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11 March 2011

GPPi and Cornell host conference on humanitarian food assistance

From 10-11 March 2011, GPPi and Cornell University held the fifth Transatlantic Dialogue on Humanitarian Action in the Washington, DC, area. The conference focused on humanitarian food assistance.

With global food insecurity on the rise, efficient food assistance is crucial. For example, the current spike in food prices underlines the need for adequate funding and efficient donor coordination to help those subjected to food insecurity. Policymakers should continue to explore venues for greater donor coordination and build on the momentum created by recent high-level government discussions on the role of the Food Aid Convention in the international aid architecture.

Titled Uniting on Food Assistance: Transatlantic Dialogue and Convergence of Policy and Practice, the conference brought together stakeholders from governments, NGOs, inter-governmental organizations, business and universities. Drawing on results from the previous conference on humanitarian food assistance in Berlin, as well as research by GPPi and Cornell University, participants outlined specific recommendations for policymakers in the European Commission and US government and for humanitarian practitioners. The recommendations focused on food aid, food assistance and in particular the need to reform the Food Aid Convention. Officials and legislators from the US and EU governments then discussed the practical implications of such recommendations as well as future actions for increased transatlantic cooperation and the incorporation of emerging donors.

The conference is part of the Uniting on Food Assistance project by GPPi and the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. The project is funded by the European Union.

Launched in April 2010, the Uniting on Food Assistance project seeks to create an evidence-based dialogue on best practices in food aid and food assistance in order to assist transatlantic partners in identifying points of prospective agreement and to inform the upcoming Food Aid Convention renegotiations.