The United States’ Government Accountability Office has issued a report indicating that food aid to sub-Saharan Africa is woefully insufficient. This comes as no surprise. The optimist in me sees the timing of the report — which comes on the eve of a United Nations summit in Rome to address the global food crisis — as an opportunity to bring about real change in the approach the west takes to development. My pessimistic side simply sees status quo continuing to prevail, inertia being what it is, especially when it comes to policies toward Africa.