Analysis of food assistance programmes in Jamaica

ABSTRACT

Paper brings together information from several studies in a review of the elements of the Food Assistance Programme (FAP) in Jamaica, their impact on vulnerable groups, and suggests guidelines for reorganizing and financing the programme. The Food Assistance Programme comprises the Food Stamp Programme, instituted in 1984, the General Food Subsidies and the School Feeding Programme. This paper is part of a project - The "Jamaican Poverty Line Project" sponsored by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ). This project is a collaborative undertaking between PIOJ staff and a research team from the UWI. The first phase of the project is directed towards the development of the Poverty Line, and the analysis of food support programmes. In this exercise, the project was able to draw upon data from the newly instituted series of Survey of Living Conditions (SLC) undertaken jointly by the PIOJ and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica