ABSTRACT
Food aid is an important and undervalued resource for development, as well as to meet emergencies, in Africa. The net value of food aid to Africa in 1985-90 averaged US $1 billion a year, about the same as the net transfers of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Yet food aid remains a controversial form of development assistance. Detractors have pointed to the political and commercial motives of donors that have sustained food aid flows, to its possible disincentive to local agricultural production and disruption to trade, and to the risk of increasing dependence on imported commodities, especially wheat and rice. These dangers should not be ignored. But its potential value deserves equal prominence. Food aid has played a vital role in saving lives in emergencies, addressing malnutrition, and helping countries achieve economic growth and greater social equality.
