Concern over nutritional deterioration and growing food import dependency has increased during the last decade in Sub-Saharan Africa. Between 1961 and 1988, Sub-Saharan Africa's dairy imports increased nearly sixfold, growing at an annual rate of 6.5 percent. This trend is a cause for concern as high import growth is financially difficult to sustain. This paper evaluates factors affecting dairy imports in 39 countries. The results indicate that government policies encouraged import growth in most of the countries included in the study. The welfare effects of import policies, such as direct import or consumer price subsidies, exchange rate overvaluations, and distribution of food aid imports, are reviewed in addition to the policies of exporting countries. The study covered the period 1961 to 1988, with a particular focus on 1977-88, years for which food aid data were available.