The subject of this paper, Title XII, needs to be understood in its historical context. Public Law 87-195, known more familiarly as the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), was a benchmark event in the history of modern development assistance. The persistence of that framework for foreign assistance for another 55 years has been a function of two factors: the wisdom that is incorporated into the provisions of that Act, and the insurmountable political hurdles that persist to writing a completely new authorization bill for the foreign assistance programs of this country. The treatment of agricultural programs, subjected to frequent and periodic amendments to the FAA with all the inconsistencies that result, is not unique in the panoply of development sectors. But it is the subject of this inquiry, and so this paper will focus on the implementation of the sections relevant to agriculture.