US Food Aid Policy

Available for over a year

The United States government policy makes it mandatory for a certain proportion of food aid comes from American farmers. This causes several problems - the distance to hunger spots means the aid often takes too long to reach. Also, food which hasn't been distributed sometimes gets resold, causing distortions in the local market. This policy could be about to change. We hear from local farmers, aid agencies, and American farmers who are paid by the government to export the food aid. And our correspondent in Cuba looks at the sugar industry which is potentially on the ascendancy.