In the wake of the recent UN Security Council Report on corruption in humanitarian aid to Somalia, CFR’s Isobel Coleman wrote an op-ed describing how local solutions could prevent such scandals while ensuring the delivery of much-needed food aid.
Coleman describes how local Somali women had been successfully deployed in the 1990s at small communal kitchens to “cook and serve the food.” Aid agencies stocked and supported these kitchens, rather than struggle with distribution plans aimed at providing food supplies to Somali individuals or families.
When this approach was tried in the 1990s, food delivery was much more efficient, and the local women were even able to direct food aid to schools. Classes were more likely to continue meeting, despite the civil war, because attending school became associated with an opportunity for children to find food to eat.
With the current conflict in Somalia, the same humanitarian crisis continues to affect citizens, while militant groups like Al Shabab are involved with stealing food supplies or hampering delivery. Coleman summarized the problem and possible solution as:
Al-Shabab survive largely by exploiting corrupt programs. Using local kitchens to feed the population without resorting to large, vulnerable convoys would remove one of al-Shabab’s main buttresses. Without stolen food to sell, militants will have less cash to buy weapons, in turn diminishing their ability to dominate the land.
Posted by Michael Lucivero.
