Food aid: pitfalls and potential

This article poses the question of whether it is possible to use food aid to meet short-run needs while supporting and not undermining the achievement of long-term goals of self-reliance at the household and national levels. Often either some degree of self-reliance is sacrificed or people will suffer malnutrition. Food aid may be used to generate employment for low income families (food-for-work schemes), to reduce food prices during shortages by increasing the supply, and it can be delivered to target groups as a direct entitlement. What happens to food after delivery is important: often it goes to family members not targeted. Other factors (e.g. measles) affect nutritional status. Food aid must often continue for long periods to avoid nutritional regression. The stage in distribution at which food is used is important; e.g. a measles epidemic might affect the consumption but not the supply of food, or poor targeting might benefit families who do not need it. Complementary actions may improve conditions; for example, if food is sold, increasing income improves the situation. A problem with provision of food is depression of local prices, reducing incentives to produce food locally. Most food aid does not increase demand, and in fact if the effect is to change tastes away from local products demand may be reduced. The effect on demand depends on the type of aid scheme, the timing and duration, and the locality of the project. Most objectives are better achieved by the use of cash aid, which promotes rather than weakens local food producers' incentives, reduces transport and storage, redistributes food, does not affect taste, and adds income by contributing to local decentralized transport. Food aid is a good temporary intervention, but cash aid should be used in the long term.     

US food aid to South-east Asia, 1975–1983

According to food aid policy analysts, President Ford emphasized fiscal restraint, President Carter stressed ‘food for development’ and President Reagan used food as a ‘weapon’. However, a political bias has characterized food aid to South-east Asia, cutting across administrations. Public Law 480 supported American efforts in Indochina, boistered ‘friendly’ Indonesian and Phillippine regimes and helped secure geopolitical objectives. Humanitarian and developmental goals played the weakest role in shaping programmes. When conflict occurred, foreign policy aims overrode budgetary and commodity objectives.     

Addressing food security in Africa via multiple livelihood strategies of women farmers

Because food insecurity is primarily a problem of low household incomes and poverty, and not just inadequate food production, projects and programs for food insecure African farmers which aim at increasing production of subsistence crops may be ineffective. Instead, government should look for ways to improve returns to farmers' resources in a broader context, which may include expanded opportunities for non-farm microenterprises and agricultural labor. This has been the conventional wisdom since the writings of Amartya Sen. Still unclear, however, are the implications of his thinking for the roles of African women farmers who are traditionally the food-crop producers in Africa and are often food insecure. Immediate expansion of income-earning activities such as cash cropping and non-farm microenterprises may not be possible for women in male headed households in many African societies where cash income is seen as part of the male domain. In addition, women farmers may need a long adjustment period to diversify their income sources fully because most African countries are at the early stages of structural transformation. Different developmental interventions, both in policy and in technology, are therefore needed to address food security and economic transformations in Africa in the short and long term.     

The domestic determinants of US food aid policy

This study presents empirical analysis of US food aid flows as evidence of the strong and stable relationship between commodity producer interests and policy-makers during a 35 yr period. Whereas most foreign aid research centers on the distribution of aid among recipient countries, this study focuses on the determinants of the supply of food aid made available by the donor country. I conduct time series regression analysis of total US food aid shipments, as well as separate analyses of two key commodities, wheat and rice. Several key findings emerge: (1) There is a consistent relationship between commodity producer interests and US food aid policy. (2) There is a strong relationship between commodity stocks and food aid shipments, especially during the years when stocks were the greatest. (3) US food aid policy-making is highly incremental. These findings, taken together with the lack of a strong relationship between grain production in poor countries and US food aid shipments, belie official rhetoric emphasizing the growing humanitarian objectives of the program over time. In the case of rice, I find a strong relationship between aid flows and US involvement in the Vietnam War.     

Aid,collective action and benefits to smallholders: Evaluating the World Food Program's purchase for progress pilot

Agricultural commodity markets in developing countries often operate in a constrained environment of prohibitive transaction costs. Consequently, smallholder farmers are only partly integrated into these markets, a situation that keeps them in a lower level of development equilibrium (poverty trap). Although cooperative institutional alternatives such as Farmers’ Organizations (FOs) may reduce transaction costs and revitalize agricultural production and commercialization, they rarely have been successful in fully delivering on these promises. Against this backdrop, the World Food Programmed (WFP) has recently implemented a multi-year and multi-country pilot to increase smallholder participation in commodity markets. The projects involved investing in physical and human capacities of Farmer Organizations (FOs) to aggregate commodities and add value, as well as locally purchasing food aid from the same. The combination of interventions was expected to increase the relative price of agricultural products, particularly staple crops. In this study, using Ethiopian panel survey data, we estimated the causal income and investment effects of the Ethiopian P4P intervention among smallholders. Using an entropy balancing (EB) model and semi-parametric difference-in-difference (DID) model, we show that the P4P intervention has increased per capita consumption by smallholders. Our additional analysis confirms that this effect is heterogeneous owing to elite capture within Farmer Organizations. We also find evidence of increased food consumption scores, increased investments in child schooling, and increased asset holding among program-participating smallholders relative to comparison farmers. Policy implications are discussed.     

Tracing feeding programme drop-outs

Supplementary feeding programmes have been used as one outlet for the food aid which is sent to developing nations. In the November 1978 issue of Food Policy, Simon Maxwell analyzed the costs and benefits of supplementary feeding projects, in terms of both nutritional and non nutritional results.¹ In considering the importance of such results, trie rate and health status of programme drop-outs can significantly affect conclusions. An exercise demonstrating the differences in results, depending on assumptions about dropouts, is presented here for a World Food Programme (WFP) feeding project in Mexico.     

Alternative procedures for project identification

In those countries where a significant proportion of the population is starving, hungry or susceptible to malnutrition, governments are likely to focus on a selection of investments which will achieve both national and regional food quantity objectives, as well as real GDP targets. Due to uncoordinated project identification and selection, a mixed-bag of projects may result. There is, therefore, no guarantee that these food and growth objectives will be achieved. This article sets out procedures involving the use of commodity accounting matrices which will allow policy makers to concentrate on achieving their objectives.     

The value of PL 480: A fresh look at PL 480, Title II

The main purpose of US Public Law 480 is to make food available to deficit countries on concessional or credit terms by using domestic US agricultural surpluses. Food aid under Title I is intended to provide a resource transfer to resource-poor countries; Title II (Food for Peace) shipments are intended for famine relief, the alleviation of malnutrition, and are generally targeted at the neediest people, especially children, in poor countries. Under Title III, sales proceeds are earmarked for programmes for agricultural development. The following three articles illustrate differing beliefs held about the effectiveness of PL 480 food aid, and particularly the value of Food for Peace. Table 1 shows the total shipments and budgeted acquisitions under Title II.     

Food aid and household food security in a conflict situation: Empirical evidence from Northern Uganda

It is well-established that armed political conflict has a detrimental effect on food security and household welfare: conflict induces food insecurity by reducing own food production, access to food through the market, and various other resources to sustain healthy and productive lives. One way of mitigating these adverse effects is to provide food aid. In this study we evaluate the impact of a World Food Programme intervention on household food security and asset protection among conflict-affected households in Northern Uganda. We employ propensity score matching to estimate the average treatment effect on food expenditure, food consumption and preservation of assets using a sample of 1265 observations from a 2008 survey. Our results reveal that the operation’s system of targeting beneficiaries was effective and in accordance with programme objectives. Food aid considerably reduced food expenditure of households, suggesting that recipients were net buyers of food, and that the food aid received was effectively consumed within the household. A corresponding positive effect on non-food expenditure was not found. Our results also indicate that food aid was effective in increasing meals consumed and in avoiding distress destocking of low value assets, but, surprisingly, only for male headed households.     

Cash transfers and high food prices: Explaining outcomes on Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme

An ongoing and highly politicised debate concerns the relative efficacy of cash transfers versus food aid. This paper aims to shed light on this debate, drawing on new empirical evidence from Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). Our data derive from a two-wave panel survey conducted in 2006 and 2008. Ethiopia has experienced unprecedented rates of inflation since 2007, which have reduced the real purchasing power of PSNP cash payments. Our regression findings confirm that food transfers or ‘cash plus food’ packages are superior to cash transfers alone – they enable higher levels of income growth, livestock accumulation and self-reported food security. These results raise questions of fundamental importance to global humanitarian response and social protection policy. We draw out some implications for the design of social transfer programmes and describe some steps that could be taken to enable ‘predictable transfers to meet predictable needs’.     

Food aid and nutrition: The case of Botswana

Food aid is widely used to stimulate and sustain nutrition projects. Christopher Stevens examines the link between the two by reference to a single case study. Botswana has received more WFP food aid per head than any other state, and has used much of it on continuous feeding projects. While the programmes are potentially very important for the poorest groups, they miss many who are in need. Nevertheless, they have achieved a good deal, possibly in ways that are not yet fully recognised, and represent an interesting use of foreign aid to support recurrent expenditure.     

Monitor

Monitor is a review of selected documents emanating from the four international agencies based in Rome — the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the UN/FAO World Food Programme (WFP), the World Food Council (WFC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The column aims to reflect current trends in selected issues and activities within the organizations. Compiled by Ram Saran, this issue's Monitor looks at food and agricultural issues within FAO, alleviation of rural poverty, WFC's Cairo Declaration, and food aid policy issues.     

From `food aid' to `aid for food': into the 21st century

Food aid deserves much credit for having pioneered in the 1950/60s the transfer of large quantities of resources to the poorest nations and people inflicted with poverty and hunger. In recent years, the magnitude of this aid has drastically diminished. Fortunately, many of the programs that used to receive food aid are now funded by financial aid. The paper argues that it may have become counter-productive to plead for `food aid', because it distracts attention from the fact that many food shortages can be alleviated as well, or even better, with financial aid. It might be more effective to solicit `aid for food' and to assure an adequate allocation of overseas development assistance for the purpose, irrespective of the supply of food aid.The policies, of which food aid was a by-product and which have led to the accumulation of large food surpluses in the industrial countries and the inhibition of the efficient functioning of food markets in the developing countries, have by now become thoroughly discredited. Is it in parallel, not also high time to question the appropriateness of the public distribution of food to nations and people, short on food?     

Cereal imports by developing countries: Trends and determinants

After reviewing recent trends of cereal imports of developing countries by region, by income group, and by commodity, the determinants of these imports are analysed by investigating both structural, long-term factors as well as temporary, short-term factors. Level of economic development and population density on arable land are found to be statistically the most significant long-run factors explaining cereal imports by developing countries, while food aid is statistically the most significant short-run factor.     

Productive efficiency of specialty and conventional coffee farmers in Costa Rica: Accounting for technological heterogeneity and self-selection

A steep decline in coffee prices at the producer level led to considerable pressure for farmers in Costa Rica and producer countries all over the world. One possible reaction was moving to specialty markets, where price pressure was perceived to be lower. We use original survey data from 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 to analyze the factors influencing participation in specialty markets and to estimate separate production functions for specialty and conventional coffee farmers allowing for farm-specific inefficiencies. Applying a sample selection framework, we find significant selection bias in the sub-sample of specialty farmers and evidence for the overestimation of efficiency, if this bias is not adequately controlled for. Among the most important factors that influence farm-specific efficiency levels in the two sub-samples are the availability of additional income activities, experience in coffee cultivation, and membership in cooperatives. Based on the results, we derive policy recommendations to improve farmers’ production performance and ability to cope with the effects of the coffee crisis. These policy measures include the provision of extension services with respect to farm management skills, the creation of income opportunities in rural areas, and the support of farmer-owned cooperatives.     

Food aid,domestic policy and food security: Contrasting experiences from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

Food aid, both for short-term emergency relief and as program food aid that helps address medium-term food “deficits”, is often a major component of food security strategies in developing countries. This study reviews the experience with food aid of four major recipients of food aid (India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Zambia) regarding food production, trade, markets, consumption and safety nets, as well as the policy responses to food emergencies. The widely varying experiences of the study countries suggest that food aid that supports building of production and market enhancing infrastructure, is timed to avoid adverse price effects on producers, and is targeted to food insecure households can play a positive role in enhancing food security. However, food aid is not the only, or in many cases, the most efficient means of addressing food insecurity. In many cases private markets can more effectively address shortfalls in food availability and cash transfers may be a viable alternative to food transfers in-kind.     

Resource flows through the multilateral system for food and agriculture : Trends of the decade

The tenth session of the World Food Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, held on 11–15 June 1984, undertook an assessment of international activities in the decade since 1974 for meeting the World Food Conference objectives of improving the global food system and overcoming the blight of world hunger. One document prepared for the session looks specifically at the activities of the multilateral institutions since the 1974 conference, in terms of both resource and programme commitments. This article provides a summary of that WFC document.     

Social protection for enhanced food security in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper identifies several positive synergies between social protection programmes and enhanced entitlements to food. One function of social protection is to manage or reduce vulnerability. Several instruments are reviewed – weather-indexed insurance, public works programmes, emergency food aid and buffer stock management – which aim to stabilise income and access to food across good and bad years, or between the harvest and the hungry season. Other social protection instruments aim to raise household income and crop production, for instance agricultural input subsidies or input trade fairs, as well as public works projects that construct or maintain physical infrastructure such as rural feeder roads. This paper also argues that entitlements to food can be strengthened if social justice principles are introduced to the design and delivery of social protection programmes. Examples reviewed include rights-based approaches such as employment guarantee schemes, community-based targeting and demand-driven accountability mechanisms. The paper concludes by arguing for a comprehensive approach to social protection that will achieve sustainable food security, by combining interventions that stabilise income or food production with those that raise income or food production, and are designed and delivered in ways that enhance social justice.     

A rotten deal for schools? An assessment of states’ success with the National School Lunch Program’s in-kind food benefit

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is one of the United States’ largest domestic food aid programs. The NSLP provides states with both cash and commodity foods for school meals. This research assessed the success of the school commodity program by comparing states’ available annual funding to the value of foods that states actually received from 2001 to 2009. Results indicate that an in-kind food funding system is not desirable for schools; states failed to receive entitled commodity food value in most years, resulting in annual funding losses for schools of $35–87 million. Inconsistent funding inhibits schools’ ability to improve meals and, ultimately, child nutrition outcomes. In light of these results, it is recommended that a cash benefit should replace the National School Lunch Program’s commodity food program.     

The food security challenge for southern Africa

This paper considers food security aims and instruments against a background of changed circumstances internationally and regionally. The international changes discussed are: a sharper focus on achieving macro-economic stabilization, which inter alia has led to closer scrutiny of what the public sector should be financing, and a decline in funding for agriculture; a reduced role for governments in commercial-type activities; the shift towards greater integration of world markets; and changing prospects for international aid flows. Regionally, southern Africa is moving away from a past of conflict and inward-looking economies, towards greater cooperation and trade, and less interventionist economic management.The commendable SADC food security strategy paper of June 1997 is considered, and its implications drawn out. The main messages are that (a) household food insecurity results from poverty, (b) national food insecurity results from faltering development and weak external trade performance, and (c) future strategies must therefore lie with greater efficiency in the use of resources and with patterns of development which are most effective in creating employment and incomes. Arguably there is therefore no case for a food security agenda that is separate from broad-based development aimed at poverty alleviation. This understanding of food security is at variance with some of the policies and development programmes in the region. Promotion of self-sufficiency in grains, specific food-security instruments, and controls over and interventions in markets may all be counter to improving food security for the region if they hinder policy and institutional reforms called for by the wider development agenda.The main roles for governments in promoting food security are discussed in terms of creating an enabling environment for development, correcting for market failures, and targeted measures to achieve social objectives. Food security needs both an urban and a rural focus, and involves all economic sectors. For rural areas, governments' roles may usefully be defined in terms of supporting household strategies aimed at raising and stabilizing incomes through livelihood diversification, intensification of farming, and migration.Two priority policy areas which are central to achieving food security objectives are discussed at some length: trade policy and the promotion of smallholder farming. The roles of government in these areas are discussed in the light of economic theory and past experiences in the region. A vision for a future trade regime is outlined, and strategic interventions by governments are identified. The challenge for governments in supporting smallholder farming is, first, to define with greater rigour than in the past the priority uses for public funds, and, second, to find much more efficient ways of delivering services than in the past. It will otherwise be difficult to make a case for reversing the decline in public funding for the sector.The paper ends with brief discussions of the roles for aid and for SADC in promoting food security, and with a question of whether a new initiative is needed to strengthen trade policy skills in the region.