ROME, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The United Nations says $600 million -- one-third of the global food
aid budget -- is wasted yearly because it is spent on delivery costs.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization proposed major changes to
the way food aid is collected and distributed in a report released
Wednesday.
Food donations can disrupt local merchants and markets, and can
distort international trade, according to the report. Cash donations or
food vouchers are better for recipient countries unless there is a food
shortage.
"Cash-based transfers or food vouchers can stimulate local production,
strengthen local food systems and empower recipients in ways that
traditional food aid cannot," the report said.
More food would reach the hungry if money was spent helping local
farmers and building better roads in rural areas, the report said.
"Whenever possible, it is always 'better to teach and help people to
fish rather than to give them fish'," said FAO Director-General Jacques
Diouf in a press release.
Around 200 million people receive about $2 billion worth of food aid a
year, according to the report.
