After food aid, commodity assistance dries up

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FE Report
Commodity aid that once came in abundance from overseas donors has now dwindled to almost nothing in 2006-07, said an economic relation division report.
"In recent years, commitment for commodity aid has declined drastically," the report said.
Commodity aid was an important element in the total aid package as the country has experienced deficit in its balance of payments since independence.
The aid, extended by development partners, has been used to support the country's balance of payments, which also helped finance development projects, said the report.
Since independence up to 30 June 2007, the total commitment of commodity aid amounted to US$ 11.07 billion. The country received commodity aid worth about US$ 10.91 billion, which is 23.48 percent of total foreign aid on a cumulative basis during the period.
The ERD report said food aid has also marked a significant drop in recent years although the country needs continued food aid support to meet the requirement of the poorest section of the population and run the targeted safety net programme.
The country has, so far, received food aid worth about $6.33 billion, or 13.6 per cent of total foreign aid.
The largest share of foreign assistance comes as project aid. It is extended by the development partners primarily to finance the projects, included those in the Annual Development Programme (ADP), said the report.
From independence to June 30, 2007, the total project aid commitment was about $ 38.63 billion, of which an amount of about $ 1008.346 million was given as Development Support Credit by IDA from June 2003 to June 2007.
The total aid disbursed during the period was worth $ 29.22 billion.
The report said project aid flow has been considered as being relatively slow, and disbursement averaged about 22.93 per cent of the opening pipeline.
"This was due to delays in project identification, preparation, approval, slow release of funds, management weaknesses, the tied nature of aid and development partners' conditionalities or cross-conditionalities," the report added.