Trends in global food aid

Food aid continues to be an important resource to combat food insecurity in developing economies, particularly during emergency situations. The quantity of food aid, however, continues to decline. Food aid shipments averaged about 15 million tons (in grain equivalent) in the early 1990s before declining to 5.8 million tons in 2009. Despite this declining trend, targeting of food aid to needy countries appears to have improved. The clear case in point is the increase in share of global food aid to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the region most vulnerable to food insecurity. During 1990-94, SSA's share of total food aid was in the range of 23 to 40 percent. During 2006-09, this share increased to a range of 53 to 64 percent. In absolute terms, however, the quantity of food aid the region received declined, albeit not at as rapid a pace as the decline in global food aid-a decline of 17 percent versus 57 percent. This chart is from the ERS publication, International Food Security Assessment, 2011-21, GFA-22, July 2011.

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