Publisher description: The 1954 Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, effectively began the modern era of food aid. Over the past fifty years the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide have been improved. Despite this it remains one of the most misunderstood and controversial instruments of contemporary international policy. Food Aid After Fifty Years explores the motivations and modalities of food aid and examines issues which impinge on its effectiveness. The book utilizes analytical and empirical accounts of food aid to resolve key misunderstandings and explore long standing myths. An alternative strategy is presented for recasting food aid, making it more effective in alleviating poverty, hunger and vulnerability. Food Aid After Fifty Years provides a clear, comprehensive and current explanation of a wide range of issues surrounding food aid and its policy and operations and will prove vital to students of Development Economics and Development Studies and those working in the field.