IBTCI led an assessment of the USAID Development Food Assistance Program (DFAP) where a consortium of nonprofits delivered PL480 foods for development programs across Ethiopian regions. This supported the Ethiopian Government’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) to increase food security to impoverished Ethiopians and reduce vulnerabilities to malnutrition. IBTCI assessed the efficacy of food aid distribution networks, food management practices and internal control systems, and reporting findings to program benefactors. Despite civil unrest and national lockdowns, IBTCI’s team was able to reach each region. Review teams implemented by IBTCI traveled to and conducted surveys at eighteen different Food Distribution Points (FDPs) to determine food-distribution processes, ease of access for in-need Ethiopians, including shelter, water, gender-segregated resting rooms and latrines, were provided at distribution centers. IBTCI provided recommendations to USAID to encourage higher standards, including increasing security and access control devices for warehouses and storage facilities, development of quality-of-life facilities at FDPs, and increased oversight of food-distribution processes following discoveries that individuals were being required to pay for food donations.
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