The goal of food aid management is to deliver food to those people who need it most. Generally speaking, this involves delivering the right goods, to the right location, in the right condition, at the right time and for the right price, with minimal handling loss.
The weight and volume of food aid required to sustain a large population severely affected by disaster may amount to thousands of tonnes. The physical movement of food commodities to points of distribution may involve an extensive network of purchasers, forwarding agents, transporters and receivers, and multiple handling and transfers from one mode of transport to another. These networks, or supply chains, are put together using a series of contracts and agreements, which define roles and responsibilities, and establish liabilities and rights to compensation, among the contracting parties. All of this requires proper and transparent procedures that contribute towards establishing accountability.
Setting up and managing the supply chain entails cooperation among donors, the recipient government, humanitarian actors, local authorities, various service providers and local community organisations engaged in the food aid programme. Each party will have specific roles and responsibilities as a link, or series of links, in the supply chain. As a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, all parties involved in food aid logistics share responsibility for maintaining the flow of sufficient commodities to meet distribution targets and schedules.
Equity in the distribution process is of primary importance and the involvement of people from the disaster-affected population in decision-making and implementation is essential. People should be informed about the quantity and type of food rations to be distributed, and they should feel assured that the distribution process is fair and that they receive what has been promised. Any differences between rations provided to different groups must be explained and understood.
Food aid management standard 1: food handling
Food is stored, prepared and consumed in a safe and appropriate manner at both household and community levels.
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Key indicators (to be read in conjunction with the guidance notes)
There are no adverse health effects resulting from inappropriate food handling or preparation at any distribution site (see guidance note 1).
Recipients of food aid are informed about and understand the importance of food hygiene (see guidance note 1).
There are no complaints concerning difficulties in storing, preparing, cooking or consuming the food distributed (see guidance note 2).
Every household has access to appropriate cooking utensils, fuel and hygiene materials (see guidance notes 3-4).
Individuals who cannot prepare food or cannot feed themselves have access to a carer who prepares appropriate food in a timely manner and administers feeding where necessary (see guidance notes 4-5).
Where food is distributed in cooked form, staff have received training in safe storage, handling of commodities and the preparation of food and understand the potential health hazards caused by improper practices.
Guidance notes
1. Food hygiene: changed circumstances may disrupt people's normal hygiene practices. It may therefore be necessary to promote food hygiene and actively support measures compatible with local conditions and disease patterns e.g. stressing the importance of washing hands before handling food, avoiding contamination of water, taking pest control measures, etc. People should be informed about how to store food safely at the household level, and care givers should be provided with information on the optimal use of household resources for child feeding and safe methods for food preparation (see Hygiene promotion standard).
2. Sources of information may include programme monitoring systems, focus group discussions with recipients and rapid household surveys.
3. Household items and fuel: each household should have access to at least one cooking pot, water storage containers with a capacity of 40 litres, 250g of soap per person per month, and adequate fuel for food preparation. If access to cooking fuel is limited, foods requiring a short cooking time should be distributed. If this is not possible, then external sources of fuel supply should be established to bridge the gap (see Water supply standard 3 and Non-food items standards 2-4).
4. Access to grinding mills and other processing facilities, and access to clean water, are very important in that they enable people to prepare food in the best form of their choice and also save time for other productive activities. Care givers spending excessive amounts of time waiting for these services could otherwise be preparing food, feeding children or engaging in other tasks that have a positive effect on nutritional outcomes and/or long-term self-reliance. Household-level food processing (including grinding) can reduce the time (as well as the quantities of water and fuel) required for cooking.
5. Special needs: although not an exhaustive list, those who require assistance with feeding usually include young children, older people, disabled people and people living with HIV/AIDS. See General nutrition support standard 2.
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