Different Types of Aid

Aid flows consist largely of three types: (i) project aid, (ii) programme aid (including commodity aid, which has largely been food aid), and (iii) technical assistance. Project aid is often seen as the standard aid package. In fact, until the late 1960s, food aid accounted for up to half of total aid, much of this being programme food aid (Clay 1995: 341). During the 1980s, the World Bank, and a bit later the bilateral agencies, channelled increasing amounts of financial aid as programme aid, such as import support and debt relief.