Emergency situations have become increasingly frequent over the past 25 years, often coupled with acute and chronic food insecurity in the affected countries. International responses to these crises have generally focused on addressing immediate humanitarian needs, as evidenced by the growing share of food aid that is channelled to emergencies. However, achieving lasting food security would often require an integrated development approach that combines short-term relief measures with longer-term mitigation strategies. A reformed Food Aid Convention (FAC) could provide the institutional framework for more effective interventions.rural development, hunger, food security, economic crisis, prices, agriculture

FAO Economic and Social Development Department

English

Research Papers in Economics

Economic and
Social Perspectives
Food and Agriculture
Organization of the
United Nations
Policy
Brief  11
October 2010
This Policy Brief was produced by the Economic and Social Development Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 
The opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect those of the FAO or its member countries. Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce 
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Making the Food Aid 
Convention meet the 
realities of the 21
st century
Some proposals for more effective interventions
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Convention  have  largely  remained  unchanged. 
Notable  modifications  include  the  expansion  of 
eligible contributions beyond grains (e.g. pulses, root 
crops and sugar) and a focus on broader development 
and food security concerns.
Despite  these  adjustments,  many  believe  that 
the  Convention  is  no  longer  adapted  to  today’s 
food-related  assistance  needs.  Indeed  the  current 
Convention  was  set  to  expire  in  2002,  and  has 
been  extended  repeatedly  since  then.  Formal 
renegotiations were put on hold as members wanted 
to await the outcomes of the agriculture negotiations 
of the WTO Doha Round, especially those related to 
food aid.
New challenges, old mechanisms
It is increasingly recognized that tackling an emergency 
by  solely  covering  immediate  humanitarian  needs 
will not provide a sustainable solution. Interventions 
should  instead  have  a  longer-term  horizon  and 
address the underlying reasons for food insecurity. 
Such  comprehensive  responses  include  measures 
to  increase  agricultural  productivity,  supporting 
marketing channels and the provision of basic inputs 
for food production.
Current food aid patterns do not reflect this reality. 
Nearly 80 percent of total assistance is channelled 
to emergency relief measures, up from less than 20 
percent  in  1990.  While  this  shift  is  not  surprising 
considering the marked increase in food crises, it also 
illustrates that the focus of interventions all too often 
lies  on  addressing  the  symptoms  of  emergencies, 
not their causes. Food aid operations that promote 
agricultural  and  broader  economic  development—
so-called  “project  food  aid”—accounted  for  less 
than 20 percent of the total in 2008.
The  strong  focus  on  short-term  relief  measures, 
combined with limited support to local agriculture, 
is not only less effective in overcoming the structural 
reasons  for  food  insecurity;  it  might  even  lower 
incentives to invest in agriculture and domestic food 
production.
Emergency  situations  have  become  increasingly 
frequent over the past 25 years, often coupled with 
acute  and  chronic  food  insecurity  in  the  affected 
countries. International responses to these crises have 
generally focused on addressing immediate humanitarian 
needs, as evidenced by the growing share of food aid 
that is channelled to emergencies (Figure 1). However, 
achieving lasting food security would often require 
an integrated development approach that combines 
short-term  relief  measures  with  longer-term 
mitigation strategies. A reformed Food Aid Convention 
(FAC) could provide the institutional framework for 
more effective interventions.
Source: GIEWS and FAIS Database (2010).
What is the Food Aid Convention?
Several arrangements govern food-related assistance 
at the international level. Among these, the Food Aid 
Convention is of particular importance as it is the 
only legal instrument to ensure a minimum amount 
of food aid.
1
Created in 1967 to “carry out a food aid programme 
with  the  help  of  contributions  for  the  benefit  of 
developing  countries”,  the  FAC  has  been  renewed 
several  times  with  the  latest  Convention  dating 
from 1999. Over the years, the components of the 
  ● Food-related assistance needs have changed
  ● The lack of a coherent multilateral framework 
that governs food aid interventions reduces 
their effectiveness
  ● Reforming the Food Aid Convention could be 
an important first step
Figure 1:  Emergencies and emergency food aid
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30
45
09 07 05 03 01 99 97 95 93 91  89 87
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30
60
90
Number of emergencies
(left axis)
Emergency food aid
(in %  of total, right axis)Economic and
Social Perspectives
Food and Agriculture
Organization of the
United Nations
Policy
Brief  11
October 2010
Other publications in this series can be found online at http://www.fao.org/economic/es-policybriefs. 
For questions or comments please contact ES-Policy-Briefs@fao.org or write to: Economic and Social Development Department, Food and Agriculture 
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy.
move  forward  and  be  concluded  without  further 
delay. The specific provisions of the new Convention 
would then have to be incorporated and “legalized” 
under  the  eventual  Doha  Round  agreement.  The 
following changes seem feasible:
The new FAC could consider incorporating agricultural 
inputs—such as seeds, fertilizers, and farming tools—
as  part  of  the  contributions  of  donors  under  the 
Convention. This would help expedite the recovery 
of  emergency-struck  countries  and  avoid  their 
continuing dependence on outside food assistance. 
Considering  that  many  new  donors  have  started 
providing food aid (e.g. China, the Republic of Korea 
and the Russian Federation) the reformed FAC might 
also broaden its member base to better  represent 
ongoing initiatives. 
As  current  resources  barely  cover  emergency 
needs,  raising  FAC  minimum  commitments  would 
be an essential component of the reform. Providing 
adequate funding to the Convention would also make 
good  economic  sense  as  last-minute  interventions 
tend to be more costly. If genuine needs turn out to be 
smaller than expected, flexible funding arrangements 
could  allow  donors  to  shift  contributions  between 
budgeting years. This would increase the effectiveness 
of  the  Convention  by  making  more  resources  and 
funding available when emergencies arise.
It is a welcome coincidence that the re-thinking of 
donor food security strategies takes place at a time 
when key international mechanisms related to food 
assistance are in the process of negotiation. The Food 
Aid Convention should use this window of opportunity 
to better adjust to the realities of the 21
st century.
1  Pledges specify an amount of food to be contributed, regard-
less of the current price. As of December 2009, the member states 
of the Food Aid Convention were: Argentina, Australia, Canada, the 
European Union and its member States, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, 
and the United States.
Recent food security initiatives
The  spike  in  global  hunger,  following  the  2007-08 
food price crisis and last year’s economic downturn, 
catalyzed  efforts  to  re-examine  food  security 
interventions.  This  process  was  fostered  by  global 
initiatives to fight hunger more effectively. The G8 
Summit  in  L’Aquila,  the  reform  of  the  Committee 
on  World  Food  Security  and  the  World  Summit  on 
Food Security (all in 2009) strengthened the move 
towards comprehensive approaches to food security. 
Independent of the FAC, several donors have already 
started re-adjusting their interventions. 
While  food  aid  was  traditionally  delivered  as  in-
kind support, a growing number of donors now rely 
on procurement mechanisms in the target countries 
themselves. Local purchases are generally cheaper 
than  in-kind  aid  and  can  generate  development 
benefits to local markets and farmers.
Some  donors  also  strive  for  a  better  integration 
of  emergency  interventions  and  longer-term 
development  operations.  The  European  Union,  for 
example,  envisages  a  rapid  handover  to  structural 
food  security  mechanisms  when  responding  to 
emergencies.  Such  measures  should  rebuild  the 
livelihoods  of  affected  populations  and  strengthen 
their resilience to future crises. 
These examples illustrate a fundamental departure 
from ad hoc and partial approaches to food security 
interventions  followed  in  the  past.  They  also 
demonstrate a general agreement among donors on 
the principles that should guide food aid interventions.
Towards a new Food Aid Convention?
The  reform  process  of  the  FAC  has  been  dormant 
largely due to the uncertain Doha Round negotiations. 
Considering the high degree of convergence as regards 
the food aid disciplines in the Draft Modalities for 
Agriculture, the revision of the FAC might nevertheless 
Further information
  • Konandreas, P. (2010): Promoting agricultural inputs under 
the Food Aid Convention to increase food production in 
emergency-prone developing countries, FAO Working Paper. 
www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/publications
  • The State of Food Insecurity in the World - Addressing 
Food Insecurity in Protracted Crises, FAO 2010. 
www.fao.org/publications/sofi
For  questions  or  inquiries,  please  contact  FAO’s  Trade  and 
Markets Division: ES-Policy-Briefs@fao.org.

Making the Food Aid Convention meet the realities of the 21st century

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Making the Food Aid Convention meet the realities of the 21st century

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