How Effectively Does Multilateral Food Aid Respond to Fluctuating Needs?

This paper tests the targeting efficacy of multilateral food aid at the level of nation states, exploring whether it stabilizes food availability in recipient economies, flows most to those with the greatest need, or both. We find that, unlike bilateral flows from the United States under PL 480, multilateral food aid distribution by the World Food Programme flows countercyclically, thereby stabilizing food availability in recipient economies. WFP flows also exhibit significant progressivity at the regional level, helping to resolve international inequalities in food availability per capita