The federal government is moving to end a 50-year-old policy of requiring that almost all Canadian food aid be bought from Canadian farmers.
Effective immediately, the Canadian International Development Agency has been authorized to buy up to half of Canada’s aid donations from farmers in developing countries, typically in the region where the aid is required.
Since the 1950s, food aid rules have required that 90 percent of the aid supplies be bought in Canada, even though all other parts of Canada’s foreign aid program have been “untied” from the domestic procurement requirement.
Read Also
Rural Manitoba resources slim on natural disaster planning
A study from Brandon University’s Rural Development Institute has found that many rural and small municipalities don’t have the staff or resources to make formal climate plans against natural disaster.
The 90-10 split on food aid was a deliberate cabinet decision to use foreign aid to help Canadian farmers dispose of crops. Food aid purchases typically account for 0.3 percent of Canadian agricultural production.
International co-operation minister Aileen Carroll said the policy change will mean that Canada’s aid dollars will be buying as much as 200,000 tonnes of food from developing world farmers.
“This is good policy,” she said.
“It will get food to those who need it more quickly with less transportation costs. It will help developing country farm economies and allow us to get culturally appropriate food where it is needed.”
The minister said the benefits of the new policy have been apparent for some time but she did not want to move until Canadian farm organizations were comfortable with the policy change and the loss of some domestic sales.
“It was important that we consult farm groups and not make any change until there was sector approval. We have that.”
Food aid advocates and providers who have been advocating the switch were quick to praise the government decision.
“This is a welcome change,” Jim Cornelius, executive director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, said in a statement.
“There will still be a lot of instances when it will make good sense to purchase Canadian products, but in many of our projects we feel we can serve our beneficiaries better if we purchase food in the region where they live. This allows us to support local markets, deliver the food more quickly and save money on expensive freight charges.”Ê
Oxfam Canada, an early advocate of untying food aid, also praised the decision.
“Much more food will reach the hungry,” said Robert Fox, executive director of Oxfam Canada.
“Rather than squandering our precious aid dollars on exorbitant inter-continental transportation, the money will feed the hungry and at the same time support struggling developing country farmers.”
Many farm groups and opposition critics in Parliament also have embraced the idea.
Carroll said it will help the developing world and Canada.
“This enhances Canada’s reputation internationally,” she said.
The government has compiled a list of more than 100 countries where Canadian aid dollars can be spent to purchase food. Any country that uses “trade-distorting subsidies” in its food production system will not be an eligible source country.
