In this report, the Economic Research Service uses preliminary data from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to examine trends in U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2013 (October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013) and ERS data to examine trends in the prevalence and...

Food aid stands at a crossroads today. Major policy decisions will be made in the coming year as to the direction food aid will follow for the next decade or more. NGO leaders need to decide soon how to engage these debates. If the NGOs fail to step forward on these imminent, major decisions,...

The United States is the single largest provider of international food aid, yet maintains some of the most controversial food aid policies. Public and political critique of these policies — primarily concerning fiscal and humanitarian efficiency — has been strong since early 2005; however, these...

This paper examines the effect of U.S. food aid on conflict in recipient countries. To establish a causal relationship, we exploit time variation in food aid caused by fluctuations in U.S. wheat production together with cross-sectional variation in a country's tendency to receive any food aid...

For decades, despite widespread hunger and severe malnutrition in developing countries there was little attention to agricultural development and food security, and global funding for it was declining. High and volatile food prices have caused a dramatic turnaround in public and political...

We assess the relative impacts of receiving cash versus food transfers using a randomized design. Drawing on data collected in eastern Niger, we find that households randomized to receive a food basket experienced larger, positive impact on measures of food consumption and diet quality than...

Public transfers of food aid are intended largely to support vulnerable populations in times of stress. We use high frequency panel data among Ethiopian and Kenyan pastoralists to test the efficacy of food aid targeting under three different targeting modalities, food aid's responsiveness to...