3.2.b.  Government food aid

The decision making process for Stage 1 targeting of government food aid (i.e., allocations from

the Office of the President at central level to the Districts) has already been outlined in section

3.1.c, where it was noted that government drought relief was targeted separately from international

relief, and primarily in response to reports originating from the District authorities.  Table 12 shows

the outcome of this process in terms of the total quantities allocated to each District over the whole

period of the drought relief operation (July 1996 to October 1997) 

17

.  A number of points arise

from these records.

Firstly, the quantity of grain redistributed through the government network is substantial.  Over the

16 month drought period, the OP authorized the purchase and distribution of more than 200,000

MT of maize.  This is equivalent to about 7% of the total national consumption need for maize 

18

,

and roughly eight  times the size of the international drought relief operation run by WFP 

19

.

Nevertheless, there is general agreement (including among beneficiaries interviewed in the focus

areas visited) that the smaller quantities distributed through NGOs and other agencies had a

greater impact,  because of better targeting.

In the share out from national to District level, Table 12 shows that few (if any) Districts were

entirely excluded from government  relief, but  that  there 

was 

systematic prioritization of Districts

in terms of the quantities allocated.   In order to make these quantities comparable, the second

column shows the percentage of the District population which could have been fed (at the standard

ration of 12 kg per month for the whole 16 month period) by the amounts allocated. (Note that this

calculation does not imply that the food was actually targeted in that way).

Shaded rows indicate more than 10%, shaded rows plus bold print indicate more than 25%. The

highlighted Districts, on the whole, are those which were generally agreed to be badly affected by

the drought.   Map 3, which shows the monthly allocations for April 1997 (at the peak of

government relief distributions) illustrates the relative geographic concentration of government aid

in the North and East of the country.

The question remains whether it would have been more economical to redirect or save the smaller

(in some cases nominal) quantities allocated for less affected Districts: however, this is a matter for

government policy.  District level targeting of the WFP Drought Emergency Operation was much

narrower, as shown in the right hand column of the table.   It is a general feature of government

targeting systems at all levels that it is much more difficult to exclude some Districts (or Divisions,

or villages etc.) from a government distribution which passes through each level of administration

than from a non government distribution which can often be channeled directly (both in physical

and management terms) from a central depot to a targeted area or community.   These issues are

discussed further in  Chapter 2.

Within Districts, the distribution and targeting of government relief was the responsibility of the

District Social Dimensions of Development Committee (DSDDC,  sometimes still called the District

Relief Committee), which is a sub committee of the District Development Committee (DDC)

chaired by the District Commissioner.    The food was distributed by the District to the Divisions, by

the Divisions to the Locations, and among the communities by the Location and Sub location

Chiefs.  Informants suggest that at each level there was a tendency to spread the food aid widely

17

   This is not necessarily all drought relief, as the OP also allocates grain for problems such as conflict 

displacement or urban destitution [interview with the National Famine Relief Co ordinator].

18

   Calculated on a 12 month basis, using consumption estimates from the FAO /WFP balance sheet for

1996/7 [ref 102]   government relief allocation for July 96 to June 97 of 186,642 MT divided by 2,654,200 MT

total annual food use of maize @ 96kg/capita.

19

   20,139 MT of maize was requested under the original EMOP 5803 in February 1997, plus a further 6,638

MT for a four month expansion [5803 01] from September 1997 to January 1998  (final distribution figures not

available).

A 39