Mandelson right over food aid

By Alex Singleton | 13 December 2005

How to distribute food aid is a complex business. It's not intuitively obvious, but directly distributing food in famine situations is not always the best approach. It can create havoc in local economies. We blogged about Nobel Prizewinner Amartya Sen's work on this subject back in August.

So it's good to see that our trade commissioner understands the complexity:

Tension between the United States and the 25-nation European Union burst into the open as the meeting got under way, with European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson calling for "radical reform" to the U.S. system of food aid for developing nations.

Washington sends aid donations in the form of domestic corn, wheat and other commodities, but Brussels says cash is quicker and less likely to affect the delicate balance of local trade.

"Food aid for poor countries and emergency relief can be a tool to advance development and for humanitarian relief," Mandelson told a news conference. "But the U.S. programme is designed to give support to U.S. agricultural producers."

He's right - but then again the EU attacking America is bit like pots and kettles...