There are large variations in financial efficiency among donors and within the programmes of individual donors depending on how commodities are procured, the type of commodity and the destination. Actions involving commodities acquired in developing countries were mostly more cost-effective, whereas flour and rice actions and shipments from Europe to Latin America involved very high transaction costs. Substantial savings could have been made or more food aid transferred for the same cost if there were more flexibility in sourcing, choice of commodity or if some form of import support had been provided rather than food aid. The use of food aid to provide local currency support, whether for the general development budget or more narrowly in support of food security, has also involved high transaction costs. High transaction costs typically resulted from a combination of factors, including inefficiencies in the supply of commodities, valuing commodities when sold at less than import parity prices, delays in the sale of commodities and high internal distribution costs.
Financial aid is usually a more direct and efficient way of providing budgetary support.
Coordination Coordination is especially important for providing food to meet current consumption requirements and where sales revenues are to provide predictable budgetary support. Since the early 1980s, the EU has made substantial improvements in coordination. The EU has also actively sought to coordinate its responses to crises. Nevertheless, the lack of consistent and regular sharing of information about Member State food aid hinders coordination. Practically, there has been little progress within either the EU or the wider donor community in implementing standard procedures in ways that would reduce the administrative burden on developing country governments and enhance transparency.