Assessing the Impact of U.S. Food Assistance Delivery Policies on Child Mortality in Northern Kenya.

ABSTRACT: The U.S. is the main country in the world that delivers its food assistance primarily via transoceanic shipments of commodity-based in-kind food. This approach is costlier and less timely than cash-based assistance, which includes cash transfers, food vouchers, and local and regional procurement, where food is bought in or nearby the recipient country. The U.S.'s approach is exacerbated by a requirement that half of its transoceanic food shipments need to be sent on U.S.-flag vessels. We estimate the effect of these U.S. food assistance distribution policies on child mortality in northern Kenya by formulating and optimizing a supply chain model. In our model, monthly orders of transoceanic shipments and cash-based interventions are chosen to minimize child mortality subject to an annual bu

SUBMITTER: Nikulkov A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5173367 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature