1. U.S. Food Aid Reform Opposed by Aid’s Intended Recipients: U.S. Special Interests
(Matching tags: usaid, agriculture, us rice, food aid)

... cases using U.S.-flagged ships.” U.S. food aid to Haiti is emblematic of the program as a whole. As we have previously noted, in roughly the first year after the 2010 earthquake, USAID signed nine contracts ...

2. A Closer Look at USAID Food Aid Programs in Haiti
(Matching tags: aid distribution, usaid, agriculture, food aid, world vision, crs)

... (USAID) has spent over $200 million on Title II food aid in Haiti since the earthquake. Title II food aid, administered by USAID and implemented by NGOs and intergovernmental organizations (primarily the ...

3. USAID's Disclosure of Local Partner Info Raises Troubling Questions
(Matching tags: contractors, usaid, reconstruction, chemonics, dai, aid)

Following a request from HRRW, USAID yesterday released information on the amount of relief and reconstruction funds that have gone to local partners in Haiti. The info, available here, is a positive step ...

4. Breaking Open the Black Box: Increasing Aid Transparency and Accountability in Haiti
(Matching tags: aid distribution, usaid, chemonics)

Today, CEPR released a new report authored by Jake Johnston and Alex Main on USAID in Haiti. The paper looks at the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance, what we know about how it is being administered, ...

5. USAID Takes Credit for Tarps Over Tents
(Matching tags: usaid, shelter, tarps, tents)

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the Haitian government called for some 200,000 tents to help shelter the countless Haitians that had been made homeless. However nearly a month after the quake, ...

6. Haitian Government Hires U.S. Lobbying Firm
(Matching tags: usaid, hope ii, garment factories, unions, labor, worker rights, caracol)

The Haitian government’s Société Nationale des Parcs Industriels (SONAPI) hired a U.S. lobbying firm in February to draft documents and arrange meetings “with Congressional Members and staff and Administration ...

7. Is the US Overstating What it's Done for Shelter?
(Matching tags: aid distribution, contractors, usaid, shelter, chemonics, iom, chf international)

The White House issued a press release yesterday detailing the US government's response to the earthquake in Haiti. The release included this: USAID has provided 160,000 plastic sheets and 24,500 family ...

8. Closer Coordination With Local Groups Key to Improved Relief Effort
(Matching tags: usaid, un, refugees international, relief coordination)

This is the main message from an evaluation of relief efforts released Tuesday by Refugees International. The report concludes that "By all accounts, the leadership of the humanitarian country team is ...

9. Food Aid Undermines Local Producers
(Matching tags: usaid, fao, food crisis, chemonics, agriculture, comet rice, us rice, food aid)

*This post has been edited slightly for accuracy. The AP reports today on the effects of US rice on Haitian farmers: Subsidized U.S. rice has flooded Haiti for decades. Now, after the Jan. 12 quake, ...

10. Is USAID Mainly Serving U.S. Interests?
(Matching tags: aid distribution, contractors, usaid, agriculture, food aid)

An op-ed in Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday lays out the case for USAID reform, highlighting the case of contractors in Haiti (and citing this blog) as an example. The piece, by Charles Kenny of the Center ...