Food Aid in Wajjala

With planned Agriculture Sector trainings put on hold this week, I decided to join the Commodities Unit on a USAID/Food for Peace "Title II" food distribution. Donated by the US Government, the food is distributed by organizations like Save to at risk and vulnerable populations.


Through conflict, adverse weather conditions and disease, large portions of the population in some parts of Africa have found themselves unable to maintain their livelihoods. Where traditionally in Africa a kinship based social welfare system would have provided for the elderly, when larger community structures break down many vulnerable people find they have no one to turn to for help. Despite this, food aid is a controversial practice in the development community, as there are significant concerns that this builds dependency while distorting local markets. Putting policy aside, I wanted to simply observe the process in a non-emergency setting first hand.


Save provides for about 2,000 at risk beneficiaries in Nakasongola District. These people are identified by Save extension staff and Community Health Assistants. Child headed, chronically ill or incapacitated, and food insecure HIV affected households can usually qualify for food aid. Additionally, mothers with malnourished children are referred by local clinics through Growth Monitoring Promotion activities and are registered for a three-month supplementary feeding program.

Today Save coordinated three food distributions. Large trucks filled with USAID food were sent out to distribution local centers. I went to the one at Wajjala Town, serving just over 100 beneficiaries. Most had already arrived when we pulled into the small dusty town, abutting a large but un-picaresque lake. Sitting under a tree listening to the Community Health Assistant sensitize on hygiene issues, the majority of the recipients were women dressed in their most colorful clothes. There were about ten community volunteers present to help with the distribution.


Before long, the beneficiaries were instructed to help offload the truck. Carrying heavy boxes of vegetable oil and 25 kilo bags of soy fortified cornmeal and lentils, the food items were positioned on a tarp near the truck.


A tent was hastily constructed to provide shade, and the community volunteers began to sort and divide the food items. While community members sat quietly under the shade of a large tree, Save field staff called recipients up one at a time. Before the beneficiaries could receive their food, they had to present their Save ration cards, weigh any malnourished babies, and sign off (usually with a thumbprint).


The vulnerable household heads each received a 25 kilo bag of cornmeal, approximately 10 kilos of lentils and about 8 liters of vegetable oil. Upon receipt, the food items were then tied to the back of bikes or carried on heads. Adolescents were on hand to help some of the particularly infirm and incapacitated. At about two in the afternoon, we finished the distribution, loaded the tent into the empty truck, and headed back to Nakasongola.

While it was interesting to observe, there was nothing unexpected or notable that offered me any new insights into the food distribution process as a whole. Those that received food were obviously in great need. Did the food itself fundamentally alter the situation that caused them to be vulnerable in the first place? Unlikely… Is that wrong? Not necessarily… Was an opportunity created where beneficiaries could increase their capacity to be more food secure in the future (by learning new skills through other Save initiatives)? Quite possibly… Does this outweigh potential market distortions and dependency issues? I have no clue... At this point though, I do not feel I know enough to evaluate the larger picture and can do little more than observe.