Critics slam system as food aid to Guatemala lags

On a late afternoon here, Domingo Poron and his brother, Antonio, harvested rocks on the land where they once harvested corn, beans, coffee, and plantains. The rock crop is plentiful this year, washed down from steep mountain slopes when hurricane Stan caused torrential rains in early October.

More than 500 small farmers in San Pablo lost crops. Now, rocks are all that many people have left in this impoverished town on the shore of Lake Atitlán, a popular destination for international tourists.

Hurricane Stan caused more than 1,500 deaths and $1 billion in damages in Guatemala. Though the immediate crisis has subsided, experts say that 285,000 people are at risk of going hungry over the next six months. The World Food Program (WFP) is nearly two-thirds short of reaching the $14.1 million requested in food aid for Guatemala. "It does not augur well for an operation that is very short, very time sensitive," says spokesperson Trevor Rowe.

Some much-needed food aid is on the way, but the unusual number of devastating natural catastrophes in the past year has caused donations to lag, and this delay is sparking fresh debate over international food aid programs.

Some critics say food aid from the United States - by far the world's largest contributor - is expensive, slow, and often misdirected. Others say it is time to reexamine the global agricultural policies they blame for worsening the poverty and high malnutrition rates that make developing countries like Guatemala so dependent on such aid in the first place.

Organizations like the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Oxfam International, and the Oakland Institute say food aid benefits special-interest groups in the US at the expense of recipient nations and starving individuals.

These interests, primarily agribusiness, shipping companies, and nonprofit aid organizations, have been dubbed the Iron Triangle of food aid.

Currently, US law requires the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides the bulk of US food aid, to purchase food exclusively from US farmers. Under the 1985 Farm Bill, at least 75 percent of this food aid must be shipped on US vessels.

But the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a recent study that the cost of food aid could be halved if food were bought in the countries where aid is needed.

Even if this is impossible, costs could be cut by one-third by buying food in neighboring countries, according to the OECD. Plus, food would get to emergencies faster.

Large private aid organizations - the third leg of the Iron Triangle - depend on food aid for large chunks of their budgets. Food aid is often sold in local markets to raise funds for development programs. According to USAID figures, about 55 percent of food aid to Guatemala was "monetized," or sold locally, during US Fiscal Year 2005.

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