food shortages or famine'. Studies were undertaken with the help of two successive
expert groups (FAO, 1951). The main conclusions to emerge from these studies
may be summarized as follows. Technical and financial obstacles rather than
inadequate physical world food supplies were the main difficulties in relieving
emergencies caused by natural disasters. The requirements for meeting even a
major famine emergency would constitute but `a very small fraction' of the volume
of world exportable food supplies. The main problem, therefore, was to finance,
organize and guarantee in advance, and on agreed conditions, the speedy delivery
to famine-stricken areas of that small portion of total available stocks required for
emergency relief.
reserve; (b) an internationally owned emergency relief fund and (c) nationally
owned emergency stocks. On the basis of its general conclusions, the working
group was of the view that the desired objective of utmost speed and flexibility
of relief operations could best be met through the establishment of an `Interna-
tional Relief Fund'. The fund should have sufficient financial resources for the
purchase of relief supplies as and where needed rather than through the creation
of an internationally owned `Emergency Food Reserve' physically established in
advance.
be held in the wrong places. On the other hand, a fund would allow the speedy
provision of aid through the purchase of the required commodities close to where
the emergency occurred. In addition, the creation of internationally owned stocks
might cause political difficulties in determining the strategic points where stores
should be held, in responding to relief needs, and in creating the required central
administrative structure, which would be considerably greater than that needed
for the management of a fund.
of contributions, in terms of cash, commodities or facilities such as shipping,
however small. Consideration was therefore given to an alternative plan of `nation-
ally owned emergency stocks'. Under this plan, contributing governments would
agree to set aside from their own supplies, or procure in advance at their own
expense, specified quantities and types of emergency food stocks. These reserves
would be owned by the governments concerned who would take full responsib-
ility for maintaining and storing them on a standby basis. Such an arrangement
might be better than an emergency fund or reserve in that it would be admin-
istratively simpler, would not require clearing requirements, would not involve
currency complications, and the physical size of the reserve could be guaran-
teed. Despite these apparent advantages, the working group concluded that an
international relief scheme based solely on nationally owned or earmarked stocks
would not be sufficiently flexible to make the most of relief resources in cases
of emergency. Among the potential difficulties that such an arrangement would