New US Farm Bill provides hope for food aid reform

Men unload sacks of rice to store in the World Food Program warehouse in Gao, Mali. The rice is used to respond to emergency food and nutritional needs in conflict-affected areas, such as Gao in northern Mali, which fell under occupation of armed groups in 2012.
tanya bindra/IRIN©

(IRIN) NEW YORK, April 14, 2014 - Efforts to improve the way the US government distributes roughly US$2 billion in international food aid each year achieved some successes in the recently enacted Agriculture Act of 2014 - commonly referred to as the Farm Bill - but the food aid mechanism used by the world’s largest donor continues to prioritize the needs of US commercial interests.

Rebuilding in Jakarta: learning what works

Tracks of houses in the slums outside of Jakarta, jammed close together up against a public dumping area. jefri aries/IRIN©
 
(IRIN) DAKAR, April 8, 2014 - A whole industry has emerged to foster humanitarian learning and, in the main, actors are increasingly collaborative and open when it comes to learning lessons from emergencies.