International Food Aid Programs: Background and Issues

Melissa D. Ho
Analyst in Agricultural Policy

Charles E. Hanrahan
Senior Specialist in Agricultural Policy

For over 55 years, the United States has played a leading role in global efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition and to enhance world food security through international food aid activities. The development and implementation of a U.S. global food security initiative, and commitments made by global leaders to support agricultural development, have increased Congress's focus on U.S. international food aid programs. The primary objectives for foreign food aid include providing emergency and humanitarian assistance in response to natural or manmade disasters, and promoting agricultural development and food security. The United States provides food aid for emergency food relief and to support development projects. 

The 2008 farm bill, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), authorizes through FY2012 and amends international food aid programs. These programs are primarily funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and are administered either by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) or by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Federal foreign food aid is distributed primarily through five program authorities: the Food for Peace Act (P.L. 480), which includes four primary programs; Section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949; the Food for Progress Act of 1985; the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program; and the Local and Regional Procurement Pilot Project, which is a newly created pilot in the 2008 farm bill. In addition, the 2008 farm bill also reauthorizes the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust (BEHT), a reserve of commodities and cash for use in the Food for Peace programs to meet food aid needs. 

Average annual spending on international food aid programs over the past decade is approximately $2.2 billion, with Food for Peace Title II activities comprising the largest portion of the total budget (about 50%-90% of the total food aid budget annually over the past decade). In recent years, the volume of Title II emergency food aid has exceeded the amount of nonemergency or development food aid. The 2008 farm bill provides for a "safe box" for funding of non-emergency development assistance projects under Title II, which begins at $375 million in FY2009 and goes up to $450 million in FY2012, though this requirement can be waived by the Secretary of Agriculture if certain criteria are met. The 2008 farm bill also maintains funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program on a discretionary basis, and authorizes $60 million for a local and regional procurement pilot project to be implemented in developing countries in order to expedite the provision of food aid to vulnerable populations affected by food crises and disasters. 

Issues for Congress related to food aid include improving aid effectiveness; developing "demanddriven" strategies that take into account the recipient country's needs and strategic plans for food security; determining the best form for providing food aid and assistance, whether in the form of cash or commodities (e.g. deciding whether to allow the practice of monetization and determining how best to implement an effective local and regional procurement strategy); and determining the cost-effectiveness of U.S. cargo preferences for delivering U.S. food aid.


Date of Report: February3, 2010
Number of Pages: 19
Order Number: R41072
Price: $29.95

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