In many developed countries, even larger sums are spent on national food assistance programmes. Even in countries where external food aid accounts for a sizeable proportion of total food assistance, national resources are usually the first to be amassed to save lives of those caught up in emergency situations. In both developed and developing countries, national food assistance programmes generally suffered reductions during the 1980s and 1990s. Policies associated with macro-economic stabilisation in many developing countries have resulted in higher food prices due to exchange rate realignments and reduction in food subsidies. Of late, emphasis has been gaining ground again at the international level on poverty reduction and safety nets for those unable to take advantage of opportunities provided by economic reform programmes.
Local hunger is a world problem.
The individual's right to food is enshrined in a number of United Nations declarations and covenants. Acting upon basic humanitarian considerations, the international community provides food aid to assist in combating hunger. An important underlying reason, beyond the general drive for tighter budget behaviour, for changes in the structure and size of both national food assistance programmes and food aid has been a widespread perception that some past programmes had been wasteful and inefficient. Simply put, abuse of food assistance can be counter-productive. Future food assistance programmes will have to become more efficient and effective, in order to do more with few resources.