest, but also help the vulnerable break out of poverty by securing food and an income for themselves through their own efforts.

Management of US Government food aid programs is shared between USAID and two USDA agencies: FAS and FSA. USAID and FAS administer the strategic programming aspects of the programs while FSA handles procurement and shipment of the food commodities.

The Nature of Food Aid

Food aid is a very flexible resource which can be distributed directly or monetized. In the past, food aid has served a wide range of purposes, including response to humanitarian emergencies, development interventions and surplus commodity use. It can be used in a variety of ways: balance of payments support, local currency for projects, or in direct feeding programs. In many cases, the sale and transactions of food aid commodities within the recipient country has had a significant development impact; helping to strengthen local markets and encourage policy change.

Food aid should be programmed under specific conditions and with certain precautions; to do otherwise would create the risk of a costly and ineffective intervention that leads to dependency and acts as a disincentive to local food production. Food resources should only be allocated after a thorough needs analysis of a target population and area. The analysis should include a close examination of food production, supply, and marketing systems inside and outside of the target area. If applied inappropriately, food aid may disrupt local markets in the distribution area and also negatively influence markets in the surrounding regions. USAID and USDA require that a study (Bellmon Analysis) be conducted to analyze these conditions. Finally, food aid programs should also project what effect there could be when the project is terminated.

Food Aid Today

Increasingly, food security programs are being targeted at transitional or rehabilitation programs (e.g. DR Congo and Ethiopia) and to contexts where segments of the population are severely vulnerable or impacted by shocks (e.g. HIV/AIDS affected populations in Mozambique).  In these settings the purpose of an intervention is often protecting the most vulnerable while rebuilding or transitioning into more secure livelihoods and stability.  In this context in particular, the use of food commodities can have a strategic and effective role to play.

Resource Documents

• Fair Burden-Sharing and the Robustness of International Regimes: The Case of Food Aid
• Food Aid Convention, 1999
• Food Aid Lexicon - 2000
• Food for Peace Strategy: 2006-2010
• GAO Report: Foreign Assistance - Various Challenges Impede the Efficiency and Effectiveness of U.S. Food Aid
• List of Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) from FAO
• Report of the Food Aid and Food Security Assessment: A Review of the Title II Development Food Aid Program
• Targeting Food Aid in Ethiopia: Chronic Need or Inertia?
• Understanding and Improving Food Aid Targeting in Rural Ethiopia
• US International Food Assistance Report 2006

Program Management Tools

• American Red Cross Food Ration Calculation Exercise (use with Figures, below)
• American Red Cross Food Ration Calculation Figures
• Effective and Appropriate Uses of Food in FHI Food Security Programs: Field Guidelines
• Food for Education (FFE) Indicator Guide

Regulations

• A Comparison of the 2002 and 1996 Farm Bill Language on Food Aid Programs
• Documents related to Title II Food for Peace programs
• Public Law 480, Title II
• OMB Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement
• Regulation 11