The article refers to the profound transformation of ODA in recent years. It is primarily the observation that the promises made by donor countries are rarely kept, a situation which reveals more of a culture of non-compliance with commitments than economic difficulties forcing donors to delay their commitments. This finding is particularly true for agricultural ODA as evidenced by the low share of disbursed amounts promised when the food crisis of 2008. The article then focuses on the qualitative aspects of aid noting the quest for new forms of partnership expressed in the Paris Declaration. It stresses the difficulty in operationalizing the principles of this Declaration, including the first of them, ownership.