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International Food Aid and Development Conference Kansas City, Missouri June 27-29, 2011. Better Nutrition and Quality Control Can Further Improve U.S. Food Aid. For the full report, visit the GAO Web site, www.gao.gov (GAO-11-491, May 12, 2011). Objectives.
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International Food Aid and Development Conference Kansas City, Missouri June 27-29, 2011 Better Nutrition and Quality Control Can Further ImproveU.S. Food Aid For the full report, visit the GAO Web site, www.gao.gov (GAO-11-491, May 12, 2011).
Objectives • meet the nutritional needs of intended recipients, and • maintain the quality of commoditiesthroughout the food aid supply chain. Assess efforts of U.S. food aid programs to
Background:Illustrative Example of the U.S. Food Aid Supply Chain Source: GAO
Objective 1: U.S. Food Aid for Short-Term Emergencies May Not Be Adequate for Protracted Crises •U.S. food aid for general distribution provides essential life-saving calories and nutrients •However, it is not always adequate during protracted crises •When food is not nutritionally varied, recipients can develop serious micronutrient deficiencies, especially during prolonged emergencies Source: GAO presentation of USAID data.
Objective 1: New Products Are Specially Formulated to Meet the Nutritional Needs of the Most Vulnerable Groups, but These Products Are Costly Trade-offs between the costs of more nutritious products and the number of people served within a fixed program budget.
Insufficient tracking of nutritional outcomes, Inconsistent use of needs assessments, and Sharing practices. Recipients Sharing CSB in Ethiopia Source: GAO. Objective 1:U.S. Agencies and Implementing Partners Face Difficulties in Targeting Specialized Food Products to Intended Recipients 6
Objective 2: Quality of U.S. Food Aid Has Improved Due in Part to USDA’s Renewed Quality Assurance Activities Percentage of CSB Samples that Did Not Meet Microbial Specifications for Food Safety, First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2010 through First Quarter of Fiscal Year
Objective 2: Quality Problems Still Occasionally Arise and Can Be Time-Consuming and Costly to Resolve • Bitter CSB • Rodent infestation • CSB contamination Source: GAO.
Source: GAO. Objective 2: U.S. Agencies Do Not Systematically Track Data on Quality U.S. agencies do not systematically track key quality indicators throughout the supply chain• Quality problems that do not result in a loss (e.g., high moisture content or low vitamin fortification levels)• Shipping and delivery times
Source: GAO. Objective 2: Food Packaging May Not Be Sufficiently Durable for Rugged Conditions Encountered throughout the Supply Chain • Packaging remains one of the biggest quality problems • Performance language for packaging durability has not been updated in 10 years • Reconstituting damaged packaging may introduce quality problems
Recommendations: Quality Control USAID and USDA concurred with our recommendations