Catholic Relief Services PL-480 Title II program in Rwanda

480, Title II food distribution program in Rwanda. Audit report covers the period 12/76-4/79 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with A.I.D. personnel. Although CRS -- as sole program agent -- distributed 4,475 MT of food valued at $1.4 million in FY 78, several areas of the program need improvement. The Rwanda A.I.D. Affairs Office (AAO) has never ascertained from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (as stipulated in the Bellmon Amendment) that local storage facilities are adequate and that foods will not deter local farm production, but rather has relied only upon CRS certification and reports. Although CRS was obtaining adequate reports on commodities unloaded at Mombasa, poor accounting controls and the limited scope of data provided by the CRS warehouse in Kigali for Commodity Status Reports make questionable the reported inland losses of 2,995 units in 1978. Moreover, a backlog of 50 claims filed by CRS against the inland carrier--totaling $122,722 and dating back to 1975--has accumulated. CRS is feeding fewer than the approved number of recipients, is varying the size of rations, and has not submitted Recipient Status Reports to the AAO. Finally, the program has not been evaluated since its inception in 1963 and there is no written agreement between CRS and the AAO regarding the nature and frequency of internal reviews.