Strategic Planning in a Political World, USAID’s Reform Efforts
PBS had an interesting discussion on their website today. In the video, USAID presents a case for changes in the way it delivers food and aid globally. While there are obvious opportunities for extending their reach and operating more efficiently, the change undermines some very powerful special interest groups. Will the idea move forward, or will it die a quick death?
Watch Should U.S. Have Monopoly on Food Sent Abroad to Aid? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
For USAID’s Food for Peace program specifically, federal law requires that the majority of food aid must be purchased from US farms and transported on US ships. Each resulting box and pallet of food says in bold text “USAID, FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.”
USAID sees this “Buy American” mandate as a burden. By purchasing from US sources, the food must be packaged, sealed and then transported thousands of miles to places like Haiti, Sudan, and Afghanistan. Even with prepositioning aid in high-risk areas, there can be major delays in delivering aid due to the travel time. Additionally, due to the travel time and safety concerns, a significant portion of USAID’s budget goes to transportation and security. And as a third consideration, USAID is committed to rebuilding local economies that are not dependent on foreign aid, but rather rebuilt and domestically robust.
Given the realities above, USAID’s preference for “buy local” regulations seems to align with strategic objectives like improving response times, minimizing transportation costs, and rebuilding local economies. USAID’s website says “Studies show that local and regional procurement of food and other cash-based programs can get food to people in critical need 11 to 14 weeks faster and at savings of 25 – 50 percent.”
From the opposite perspective, US farms and US shipping companies have considerable interest in continuing the “Buy American” mandate. In addition to the pride of delivering “American” aid, there is big business in the commodity and transportation contracts. And because the farmers and shipping unions can vote for the US politicians that write the regulations and budgets that control USAID, these two interest groups hold considerable power. Their profits and their jobs are at stake and they vote accordingly.
Oxfam, a confederation of organizations supporting the changes at USAID, had this to say, “The US is the most generous donor of food assistance in the world and gets a lot of credit for this. Cutting aid doesn’t make sense, but why might the Administration seek to fundamentally change this program? The reason is that current US food aid programs are excruciatingly inefficient and in some instances counter-productive to helping people build sustainable agricultural livelihoods.”
In light of the inefficiencies, what is the best path forward? How will politicians seek to shape USAID’s triple mandate of providing aid, rebuilding economies, and buying American? Comments are welcome below!
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/jan-june13/food2_04-24.html
http://www.usaid.gov/foodaidreform
http://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/tag/food-aid/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/feb/06/usaid-changes-procurement-policy
April 2013
S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
28 | 29 | 30 |
Monthly Archive
June 2014 (1)
May 2014 (2)
March 2014 (1)
February 2014 (2)
January 2014 (1)
December 2013 (1)
October 2013 (2)
September 2013 (1)
July 2013 (2)
June 2013 (2)
April 2013 (1)
March 2013 (3)
February 2013 (4)
January 2013 (7)
December 2012 (4)
November 2012 (8)
October 2012 (9)
September 2012 (5)
August 2012 (6)
July 2012 (5)
June 2012 (7)
May 2012 (8)
April 2012 (5)
March 2012 (5)
February 2012 (6)
January 2012 (6)
December 2011 (7)
November 2011 (9)
October 2011 (9)
September 2011 (2)
August 2011 (8)
July 2011 (6)
June 2011 (8)
May 2011 (12)
April 2011 (5)
March 2011 (1)
February 2011 (2)
January 2011 (4)
December 2010 (6)
November 2010 (3)
October 2010 (5)
September 2010 (4)
August 2010 (3)
July 2010 (2)
June 2010 (1)
May 2010 (2)
April 2010 (1)
March 2010 (3)
January 2010 (4)
December 2009 (1)
November 2009 (1)
October 2009 (1)
September 2009 (3)
August 2009 (2)
July 2009 (3)
June 2009 (3)
May 2009 (6)
April 2009 (5)
March 2009 (3)
February 2009 (2)
January 2009 (2)
December 2008 (2)
November 2008 (2)
October 2008 (4)
September 2008 (6)
August 2008 (5)
July 2008 (4)
June 2008 (9)
May 2008 (5)
April 2008 (6)
March 2008 (8)