Last updated on August 7, 2011
I wanted to blog this when it first came out at the beginning of July, but I did not get a chance to listen to this Center for Global Development (CGD) podcast until this past weekend, when recurrent eye problems forced me to spend time (looking) away from my computer. The current famine in the Horn of Africa makes this still relevant.
In it, Lawrence MacDonald talks to Connie Veillette and Ben Leo (all three are from the CGD) about the structure of US food aid and the way the World Food Program procures the food it then dispatches to disaster areas — and how the WFP’s procurement mechanism could be improved via hedging.
This reminds me — my dissertation adviser wrote an entire book on food aid while I was in grad school. When it came out, I set it aside in the name of being too busy with my dissertation. I think it’s time I read the whole thing.
Marc – Glad you liked it and thanks for the shout out. You may also be interested in the Wonkcast we put out this week, in which I interview Owen Barder, who just spent three years in Ethiopia, about the famine. We also discuss new commentary on the famine by to of my CGD colleagues, Charles Kenny pointing out that famine is a crime (and urging that we start by prosecuting the criminals) and Jake Grover, who reports that USAID correctly spotted the famine risk early enough to pre-position some relief supplies.
http://blogs.cgdev.org/global_prosperity_wonkcast/2011/08/09/famine-in-the-horn-of-africa-owen-barder/
Thanks for your comment, Lawrence. I did bookmark Owen’s podcast — I am planning on talking about it later on this week. And I read Charles’ piece with interest and posted about it today. I also just began reading his book this morning, some parts of which I am planning on using in my development seminar this fall. Keep up the good work on the podcast, for which I cannot thank you enough — it is a great teaching aid!