Alleviating and Addressing
Hunger
U.S. Foreign Assistance 101
U.S. Development or Foreign
Assistance
• The international affairs budget
“150 Account”
• Foreign aid
• Official development assistance (ODA)
• Poverty-focused development aid
What is U.S. Foreign Assistance?
WHO ?
• Transfer of resources from
the USA -> developing
countries and to some
strategic allies
What is U.S. Foreign Assistance?
HOW ?
• Money
(via loans or grants),
• contributions of goods
(i.e. food aid),
• and technical assistance
What is U.S. Foreign Assistance?
WHY ?
• For a variety of reasons,
not all having directly to
do with development...
What is U.S. Foreign Assistance?
WHAT ? (the Categories)
• National security and foreign
policy interests i.e.. Uzbekistan and Pakistan
in exchange for use of their
territory for military
operations in Afghanistan.
What is U.S. Foreign Assistance?
WHAT ? (the Categories)
• Political development and
stability –
conflict prevention, to build
peace after conflict, and to
strengthen failing states
Camp David Accords – Egypt
and Israel
 Humanitarian crises
to countries and people
suffering famine,
recovering from a natural
disaster,
or displaced by conflict
 Long-term development
purposes –
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
fight poverty
support agriculture
build roads
educate children
build health care capacity
create small businesses
spur economic growth
“Foreign Aid” - broad category of grants
• Economic development
• Emergency response to disasters
----------------------------------------------• Security and military assistance
• Counter-narcotics and terrorism
activities
• Programmes to fight corruption
and increase public transparency
Foreign Aid – funds to military and political
allies for strategic purposes
• Israel, Egypt and Jordan – US strategic
interests in the region
• Pakistan – cooperation against terrorism
• Colombia – counter-narcotics programmes
(some programmes may benefit the poor, but
this is not their primary purpose)
U.S. INTERNATIONAL FOOD AID
PROGRAMMES: BASIC DESCRIPTIONS
• P.L. 480 (Titles I, II, III & V)
• Food for Progress Act of 1985
• Agriculture Act of 1949, Section 416 (b)
• McGovern-Dole International Food for
Education and Child Nutrition Programme
• Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust
US National Security Strategy –
the Three Pillars:
1. Defense
2. Diplomacy
3. Development (Post 9/11 – since 2002)
- Millennium Challenge Corp (MCC)
- President’s Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
MCC – Millennium Challenge
Corporation
Five year grants - Countries rewarded =
Conceptual Basis for effectiveness of aid
(eligibility criteria):
1. Good governance
2. Economic freedoms
3. Investments in people
MCC - $ 7.9 billion programmes in 22
countries to date
• Countries must design
programmes themselves
• Benchmarks of progress to receive
each round of funding
• US Congress impatient with slow
disbursement rates
PEPFAR
• $ 15 billion for 5 years to
target 2 million people on
anti-retroviral treatment
• 15 Focus countries
• Broad support within US
Congress
US Official Development Assistance by
Agency CY (calendar year) 2006
NET OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
IN 2009
Source: OECD, 14 April 2010
Percentage spent on Foreign Aid from
the US Federal Budget ?
• 30 percent ?
• 13 percent ?
• Total International
Affairs Budget
(including diplomacy,
development, etc.) – i.e.
150 Account equals...
•
1.3 percent of US Federal Budget
Percentage (poverty-focused portion) =
Less than 1 percent...(0.55 %)
• for programmes that improve
livelihoods and create lasting
solutions to world poverty
• Canada - 0.30 % (double the US %)
• UK – 0.51 % (triple the US percentage)
Lawns vs. Foreign Aid
Americans spend as
much on maintaining
their lawns—$30 billion
annually—as the US
government spends on
foreign aid
Pets vs. Foreign Aid
Americans spend more on
caring for pets—$45 billion
annually—than the US
government spends
on foreign aid
Candy vs. Foreign Aid
Americans spend as much
on candy—$30 billion annually—
as the US government
spends on foreign aid.
US Foreign Aid
• At $ 30 billion, US largest bilateral (plus
multilateral!) donor in absolute terms
• But, compared to the US income, aid
levels have fallen over the past 40 years
• Increases in the past few years, due to
PEPFAR, MCC and debt relief (Iraq and
Nigeria, plus Afghanistan, Pakistan...)
NET OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
IN 2009
Source: OECD, 14 April 2010
US ODA
as percentage of gross national income
GNP = Gross National Product
GNI = Gross National Income
COMPONENTS OF DAC DONORS’ NET ODA
Source: OECD, 14 April 2010
Current Events
• The US Global Development Policy
• Feed the Future
• USAID Forward
Foreign Aid has increased in last 5
years, but...
• Despite new resources and renewed
attention, US ODA system remains:
• Fragmented (too many players/agencies)
– USAID – overseas only 45 % of US Foreign Aid
• Cumbersome/bureaucratic – US laws on
foreign aid = 33 different goals, 12
Departments, 25 different agencies, 60
separate Gov’t offices
U.S. Leadership
• Key Issue – given the absolute
amounts of foreign aid
• When the US fights poverty,
everybody wins... (beneficiaries,
host countries, Aid agencies
around the world, the planet...)