INTERNATIONAL FOOD
POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
John Hoddinott

The objective of all international aid is (or should be) the elimination of poverty and hunger
Poverty reduction requires, inter alia :
• Mitigating the malign impacts of adverse shocks
• Increasing the level of productive assets held by poor people
• Increasing the returns on these assets
• Providing transfers to those individuals and groups who do not benefit from these poverty reduction mechanisms
ƒ Seen in this context, our discussions are not so much about food aid per se but rather what is the role of food aid in broader efforts to reduce poverty.
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Can the provision of food aid (sourced in the US or elsewhere) help address the malign effects of shocks?
ƒ Consider the following questions:
1) Does this shock create a food crisis? Do well-functioning food markets exist? Do local/regional/national social insurance/social protection mechanisms exist?
ƒ If the answers to all these questions are negative, then:
2) Is it faster, more cost effective to purchase food nationally or regionally? What are the consequences of such purchases for food markets? For producers and consumers in localities where this food is purchased?
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ƒ If the answers to these questions suggest that local, national or regional sourcing is not appropriate
• Then there is a case for using food aid sourced in developed countries
With the caveat that this assistance will be most effective when:
– Its allocation is transparent both across and within countries
– Commitments to deliver food aid are credible
– Delivery is timely
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ƒ Can food aid cost-effectively contribute to other drivers of poverty reduction?
ƒ General presumption is negative – in many cases, cash will be preferable because it:
• Provides recipients with the greatest freedom of choice
• Provides the least amount of market distortions; in fact, by increasing purchasing power they may strengthen markets and
• Is likely to be less costly to administer because they do not incur the costs associated with the physical distribution of food
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ƒ That said, food aid may be a cost-effective tool to reduce poverty and hunger where:
• Recipients treat transfers of food ‘differently’ from cash transfers. For example, where food transfers are considered women’s income, and where women are more likely to purchase goods seen as socially desirable;
• Where they can be effectively targeted to vulnerable individuals within households (for example, fortified complementary foods; some school feeding programs);
• and the sourcing of this food will depend on whether it is most cost effective (and timely) to source locally, nationally, regionally or internationally.
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