Read at : The Economist
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14926122
Food markets
How to store and sell more stuff
Nov 19th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Poor places need more than seeds, fertiliser or even food science
IF FOOD aid is epitomised by a single image, it is that of neat bags of grain, stamped with the Stars and Stripes and labelled a “gift from the American people”, being unloaded in some benighted place. In a long-established practice, USAID buys food from American producers and then gives it to charities who sell the produce on the markets of indigent countries, and in turn use the proceeds to finance their anti-poverty work.
This method has its detractors, who say that sales of American food depress local markets; in theory at least, all sales should be calibrated to avoid that effect. But in a switch which might help to parry those critics, USAID is now putting more emphasis on helping farmers in recipient countries to harvest, store and above all sell their own food. Many of the changes now being encouraged have no relation to food production as such; they have to do with the ways markets are organised, credit is disbursed and laws are enforced.
So far, three African countries—Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria—have undergone an exercise known as AgCLIR in which USAID takes a hard look at the non-agricultural factors that hold back the successful production and sale of food. These assessments are made at the discretion of local USAID bureaus, but they are being strongly encouraged by the agency’s head office in Washington, DC.
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