Management of CRS/Madagascar"s title II program needs further improvement

480 Title II food distribution program in Madagascar. Audit report covers the period 9/78-9/82 and is based on document review, site visits, and discussions with A.I.D. and CRS officials. While food was distributed to over 60,000 recipients in FY82, nutritionally substandard children were not targeted for food distribution; in the maternal/child health (MCH) program, data from almost 20% of MCH requests revealed that slightly over one-half of the children fed had normal weight-to-age ratios. Food recipients were each charged an average of $0.92 (approximately 10-12% of the food"s market value) to cover CRS"s inland shipping and handling costs, a practice which may have prevented the truly destitute from obtaining food. Family planning information was not generally available at distribution centers, and food was not identified as a contribution from the United States. Although commodity storage was satisfactory, physical inventories were made every 6 months rather than quarterly as required, and inventory counts were not reconciled with commodity records. While CRS made a total of 22 end-use visits from 7/80-7/82, only 69 of 228 distribution centers were visited. Finally, CRS was unable to collect $39,397 in claims for program food confiscated by the Government of Madagascar in 1978. Recommendations are to: establish procedures to target food to nutrionally substandard children in the MCH program and to periodically evaluate the elegibility of children already in the program; exempt truly destitute recipients from paying shipping fees and find alternatives to charging such fees; develop family planning materials and disseminate them at food distribution centers; ensure that the U.S. origin of the food is adequately publicized; conduct quarterly commodity inventories, reconcile inventory counts to commodity records, and investigate apparent shortages; ensure that end-use visits are made to all distribution centers; and assist CRS in collecting outstanding claims from the Government of Madagascar.