My impression with this sort of thing is that the restrictions aren't because the people administering the program are worried about cheating, but because they'

My impression with this sort of thing is that the restrictions aren't because the people administering the program are worried about cheating, but because they're worried about cratering the local agricultural economy. If everyone is able to buy rice airdropped in by a richer government or charity for a token amount (or free), it becomes very difficult to support yourself as a local rice farmer. If only a subset of the population which was previously unable to buy a significant amount of rice is able to do so, it doesn't affect the local rice market. The misdistribution mentioned at the beginning of the article is a worst possible case: the poorest people not given their cheap rice are unable to afford enough to eat at all; people who may be hurting but aren't the worst off get cheap or free rice instead of buying rice they might (barely) be able to afford from local rice farmers.