Wednesday, March 7, 2007

The Domestic Politics of "Food For Peace"

. Wednesday, March 7, 2007

And you thought foreign aid was primarily about helping the world's poor. National Public Radio had a great segment today on the domestic politics of U.S. food aid. This Food for Peace program provides food aid to developing societies. Currently, Congress requires that the money purchase American agricultural products and ship them in American-owned vessels. The Bush administration is proposing that some of the money allocated for this program be used to buy food "locally" (in the country or region receiving the assistance) rather than buying and shipping American food. Buying food locally would enable the money to buy more food, respond to crises more quickly, and support rather than depress local farm prices.

The congressional response is predictable; more surprising is the response from aid NGOs. The segment is short and quite interesting.

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The Domestic Politics of "Food For Peace"
 

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