ABSTRACT
Even with a more explicitly recipient-driven approach to food aid, numerous operational issues arise that limit its effectiveness and make food aid, even in the best of circumstances, a cumbersome resource for programming. In particular, questions abound regarding targeting, timeliness, information systems for early warning, procurement, and supply chain management. Many useful lessons have been learned in recent years. Continued improved practice in food aid management will go a long way toward allaying concerns that the availability of a resource as a byproduct of donor country farm support programs, rather than good contextual analysis of recipient needs and constraints, drives food aid decision-making. This section briefly reviews these issues and ties back to the more macro-oriented concerns discussed in earlier chapters.
