Food aid and policy reform in Guinea

food aid in Guinea (P.L. 48O Title I and Food for Progress) can best be applied to: (1) support economic and agricultural policy reforms; (2) overcome constraints to producing and marketing domestically produced rice; and, (3) strengthen private marketing of agricultural products and inputs. The primary focus will be on rice, which dominates Guinea"s agricultural economy. The report includes recommendations with respect to policy reform A.I.D. may wish to negotiate with the Government of Guinea (GOG) in connection with the Food for Progress program and also options for the use of local currencies to overcome constraints to increased domestic production and marketing of rice. The report also recommends a number of studies that would be performed under the African Economic Policy Reform Program TA project that would complement A.I.D."s food assistance strategy. A guiding principle of this analysis is that food aid programs should be designed with the explicit objective of promoting long-term economic development. This requires that food aid be conceived of as more than a supplement to consumption. Rather, the program design should use food aid as both an incentive for policy reform and as an infusion of the economic resources necessary to implement those reforms. partially a function of Guinea"s current rice situation. Appendix 1 persents a detailed compilation of existing data on the rice situation. (Author abstract)