CGD in the News

GAO Report Highlights Costs of U.S. Food Aid Restrictions (Huffington Post)

June 08, 2009

The Huffington Post publishes CGD senior fellow Kim Elliott's blog on food aid.

From the article:

"According to a testimony before congress yesterday and a new Government Accountability Office report, congressional restrictions on U.S. food aid raise the costs of delivering it by as much as a third and delay it reaching hungry people by up to 100 days. When donors purchase food locally or regionally, it not only gets to needy people faster and more cheaply, it may also better match local preferences and nutrition needs. Yet, in the midst of last year's global food price crisis, Congress passed a farm bill that continued the long-standing practice of requiring that food aid be purchased in the United States and that 75 percent of it be delivered by U.S.-flagged ships."

Read the blog