Food aid for food security? Trends and changes in the 1990S

The purpose of this paper has been to investigate the extent to which food aid can contribute to reducing undernourishment in the world. The three chapters each highlight the complexity of the problem. Analysis is hampered by serious methodological and data problems.it can be concluded that food aid, for most countries, makes up only a tiny proportion of national food availability, so that significant long-term food-security effects cannot be expected. This does not mean that aid in kind cannot have positive nutritional effects in emergencies or in countries where food is the binding constraint on development. In fact, food aid should be analysed more closely on the micro (household and village) level and the opinions of beneficiaries solicited and considered when planning and designing foodaid operations. Although macro-level analysis does not demonstrate the foodsecurity aspect of food aid, the micro level may well do so, but this needs to be conducted for each separate food-aid programme.