With the number of war-torn and disaster-hit nations increasing, the world's need for food is increasing. Unfortunately, the issue of such aid has become embroiled in controversies relating to corporate interests in the developed world. At the heart of the matter is the question about whether food aid should be in cash or agricultural products, which are often subsidised by the donor countries.

us approach The world's largest food aid donor, the us prefers to provide food aid in the form of agricultural commodities. It shipped 4 million tonnes (mt) of food aid in 2004, which is almost 56 per cent of the global food aid of 7.4 mt. The us sources almost all the food aid it ships from its subsidised farmers. The us ships its aid itself, without reference to the un's World Food Programme (wfp), the agency to co-ordinate food aid: a classic case of