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Improving Food Aid: What Reforms Would Yield the Highest Payoff?

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  • Lentz, Erin C.
  • Barrett, Christopher B.

Abstract

Summary This paper develops an integrated model of the food aid distribution chain, from donor appropriations through operational agency programming decisions to household consumption choices. We use this model to simulate alternative policies and to perform sensitivity analysis to establish how varying underlying conditions--for example, delivery costs, the political additionality of food, targeting efficacy--affect optimal food aid policy for improving the well-being of food insecure households. We find that improved targeting by operational agencies is crucial to advancing food security objectives. At the donor level, the key policy variable under most model parameterizations is ocean freight costs associated with cargo preference restrictions on the US food aid.

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  • Lentz, Erin C. & Barrett, Christopher B., 2008. "Improving Food Aid: What Reforms Would Yield the Highest Payoff?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1152-1172, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:7:p:1152-1172
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    Cited by:

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    2. Koppenberg, Maximilian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Hirsch, Stefan, 2023. "Food aid and violent conflict: A review and Empiricist’s companion," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    3. Ferrière, Nathalie & Suwa-Eisenmann, Akiko, 2015. "Does Food Aid Disrupt Local Food Market? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 114-131.
    4. Li, Shanjun & Kahn, Matthew E. & Nickelsburg, Jerry, 2015. "Public transit bus procurement: The role of energy prices, regulation and federal subsidies," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 57-71.
    5. Ignaciuk, Ada & Malevolti, Giulia & Scognamillo, Antonio & Sitko, Nicholas J., 2022. "Can food aid relax farmers’ constraints to adopting climate-adaptive agricultural practices? Evidence from Ethiopia, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania," ESA Working Papers 324073, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    6. Mary, Sebastien & Shaw, Kelsey & Colen, Liesbeth & Gomez y Paloma, Sergio, 2020. "Does agricultural aid reduce child stunting?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    7. Sumberg, James & Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel, 2011. "Linking agricultural development to school feeding in sub-Saharan Africa: Theoretical perspectives," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 341-349, June.
    8. Lentz, Erin C. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Gómez, Miguel I. & Maxwell, Daniel G., 2013. "On The Choice and Impacts of Innovative International Food Assistance Instruments," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-8.
    9. Alex Nikulkov & Christopher B Barrett & Andrew G Mude & Lawrence M Wein, 2016. "Assessing the Impact of U.S. Food Assistance Delivery Policies on Child Mortality in Northern Kenya," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(12), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Danny Cassimon & Olusegun Fadare & George Mavrotas, 2023. "The Impact of Food Aid and Governance on Food and Nutrition Security in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Sitko, Nicholas J. & Scognamillo, Antonio & Malevolti, Giulia, 2021. "Does receiving food aid influence the adoption of climate-adaptive agricultural practices? Evidence from Ethiopia and Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    12. Mary, Sébastien & Mishra, Ashok K., 2020. "Humanitarian food aid and civil conflict," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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