Summary: Through the Public Law 480 title I food aid program, U.S. agricultural commodities are sold to developing countries on long-term credit at below-market interest rates. When this food aid legislation was enacted in 1954, its objectives were to export large amounts of surplus U.S. agricultural commodities and serve U.S. international policy interests. Today, however, title I is less important in terms of reducing U.S. agricultural surpluses and its share of U.S. agricultural exports and world food aid has decreased significantly. Although 1990 legislation streamlined title I program management and simplified implementation requirements overseas, the revisions did not improve the program's ability to promote broad-based sustainable development and expand markets for U.S. agricultural commodities. The program does move U.S. agricultural commodities to foreign markets, but the title I program is encumbered with multiple and sometimes competing objectives as well as contradictory program requirements. As now structured, the program appears unable to significantly advance either the economic development or market development objectives of the 1990 legislation.
