According to a GAO report (.pdf) issued last week, “the USAID program designed for food emergencies now spends more than half of its funding to cover multi-year shortages that have become the norm. About 96 percent of the food aid supplied in 2010 went to 21 countries that have received U.S. food aid for four years or more,” iWatch News reports.

The article looks at some of the challenges facing USAID as it deals with longer-term food shortages, such as “nutrient deficiencies, higher costs for specialized food supplements and inadequate packaging for rugged conditions during shipment” (Adams, 5/13).