MALNUTRITION: USA; food aid the American way

JOHANNESBURG, 5 May 2010 (IRIN) - Most major food aid donors, like the European Union, have officially opted to feed people in needy countries by means of a selection of response tools, such as cash or vouchers for food, but the US has remained the exception, and still largely ships food produced at home as aid. The Barack Obama administration's hands are tied by domestic policies like the Farm Bill, which governs American food aid and is updated every five years, but it is making efforts to keep up with the rest of the donors. "We are increasing our humanitarian 'tool kit' through cash for local and regional procurement that can support local markets and, in some cases, reach beneficiaries sooner," Ambassador William Garvelink, Deputy Coordinator for Development at the US government's Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative (GHFSI), told IRIN. The tool kit includes "voucher programmes, which means vulnerable households can purchase food directly in local markets". The 2008 Farm Bill will only be updated in 2012, and "The Obama Administration has not yet communicated changes it may be seeking in the new legislation," said Garvelink. Almost all food aid donated by the US is "tied" to domestic requirements for procurement, processing and shipping - it costs more than two dollars of US taxpayers' money to deliver one dollar's worth of food procured as in-kind food aid.