Aid for food : Acquisition of commodities in developing countries for food aid in the 1980s

The acquisition of commodities in developing countries for food aid operations through triangular transactions, local purchases and exchange or swap arrangements has increased significantly during the 1980s, particularly for use in sub-Saharan Africa. As largescale operations are a recent phenomenon conclusions on their impact and effectiveness must be regarded as provisional. Such operations have been largely cost-effective in terms of commodity and related costs as compared to ‘normal’ food aid actions. More appropriate commodities have been supplied. Some difficulties have been encountered regarding the timeliness of delivery and the assuredness of supply of commodities. The predominant use of commodities, local exchanges excepted, for emergency relief operations has limited the scope of longer-term development benefits in ‘source’ economies.