Does food aid meet the nutritional requirements of recipients? : a case study of U.S. food aid to Ethiopia

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Malnutrition is a common problem in poor countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malnutrition is in large part a result of inadequate dietary intake and associated with macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies. Vitamin A and iodine deficiencies in particular are serious problems in Ethiopia.

A large percentage of food aid received by Ethiopia comes from the United States of America through multilateral channels and NGOs. For example, according to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), 54 percent of total food aid deliveries to Ethiopia came from U.S. contributions in 2012. Therefore, meeting the nutritional requirements of food aid beneficiaries in Ethiopia highly depends on the quality and nutritional content of U.S. food aid, especially in emergency situations in which people are heavily dependent on food aid with little or no access to other foods.

The main objective of this study was to examine whether food aid from the United States of America meets the nutritional requirements of recipients in Ethiopia in order to address malnutrition.This study was aimed to test two hypotheses: 1) U.S. food aid provides an appropriate balance of nutrients in terms of both macronutrients and micronutrients; 2) U.S. food aid addresses local needs for micronutrients in emergency situations in order to prevent outbreaks of deficiency disease. This study focused on providing detailed information about the composition and nutritional contents of U.S. emergency food aid, which can be important indicators for measuring the impact of U.S. food aid on the nutritional status of recipients.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I. Introduction 1
• II. Literature Review 4
• 2.1 Aims and objectives of food aid 4
• 2.2 Nutritional impact of food aid 8
• III. Methodology 10
• IV. Findings 12
• 4.1 Inappropriate balance of nutrients 12
• 4.2 Micronutrients insufficient to meet the local needs 14
• V. Discussions 16
• 5.1 Nutritional contents 16
• 5.2 Food composition and quality of commodities 17
• 5.3 Challenges of food aid 20
• VI. Conclusion 26
• VII. Bibliography 34