The Effect of Food Aid on Agricultural Development in Bal'ad District

Abstract

Purpose: Food aid creates a country dependent on foreign assistance rather than making it an agriculturally independent society with a stable, accessible, sustainable, and sufficient food supply. Food aid injected into the countries on the receiving end has been a destructive result on their food basket, bringing food deficit to the country. This study examines the effect of food aid on agricultural development in Bal'ad. This paper exposes the impact of food aid on agricultural production, domestic prices, and the consumption pattern. Materials and Methods: The research methodology utilized in this study was an explanatory study. The population that was considered during this study comprised 200 farmers in Bal'ad district and 133 are sampled using Simple random sampling. The study used a questionnaire to collect data from respondents, analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 20). Findings: The findings of the study indicated that food aid has a disincentive effect on domestic agricultural production; price and it also changed the consumption pattern of the local people. Finally, the study also indicates that food aid has a strong negative relationship with agricultural development in Bal'ad district (r = (-0.88) at the level α ≤ 0.005). Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: So, the researcher recommends for the effective management of food aid in Bal'ad district, the governments should increase their efforts in areas of scientific food research and in policy values that govern food aid in the country. This will in turn help to alleviate the country's disincentive effects on food aid and foster positive long-term solutions to food aid.