Also on FRONTLINE/WorldTroubled Water
FRONTLINE/World investigates one of its own stories, The Play Pump, which promised to use a merry-go-round and the power of children to help meet the dire need for fresh water in southern Africa.
(Watch Now »)
There are two Q & As: First, Davidson took an hour on June 29th to answer viewers' questions -- take a look and add your own comments. In addition, FRONTLINE/World's producers asked Davidson about how Haitians are faring today, five months after the quake, and how food aid policies have played out in other poor countries.
| REPORTS FROM HAITI | ||
The Aid Dilemma | The Economy of a Tent City |
Solving the Tap-Tap Puzzle |
INTRODUCTION
In the aftermath of January's devastating earthquake in Haiti, post-disaster relief is creating a new kind of problem for businesses there. The massive influx of food aid has altered the price of rice, throwing the delicate balance in Haiti's food supply chain out of whack and threatening to collapse the country's rice market. It's the kind of problem that can turn a one-time disaster into a crisis that lasts years.
But international aid organizations like the U.N.'s World Food Programme are trying out a new method of delivering relief that they hope will avoid that problem.
"It's a simple idea," says reporter Adam Davidson of NPR's Planet Money. "If people are hungry, don't give them rice. Give them money to buy rice, or vouchers that amount to the same thing. That way, instead of destroying [local] business, you strengthen it."
But as Davidson and producer Travis Fox discover in their story The Aid Dilemma -- part of a unique and ongoing partnership between NPR and FRONTLINE -- a simple idea can quickly turn complicated.
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posted june 25, 2010
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