USDA’s Food Aid programs provide Cooperating Sponsors with donated commodities and in some instances, cash resources to carry out agricultural development, health and educational programs around the world. Donated commodities may be used for direct feeding programs or sold in the country of donation for the generation of local currency (termed monetization).

An intimate knowledge of the country of proposed programming is necessary for the successful implementation of a food aid program with USDA.

So before beginning the application process, please take a moment to answer the following questions in order to determine whether your organization might need additional assistance in order to successfully participate in FAS’ programs:

Step I:  Questions for Potential Cooperating Sponsors:

• Has your organization worked in the proposed country in the recent past? If not, is your organization intimately familiar with the economic and political climate there?

• Has your organization carried out a U.S. Government sponsored food aid program before? If so, was it in the current country of interest? If not, has your organization been a recipient agency on a U.S. Government sponsored food aid program with another primary sponsor?

• Is your organization familiar with the procedures for bringing commodity into the country of interest, including taxes, customs issues, etc.?

• Is your organization familiar with the internal transportation options for movement of commodity within the country?

• Is your organization familiar with the food security situation with the country of interest?

• Does your organization have experience with agricultural markets in the country of interest?

Step II:   If your organization answered "no" to more than one of the questions above, please contact USDA/FAS’ Programming Division to arrange a meeting to discuss the appropriateness of food aid programming for your organization. The programming division is happy to help organizations either partner with veteran cooperating sponsors in order to learn the ins and outs of USDA/FAS food aid programs or custom design a starter program that fits the cooperating sponsor’s needs while controlling the risk for USDA/FAS.

Food Aid Programming Organizational Chart and Contact Information 

If your organization does not need additional assistance, please visit the following links to obtain more information about the application process: