The World Food Programme

8/8/2019 The World Food Programme

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The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food aid branch of the United Nations, and the

world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger worldwide. WFP provides food, on

average, to 90 million people per year, 58 million of whom are children. From its headquarters

in Rome and more than 80 country offices around the world, WFP works to help people who

are unable to produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their families.

Overview

The WFP was first established at the 1960 Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

Conference, when George McGovern, director of the US Food for Peace Programmes, proposed

establishing a multilateral food aid programme. WFP was formally established in 1963 by the

FAO and the United Nations General Assembly on a three-year experimental basis. In 1965, the

programme was extended to a continuing basis.

Fighting hunger worldwideThe World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger

worldwide.

In emergencies, we get food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civilconflict and natural disasters. After the cause of an emergency has passed, we use food to helpcommunities rebuild their shattered lives.

WFP is part of the United Nations system and is voluntarily funded.

Born in 1962, WFP pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and child hasaccess at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. We work towards that visionwith our sister UN agencies in Rome -- the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and theInternational Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) -- as well as other government, UN andNGO partners.

In 2010 we aim to reach more than 90 million people with food assistance in more than 70countries. Around 10,000 people work for the organization, most of them in remote areas,directly serving the hungry poor.


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WFP's five objectives:

1. Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies2. Prepare for emergencies3. Restore and rebuild lives after emergencies4. Reduce chronic hunger and undernutrition everywhere5. Strengthen the capacity of countries to reduce hunger

Organization

The WFP is governed by an Executive Board which consists of representatives from 36 memberstates. Josette Sheeran is the current Executive Director, appointed jointly by the UN SecretaryGeneral and the Director-General of the FAO for a five-year term. She heads the Secretariat ofWFP.

WFP has a staff of 9,139 people (2007) with 90% operating in the field.

Goals and strategies

WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminatingthe need for food aid itself.

The core strategies behind WFP activities, according to its mission statement, are to provide foodaid to:

1. save lives in refugee and other emergency situations2. improve the nutrition and quality of life of the most vulnerable people at critical times intheir lives

3. help build assets and promote the self-reliance of poor people and communities,particularly through labour-intensive works programmes


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WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improvematernal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS. Food-for-work programmes helppromote environmental and economic stability and agricultural production.

Activities

In 2006, WFP distributed 4 million metric tons of food to 87.8 million people in 78 countries;63.4 million beneficiares were aided in emergency operations, including victims of conflict,natural disasters and economic failure in countries like Somalia, Lebanon, and Sudan. Directexpenditures reached US$2.9 billion, with the most money being spent on EmergencyOperations and Immediate Response Account. WFPs largest country operation in 2006 wasSudan, where the Programme reached 6.4 million people. The second and third largest WFPoperations were, respectively, Ethiopia and Kenya. In 2007, WFP's Sudan operation will requiresome US$ 685 million to provide food assistance to 5.5 million people (2.8 million in Darfuralone).

Not all food aid is international. Sometimes the World Food Program with the help of numerousNGOs organizes food distribution within a country. In Sudan, for instance, the WFP buys about100,000 metric tons of food mostly sorghum from the country's own production in theeastern and central part of the country. That amount constituted one-sixth of the annualrequirement of 632,000 metric tons for 2008.

WFP focuses its food assistance on those who are most vulnerable to hunger, which mostfrequently means women, children, the sick and the elderly. In fact, part of the response to the2010 Haiti earthquake consisted of distributing food aid to women as exprerience built up overalmost 5 decades of working in emergency situations has demonstrated that giving food towomen helps to ensure that it is spread evenly among all household members. In 2005, food

assistance was provided to 58.2 million children, 30 percent of whom were under five. In 2006,WFP assisted 58.8 million hungry children. School-feeding and/or take home ration programmesin 71 countries help students focus on their studies and encourage parents to send their children,especially girls, to school.

Myanmar

During the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests the United Nations reported that food

shipments out of Mandalay Division to half a million people in the northern districts were being

disrupted. This problem added the shortage of funding over its three year operation and the

poverty caused by the government's eradication of opium farming. Military cooperation withthe food shipments was quickly resumed.


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Funding

WFP operations are funded by donations from world governments, corporations and privatedonors. In 2006, the Programme received $2.9 billion in contributions. All donations arecompletely voluntary. The organization's administrative costs are only seven percentone of the

lowest and best among aid agencies. On 6 November 2006, Josette Sheeran was appointed toreplace James T. Morris as Executive Director of WFP by the Secretary-General of the UN andDirector-General of FAO in April 2007.

In July 2009, the agency reported that it was forced to cut services due to insufficient funding.These include regions of Uganda, Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Guinea. TheBBC reports that this shortfall is due to the current economic crisis which has increased thenumber of people in need and reduced the amount richer nations are willing to donate. Theagency says it needs $6.7 billion in the current financial year. However, UN members havepromised only $3.7 billion, and have actually provided only $1.8 billion, barely a quarter of thetotal the WFP asked for.

FITTEST (Fast IT and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team)

The Fast Information Technology and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team(FITTEST), is a group of technical specialists within the IT (information technology) division ofthe World Food Programme (WFP). FITTEST provides IT, telecommunications and electricityinfrastructure to support humanitarian aid operations anywhere in the world.

Humanitarian emergencies demand rapid interventions that are efficient, coordinated andeffective. FITTEST responds to emergency requests and ensures staff are on the ground andready to operate within 48 hours.

FITTEST is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The geographical location of this cityfacilitates the teams deployment to emergencies around the world.

Operating on a cost-recovery basis, FITTEST is a unique cell within the United Nations system.Receiving no direct contribution from Governments or other humanitarian donors, FITTESTensures its sustainability by operating in a similar way to a commercial company. The teamoperates on a limited margin (7.5%) which it uses to cover costs and initial training for itsmembers. Such a method of operating ensures the application of very high service standards asFITTEST only survives if its 'clients' continue to utilise its services.


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Official partners

WFP coordinates and cooperates with a number of official partners in emergencies and

development projects. These partners include national government agencies such as DFID,

ECHO, EUROPEAID, USAID; UN agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); non-governmental

organizations such as Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and Norwegian Refugee

Council; as well as corporate partners such as TNT N.V., YUM! Brands, DSM N.V., and Cargill.

You can also donate grains of rice by answering questions at www.freerice.com. For each

question you get correct you donate 10 grains of rice.

World Hunger ReliefWeek

In 2007, the World Food Programme joined forces with YUM! Brands, the worlds largest

restaurant company, to launch the first annual World Hunger Relief Week, a global campaign to

increase awareness about hunger, engage volunteers, and raise critically needed funds to help

WFP serve the world's areas of greatest need. World Hunger Relief Week 2007 leveraged the

power of nearly 35,000 restaurants around the world, sparking a global movement to endhunger and generating an overwhelming outpouring of support from millions of customers,

employees, franchisees and their families. Nearly one million Yum!, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell,

Long John Silver's and A&W All American Food employees, franchisees and their families

volunteered close to 4 million hours to aid hunger relief efforts in communities worldwide,

while helping to raise $16 million throughout the World Hunger Relief Week initiative for the

World Food Programme and other hunger relief agencies around the world.


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Grassroots efforts

In 2004, the WFP tasked Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, US, with heading the firststudent-led War on Hunger effort, after a 2002 Northwestern University pilot. Auburn foundedthe Committee of 19, which has not only led campus and community hunger awareness events

but also developed a War on Hunger model for use on campuses across the country.

WFP has launched a global advocacy and fundraising event called Walk the World. On onesingle day each year, hundreds of thousands of people in every time zone all over the world walkto call for the end of child hunger. In 2005, more than 200,000 people walked in 296 locations.In 2006, there were 760,000 participants in 118 countries all over the world. This event is part ofthe campaign to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, specifically to halve the number ofpeople who suffer from hunger and poverty by 2015.

A growing number of grassroots global events and celebrations such as International Day ofPeace, World Party Day participants, and Peace One Day recommend WFP on radio broadcasts

as an immediate reach out action, putting help within reach of anyone with the information that aquarter feeds a child for a day. Fill the Cup campaign takes just 25 US cents to fill one of the"red cups" that the World Food Programme uses to give hungry children a regular school meal ofporridge, rice or beans. Drew Barrymore and Sean Penn are among notable celebrities whoendorse WFP.

In 2006, the Committee of 19 hosted a War on Hunger Summit at which representatives from 29universities were in attendance. At this summit, the model for a student-led War on Hungerinitiative was presented with strong support.


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Objectives

WFP's strategic plan lays out five objectives and all our work is geared towards achieving them.They are:

1. Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies2. Prepare for emergencies3. Restore and rebuild lives after emergencies4. Reduce chronic hunger and undernutrition everywhere

5. Strengthen the capacity of countries to reduce hunger

WhatWe Do

As the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against hunger, WFP is continuallyresponding to emergencies. We save lives by getting food to the hungry fast.

But WFP also works to help prevent hunger in the future. We do this through programmes thatuse food as a means to build assets, spread knowledge and nurture stronger, more dynamiccommunities. This helps communities become morefood secure.

WFP has developed expertisein a range of areas including Food Security Analysis, Nutrition,Food Procurement and Logistics to ensure the best solutions for the world's hungry.

In 2010, WFP aims to bring food assistance to more than 90 million people in 73 countries. Seeoperations.


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WFPsWork

Responding to Emergencies

Whether refugees are fleeing war, floods are washing away homes or drought is destroyingfarmland, hunger is often the first emergency.

As soon as the local government has requested WFP's help, our emergency response mechanismsgo into action. Time saved means lives saved, so our Emergency Preparedness team makes sureWFP is ready to go, anytime. They use ground-breaking technology to direct assistance to whereit is most needed.

In the early days of an emergency, while the first food supplies are being delivered, EmergencyAssessment teams are also sent in to quantify exactly how much food assistance is needed forhow many beneficiaries and for how long. They must also work out how food can best bedelivered to the hungry.

Equipped with the answers, WFP draws up an Emergency Operation (EMOP), including a plan

of action and a budget. This lists who will receive food assistance, what rations are required, thetype of transport WFP will use and which humanitarian corridors lead to the crisis zone.


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Appeal for funds

Next, WFP launches an Appeal to the international community for funds and food aid. Theagency relies entirely on voluntary contributions to finance its operations, with donations madein cash, food or services. Governments are the biggest single source of funding.

As funds and food start to flow, WFP's logistics team works to bridge the gap between thedonors and the hungry. To transport food to crisis zones we use ships, planes, helicopters, trucks-- whatever it takes, including donkeys and yaks, if need be. Learn more

Sometimes, before the aid can reach its country of destination, logistics experts need to upgradeports and secure warehouses.

Distribution network

When the food reaches designated distribution sites - refugee camps, therapeutic feeding centresand other emergency shelters - WFP teams up with governments and non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) to deliver food into the hands and mouths of the hungry. WFP works withabout 3,000 international and local NGOs to distribute food aid.

At this stage, local community leaders work closely with WFP to ensure rations reach the peoplewho need it most: mothers, pregnant women, children and the elderly.

Food Security Analysis


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Before intervening in a country, the first priority for WFP is to analyse the foodsecurity situation of the population. WFP's food security analysis work is commonly known asVAM (Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping) and is carried out by 120 analysts around the world.

Be it an emergency or otherwise, WFP needs to answer some critical questions before it designsan operation. Who is hungry? How many of them are there? Where do they live? Why are theyhungry? Who is vulnerable and could become hungry if there is a natural disaster or crisis?

Only when they have these answers can WFP experts decide on the scale of intervention, thetype of intervention and the most appropriate responses required to save people's lives andlivelihoods.

Specialists around the world

WFP has a unique network of about 120 specialists all around the world whose job it is to answerthese fundamental questions. In this section you can consult ourFood Security AnalysisReports which present food security, nutrition, markets, health and education findings. Ouranalysts work closely with national governments, UN partners and NGOs.

Some of WFP's other highly visible and valued outputs are maps. VAM develops mapsidentifying food insecurity but also emerging vulnerability. To do this we use thelatest technologies such satellite imagery, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or PersonalDigital Assistants (PDA).

Another important part of our VAM work are guidelines and references, which provide the

humanitarian community with up-to-date guidance, tools and tips to assess needs in differentcontexts. WFP is constantly researching new fields to understand how economic, social andecological trends affect poor and vulnerable families.


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Preventing Hunger

WFP's post-emergency and development operations are built around projects focused on preventing

hunger taking hold in the future and breaking the cycle of hunger which is at its root.

WFP's innovative projects allow the weak and poor to stop worrying about their next meal andbuild a sustainable future for themselves, their families and their communities.

Here are some of the ways in which we work to prevent hunger in the future:

School meals

As well as directly addressing hunger, school meal projects encourage families to keep theirchildren in school and so help them build better futures. If children are not hungry they will alsoconcentrate better on their lessons. With a solid education growing children have a better chanceof finding their own way out of hunger. These projects benefit girls especially.

Food for Assets

WFP's Food for Assets projects pay the hungry with food to lay the foundations for a bettertomorrow. When poor farmers no longer have to worry about the next meal, they have the timeand energy to build irrigation systems that can boost production. Similarly, Food forTraining


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projects allow the poor to devote time to learning skills that will sustain them economically infuture.

HIV/AIDS

WFP uses its food rations to soften the blow of HIV and AIDS. The agency distributes its rationsto people living with HIV and AIDS, so they can keep providing for their families for longer andhave time to transfer vital knowledge and skills to the growing number of AIDS orphans - thenext generation of food providers in developing countries.

Purchase for Progress (P4P)

WFP already buys large amounts of food in developing countries. P4P harnesses this purchasingpower and uses it to help poor farmers connect to reliable markets where they can getcompetitive prices for their produce. With secure markets, farmers will be encouraged to producemore and innovate. The knock-on effect is more food security for everyone.

Focus onWomen

WFP has long believed that women are the first and fastest solution to reducing hunger and

poverty. In both its emergency and development projects, WFP has a special commitment tohelping women gain equal access to life's basic necessity.

Procurement

With the bulk of donors now giving WFP cash, not food, the agency must procure the right foodat the best price as close to where it is needed as possible.


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Based at Rome headquarters with teams around the world, WFP's procurement offices areresponsible for securing the food, goods and services needed to support the agency's global fightagainst hunger.

WFP purchases more than 2 million metric tons of food every year. At least three quarters of it

comes from developing countries.T

his is because it is WFP's policy to buy food as close towhere it is needed as possible. By buying locally the agency can save money on transport costsand also help sustain local economies.

If you want to know more about what food WFP buys and where, look through the interactiveFood Procurement Map. It will also give you details of exactly how the procurement processworks. Of course it is essential that the food we purchase be of the highest quality and we workhard to maintain standards. You can learn more about this aspect of our work by going to ourFood Quality Control site.

Enhancing Food Procurement

Over recent years, WFP has received an increased amount of cash contributions from donors,making procurement activities increasingly important. Many donors impose conditions on theirdonations (the money must be spent in a certain country or the aid must go to a certain country).But the freer from constraints and the more flexible a contribution is, the greater the likelihoodthat WFP can make a cost effective purchase. That's why it is very helpful if contributions can betimed in such a way that maximum quantities can be captured at the lowest prices, usuallyfollowing the harvest period.

Logistics

Desert, swamp or jungle, to get food to the hungry, WFP's logistics team has tonegotiate some of the toughest terrain on the planet.

In 2010, WFP aims to reach more than 90 million beneficiaries in 74 countries. To achieve thisgoal, WFP will rely on its impressive logistics capacity.

When the areas needing food are not accessible by road, rail or river, other methods are broughtinto play. An emergency may require a cargo drop from aircraft or a helicopter airlift, but thereare other options too. Locally engaged porters, as well as teams of elephants, yak, donkeys andcamels are also used when necessary.

Always on the move

On any given day WFP operates an average of:


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y 60 aircrafty 40 shipsy 5,000 trucks

The different ways WFP transports food can be grouped into three categories: surface transport,

shipping and aviation.

Rapid response

About half the food distributed by WFP is sourced directly within the country or region where itis needed. The other half, sourced internationally, is shipped by sea and unloaded in 78 cargoports around the world.

Thanks to a range of strategies, WFP is always able to provide a rapid response to hungeremergencies. A key element in this response is the WFP-managed network of UN HumanitarianResponse Depots. These are hubs, positioned near disaster-prone areas around the world, where

emergency supplies are stored in readiness.

Serving the humanitarian community

WFP's expertise in logistics meant that in 2005 the agency was mandated to lead logisticsoperations whenever a humanitarian emergency requires a joint response from UN agencies andthe humanitarian community. The group of agencies or organisations which work together iscalled the Logistics Cluster.

WFP also provides passenger air transport to the entire humanitarian community through the UNHumanitarian Air Service (see video on right), which goes to more than 200 locations

worldwide.

WFP India

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the frontline United Nations organisation fighting to eradicateworld hunger.

Founded in 1963 as the food aid arm of the United Nations, WFP is the world's largest international foodaid organisation.

Since its inception, WFP has provided more than $US 1 billion in food and development assistance toIndia.Over the years, WFPsmore than 70 development projects haveincluded supplementary feeding,supported forestry, livestock and dairydevelopment, irrigation, and rural developmentactivities. Food aidhas also been given for over 14emergency response operations. In addition two Protracted Relief andRehabilitation Operations were undertaken.

The first WFP project undertaken in India was the development of poultry production and marketing inUttar Pradesh in 1963. Currently, WFP is working in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh, Uttaranchal, Orissa, Assam, Jharkhand, Kerala and Gujarat.


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Our Goals

y Improve nutrition and quality of life for the most vulnerable at critical times in their lives

y Make sustainable improvements in household food security for the poorest, especially for womenand children, and invest funds in development for long-term security

y Strengthen channels for locally-produced food grains and support local entrepreneurship

y Advocate for eco-restoration through participatory methods and development

Food-For-Growth WFP targets needy people at the most critical times of their lives: children,adolescent girl child and breast-feeding and pregnant women. Food aid is used as a preventivemedicine.

Food-For-Work WFP promotes long term self-reliance through food-for-work projects.

Food-For-Life WFP is committed to mitigating and preventing emergencies and their consequenceson human lives, like famine-related death, starvation and nutrition deficiencies.

Country Programme India

The country programme for India (20082012) is consistent with WFPs Strategic Plan (20062009), the priorities of Indias 11th Five Year Plan and the United Nations DevelopmentAssistance Framework (20082012).

It takes into account lessons learned from previous interventions and the recommendations of themid-term evaluation of the 20032007 country programme.

Strong economic growth continues in India, resulting in a substantial reduction in poverty; butfood and nutrition insecurity remain high. India is home to 40 percent of the worldsundernourished children and prevalence of vitamin and mineral deficiencies is among the highestin the world yet India has some of the worlds largest food-based welfare schemes.

WFPs assistance in India has shifted from food delivery towards capacity-development tosupport Indias own schemes to reach its nutritional objectives and the Millennium DevelopmentGoal of halving the number of underweight children by 2015.

The programme will concentrate on improving the effectiveness of Indias schemes to reach thehungry poor and ensuring that better quality food is provided. A minimal amount of food will be

resourced for the purpose of introducing innovative models with defined lifespans in a cost-sharing scheme with the Government.

WFP will continue its advocacy to place food and nutrition awareness at the centre of nationaldevelopment policy. Renewed emphasis will be placed on expanding partnerships and makingnew ones with a view to integrating food and nutrition security into the context of health andsanitation. Programme components will as far as possible be targeted to coincide in priority


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districts where the United Nations Childrens Fund and other United Nations partners arepresent.

The strategic objectives are:

y

enhanced government capacity to improve the efficiency and quality of food-basedsafety-net programmes (Strategic Objective 5);y improved nutrition of women and young children (Strategic Objective 3);y improved livelihoods for vulnerable communities that rely on depleted natural resources

in degraded environments (Strategic Objective 2).

The proposed budget from regular resources is US$17.8 million to cover direct operational costsfor the food needs of 961,500 beneficiaries for five years. The budget based on expected regularcontributions covers only part of the needs; WFP will seek additional funding to meet theestimated requirement of US$33.8 million for an estimated 2 million beneficiaries.


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Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Dimpy Mam for giving us the opportunity to enlighten others as well asourselves on the important topic of WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME. We would also like to

thank our Mam for her Priceless Guidance in successfully completing our project.


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TIMETABLE

SR No. Topic Pg No.

1 Introduction 2

2 Objectives 3

3 Work 9

4 WFP India 15

The World Food Programme

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