The United States is the world's major provider of international food aid to low-income developing countries. This report provides three indicators of the U.S. contribution to global food aid: (1) shipments of major donors compiled by the International Grains Council, (2) U.S. contributions to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), and (3) the U.S. commitment under the Food Aid Convention (FAC)

Canada, Carol

Hanrahan, Charles E.

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1 Information on the International Grains Council, the Food Aid Convention, and the Food AidCommittee is available at [http://www.igc.org.uk/].Order Code RS21279Updated May 29, 2008International Food Aid:  U.S. and Other Donor ContributionsCharles E. HanrahanSenior Specialist in Agricultural PolicyResources, Science, and Industry DivisionCarol CanadaTechnical Information SpecialistKnowledge Services GroupSummaryThe United States is the world’s major provider of international food aid to low-income developing countries.  This report provides three indicators of the U.S.contribution to global food aid: (1) shipments of major donors compiled by theInternational Grains Council, (2) U.S. contributions to the United Nations World FoodProgram (WFP), and (3) the U.S. commitment under the Food Aid Convention (FAC).U.S. food aid accounted for 58% of food aid shipments by major donors during1995/96-2006/07.  A substantial portion of U.S. food aid is channeled through the WFP.During 1996-2008, around 48% of donor contributions to the WFP came from theUnited States.  The Food Aid Convention (FAC), now expired, was an agreementamong donor countries to provide a minimum amount of food aid to low-incomedeveloping countries.  The food aid commitment agreed to by all FAC signatories in1999 was approximately 4.9 million metric tons (mmt).  The United States pledged toprovide 2.5 mmt or 51% of the total commitment.  Contributions of Major Donors to International Food Aid  The United States is the major contributor to international food aid, supplying onaverage, since 1995, around 58% of the annual total food aid donated by members of theFood Aid Committee of the International Grains Council (IGC) and signatories of the1999 Food Aid Convention (Figure 1).1  U.S. contributions of 2.8 million metric tons(mmt) measured in wheat equivalent in 1995/1996 rose to 7.1 mmt in 2001/2002CRS-22 Data on food aid shipments provided by the International Grains Council are reported on amarketing year basis (July-June).3 International Grains Council, Food Aid Committee, Food Aid Shipments 2006/2007:   Reporton Shipments by Members of the Food Aid Convention, May 2008, viewed at[http://www.igc.org.uk/downloads/publications/fas/fas0607.pdf].  (Appendix Table 1).2  U.S.shipments of commodityfood aid were 3.9 mmt in2006/2007.  U.S. contribu-tions have averaged 5.8mmt annually. Food aidfrom the European Union(including food aid providedby the European Commis-sion and by individual EUmember countries) has beenmore stable and averagedaround 2.6 mmt or 26% ofaverage annual food aidshipments.  Japan andCanada provided 6% and5%, respectively, of the totalfrom major donors.  Japan’scontributions are provided as cash rather than commodities. The United States contributescommodities, while the European Union and its member countries provide a mix of cashand commodities.Because the IGC’s food aid data are reported on a July/June marketing year basis,they do not correspond, for example, to fiscal year food aid data reported by the U.S.Department of Agriculture in budget documents or by the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment in annual food aid reports.  The source of the data in Figure 1 andAppendix Table 1 is the annual report Food Aid Shipments, prepared by the Food AidCommittee of the International Grains Council.3  Food Aid Contributions to the World Food ProgramMost U.S. food aid is provided on a bilateral basis, but a substantial portion is channeledthrough the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the intergovernmental agencythat provides food aid for development projects and humanitarian relief in low incomecountries. More than 56 donors, mainly countries, but also some non-governmentalorganizations and private corporations, contribute to the WFP.  The United States is themajor donor, providing over the last 12 years around 46% of total WFP contributions(Figure 2 and Appendix Table 2).  Over that same 12-year period, the EU (againcombining European Commission with EU member countries’ contributions) accountedfor around 30% of total WFP contributions.  Japan, whose contributions are in cash,provided around 6%. The remaining donors combined provided about 18% to WFP foodaid resources.  Donor contributions to the WFP are not in addition to, but are included in,the data reported in Figure 1 and Appendix Table 1.Australia 2.8%Canada 5.2%EU 26.3%Japan 5.6%USA 58.1%Other 1.9%Source: Food Aid Shipments 2006/07, International Grains Council Food Aid Committee.Figure 1. Food Aid by Major Donors, 1995-2007CRS-3Commitments under the Food Aid ConventionThe Food Aid Convention (FAC), first agreed to in 1968 during the Kennedy Roundof multilateral trade negotiations held under the auspices of the General Agreements onTariffs and Trade (GATT), was an international agreement that constituted a frameworkof cooperation on food aidbetween major donors.  Thefood aid commitment underthe FAC was a minimumcommitment and was in-tended to be a guarantee offood security for low-income developing coun-tries. The signatories of theFAC were Argentina, Aus-tralia, Canada, the EuropeanUnion and its membercountries, Japan, Norway,Switzerland, and the UnitedStates.   Signatories couldprovide more than theirminimum commitment. Thecurrent FAC was negotiatedin 1999 and expired in2003.Under the FAC, the donors could express their annual food aid commitments ineither tonnage or in value, but most continue to use the former.  Japan is the majorexception, although the EU also provides some food aid in the form of cash.  The totalcommitment under the most recent FAC (1999-2003) was 4.9 mmt (see Figure 3 andAppendix Table 2).  The United States  made the largest commitment, 2.5 mmt or 51%of the total.  The combinedE U  c o m m i t m e n t(Commission and membercountries) was around 27%.Commitments by Canada,Japan, and Australia were,respectively, 8.6%, 6.1%,and 5.1%.  Only two ofeight FAC signatories(Norway and the UnitedStates) have met orexceeded their FACcommitments on averageover the life of the FAC(1999-2003). Although the FACexpired in 2003, a workingcommittee of the IGC wasUSA 46.2%Other 17.7%EU 30.0%Japan 6.2%*Data as of May 4, 2008.Source: World Food Programme.Figure 2. Food Aid Contributions to the WorldFood Program, 1996-2008Argentina 0.7%Australia 5.1%Canada 8.6%EU 27.0%Japan 6.1%Norway 0.6%Switzerland 0.8%USA 51.1%Source: International Grains Council Food Aid Committee, Food Aid Convention.Figure 3. Food Aid Commitments under the FoodAid ConventionCRS-44 IGC-FAC Press Release, 8 December 2004, viewed at [http://www.igc.org.uk/press/pr041208.htm].established to prepare for its renegotiation.4  The Food Aid Committee of the IGCcontinues to meet periodically to review donor food aid contributions in relation tocommitments under the 1999 FAC and to global food needs and has agreed that theexisting FAC should be extended for a further two-year period from July 1, 2005.Concurrently, trade-related aspects of food aid are being negotiated in the multilateraltrade round known as the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).   Renegotiation of the FAC,however, appears unlikely until the future of DDA trade negotiations has beendetermined.  The next meeting of the Food Aid Committee of the IGC is scheduled forOctober 2008.Table 1. Annual Commitments under the Food Aid Convention(metric tons wheat equivalent)AnnualCommitments PercentAverage FoodAid Shipments1999-2003 PercentArgentina 35,000 0.72% 553 0.01%Australia 250,000 5.11% 235,242 2.42%Canada 420,000 8.58% 386,859 3.98%EU 1,320,000 26.97% 2,072,822 21.34%Japan 300,000 6.13% 550,945 5.67%Norway 30,000 0.61% 109,318 1.13%Switzerland 40,000 0.82% 62,217 0.64%USA 2,500,000 51.07% 6,294,145 64.81%Total 4,895,000 100.00% 9,712,101 100.00%Source: International Grains Council Food Aid Committee, The Food Aid Convention.CRS-5Appendix Table 1. Food Aid by Major Donor, 1995/96-2006/07(in metric tons wheat equivalent)Annual Average1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 Total PercentMetricTonsArgentina 13,400 10,135 2,740 26 26,301 0.03% 2,630Australia 298,146 305,127 293,221 273,064 296,713 251,865 245,828 203,820 177,984 168,083 180,667 114,530 2,809,048 2.79% 280,905Canada 448,764 468,431 417,917 487,095 470,640 293,477 412,082 499,382 351,168 437,341 448,534 474,438 5,209,269 5.18% 520,927EU 2,413,991 2,049,691 2,201,162 1,969,892 1,970,768 2,357,778 1,836,717 1,980,781 2,218,065 2,151,958 2,853,063 2,488,053 26,491,919 26.33% 2,649,192Japan 474,870 326,835 302,626 561,643 337,357 637,749 531,755 666,910 580,953 578,261 354,289 318,964 5,672,212 5.64% 567,221Norway 6,233 32,816 19,306 61,293 75,960 85,876 74,318 144,927 165,510 145,586 196,034 179,408 1,187,267 1.18% 118,727Switzerland 75,479 38,636 57,915 38,939 61,295 54,169 58,042 67,892 69,689 71,854 61,608 71,051 726,569 0.72% 72,657USA 2,849,384 2,553,283 2,818,500 4,734,121 5,692,116 6,798,280 7,124,407 6,054,197 5,801,724 5,363,186 4,830,710 3,869,162 58,489,070 58.13% 5,848,907Total 6,580,267 5,774,819 6,110,647 8,136,182 8,907,589 10,479,194 10,283,175 9,617,909 9,365,093 8,916,269 8,924,905 7,515,606 100,611,655 100.00% 10,061,166Source: International Grains Council Food Aid Committee, Food Aid Shipments, various issues.CRS-6Appendix Table 2. Food Aid Contributions to the World Food Program, 1996-2008(thousand dollars)1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004  2005 2006 2007As ofMay 4,2008 TotalUnited States ofAmerica 494,980 408,380 876,284 718,856 795,676 1,210,543 933,217 1,459,324 1,044,168 1,174,918 1,123,113 1,183,068 362,728 11,785,255European Union 603,981 550,522 522,397 461,800 442,495 436,559 560,653 620,929 692,984 876,111 747,096 763,064 373,331 7,651,922 EU Commission 196,873 237,254 184,645 168,098 117,509 118,411 179,205 201,463 200,501 263,940 265,762 250,437 32,451 2,416,548 EU Countries 407,108 313,269 337,752 293,702 324,986 318,149 381,448 419,466 492,483 612,171 481,334 512,627 340,880 5,235,374  Austria 4,774 4,910 3,853 3,710 2,854 1,117 3,302 2,199 2,189 4,344 1,839 3,776 3,414 42,281  Belgium 19,472 17,416 16,908 10,782 6,284 5,294 5,748 8,480 10,750 13,952 11,132 17,644 15 143,876  Cyprus 5 400 656 1,061  Czech Republic 98 1,236 308 561 57 2,260  Denmark 53,064 44,248 43,384 46,900 41,908 39,385 39,964 39,335 43,247 52,838 43,817 44,339 50,480 582,909  Finland 16,045 13,768 13,801 15,345 15,219 14,467 17,445 17,793 17,860 23,557 18,319 25,403 18,736 227,758  France 19,203 21,884 24,742 27,693 26,170 35,929 14,457 14,939 30,288 37,676 25,689 33,762 9,140 321,572  Germany 96,036 68,487 61,779 53,089 46,750 58,088 60,920 46,458 65,126 70,721 59,621 65,680 28,456 781,211  Greece 150 170 25 1 130 200 16 3,637 4,201 5,081 3,214 16,825  Hungary 65 120 65 65 315  Ireland 3,149 4,284 4,378 5,021 7,639 7,317 10,390 11,815 13,684 19,708 31,005 34,244 9,187 161,819  Italy 34,876 9,112 10,632 20,817 19,936 36,060 38,016 40,480 47,613 47,908 12,321 31,268 41,544 390,584  Lithuania 112 306 418  Luxembourg 218 270 130 1,205 1,735 2,919 3,913 5,413 10,681 15,387 11,951 11,338 65,160  Netherlands 78,804 45,972 45,532 55,003 62,801 59,481 58,795 50,422 77,738 115,348 79,985 75,630 54,232 859,743  Poland 356 200 1,200 755 2,511  Slovakia 25 30 48 44 147  Slovenia 33 97 107 47 284  Spain 13,720 12,245 2,725 2,511 3,256 3,946 2,607 5,357 17,553 11,595 16,993 29,641 13,716 135,865  Sweden 33,164 35,985 29,511 28,415 30,778 27,711 31,167 42,341 44,540 84,259 58,520 64,863 61,290 572,545  United Kingdom 34,434 34,789 80,212 24,284 60,056 27,620 95,718 135,734 115,884 114,264 100,372 66,851 36,014 926,231Japan 124,032 98,991 123,757 106,438 260,099 91,139 92,896 129,938 135,730 160,528 71,190 118,710 69,653 1,583,101All Others 222,166 253,647 204,811 268,274 252,853 165,999 222,338 362,983 342,017 515,410 762,467 647,917 294,903 4,515,785TOTAL 1,445,159 1,311,540 1,727,248 1,555,369 1,751,123 1,904,241 1,809,104 2,573,174 2,214,899 2,726,967 2,703,866 2,712,759 1,100,615 25,536,063Source: World Food Program.  Data available at [http://www.wfp.org].  

International Food Aid: U.S. and Other Donor Contributions

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International Food Aid: U.S. and Other Donor Contributions

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