Food Aid Delivery: Good and Bad Practices

At the 1996 World Food Summit it was agreed to promote triangular food aid operations in order to fight world hunger. Looking into the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and transparency, in this paper it is argued that the Objective has some theoretical justification, but both triangular and local purchases can be good food aid delivery modes. Food aid trends since 1996 are then analysed in four recipient countries: Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The finding is that no significant improvement has been made in the practices. Further analysis outlines differences across donor countries: Germany adopts good practices, while Denmark and the US offer examples of bad food aid practices.