World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Bangui, Central African Republic - April 2013 WFP Resumes Food...

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:34:00 +0200

Photo: WFP/Herve Serefio

Photo: WFP/Herve Serefio

Photo: WFP/Herve Serefio

Bangui, Central African Republic - April 2013

WFP Resumes Food Distributions In Central African Republic

In the Central African Republic, WFP food distributions have resumed and are being scaled up in the coming weeks as the security situation allows. An in-depth Food Security Assessment is being planned in consultation with FAO, UNICEF and NGO partners. If security allows, it will be country-wide and will assess household’s food security status, which then enables WFP to devise its programmes. This distribution took place in a community hospital in Bangui for nearly 3,000 people.

Photos: WFP/Herve Serefio

Senegal, March 2013 WFP supported salt iodation in Senegal. When...

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:31:12 +0200

Senegal, March 2013

WFP supported salt iodation in Senegal.

When they have filled the bucket with salt, they will bring it to shore to dry in the sun, before it is processed through one of the iodization machines provided by WFP and its partner organizations.

Senegal is one of the most important salt producers in West Africa, and WFP has been purchasing 100 percent of its salt requirements for Senegal locally, as well as much of its requirements for other countries in the region.

However, the local market is mainly supplied by small producers with a limited capacity to adequately iodize salt. This is cause for concern, as poor iodine intake is a risk factor for birth defects in newborns and goitre in adults. In Senegal, over 7 million people are not protected against Iodine deficiency disorders, 255,000 of whom are infants vulnerable to brain damage.

Photos: WFP/Jenny Matthews

Lebanon, 17 April 2013 Snack Time For The Children Of Syrian...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:11:20 +0200

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Lebanon, 17 April 2013

Snack Time For The Children Of Syrian Refugees

Through WFP’s school feeding programme, students in Zaatari schools receive a mid-day snack to give them the boost of energy they need to concentrate and actively participate in school. In Jordan, more than 6,000 children are now receiving a mid-day nutritious snack in the two UNICEF-run schools in Zaatari refugee camp. WFP plans to increase the number to 30,000 children in coming months.

The mid-day snack consists of a fortified date bar enriched with 11 vitamins and 3 minerals. WFP’s partner, Save the Children, helps transport, package, store and distribute the date bars.

In addition to providing nourishment, school meals give children like these another reason to come to school. Following the introduction of school feeding at the Zaatari camp for refugees, school attendance increased significantly. Teachers at the Zaatari camp schools in Jordan say that their students’ ability to concentrate has improved since school feeding programme started.

Photos: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Jordan, April 2013 First Photo: Early morning view of the...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:13:23 +0200

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Jordan, April 2013

First Photo: Early morning view of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan that hosts several hundred thousand Syrian refugees.

Second Photo: Despite the funding shortfall that WFP is facing the organisation is continuing to provide assistance to the Syrian refugees that have left the country. In the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan WFP is handing our half a million pieces of bread daily as well as other food items in order to sustain the families that are undergoing this dramatic situation.

Last two Photos: Families like this one are grateful to WFP and other organisations for the support that they are receiving every day.

All Photos: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Cash and Vouchers Top Photo: Burkina Faso, Barsalogho, Centre...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:05:00 +0200

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Mbacke Diop

Photo: WFP/Simona Caleo

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Cash and Vouchers

Top Photo: Burkina Faso, Barsalogho, Centre Nord Region, October 2012

Targeted Food Assistance and Cash transfers. This project intervenes in the framework of the Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO), and is designed to assist the most vulnerable populations during the lean season (July-Oct.). In 7 of the 10 regions at risk of food insecurity and where food market are still sufficient, WFP assists the most vulnerable households with cash providing a monthly amount of 12 000 CFA (20 USD).

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Middle Letf Photo: Senegal, Dakar, August 2010  

More than 17,000 families living in the urban slums of Senegal no longer have to choose between food and other necessities thanks to a new cash voucher programme that provides them with money to pay for groceries. The project is also a boon to local businesses, which has fallen on hard times amid the economic downturn. 10,000 beneficiaries in Yeumbeul have been selected for the cash vouchers scheme, a pilot project designed both to prevent people from going hungry and stimulate local markets. Families receive 18,000 Francs CFA per month (about US $36.00), which saves them from having to choose between food and other daily necessities. Cash vouchers are an ideal solution when there is food on the markets, but it’s too expensive for people to buy. The cash voucher project is also helping to revitalize the local economy.  Funded by the European Union Food Facility, the Cash Voucher pilot project will assist some 17,400 households over a total of six months, including 10,000 in Pikine and 7,400 in the southern city of Ziguinchor, at a total cost of 2.5 billion FCFA (about $5.3 million).  Women from Yeumbel North collect their cash vouchers, which they can redeem at local food stores to buy rice, millet, maize, sugar and oil.

Photo: WFP/Mbacke Diop

Middle Right Photo: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Yatta. December 2009

  With the use of vouchers, 80 people in Yatta frequent the shop of Habis Abu-Ali to receive WFP commodities. The Urban Voucher Project started in May 2009 and since then, a total of 109 households have been supported via voucher and through Ali’s shop. The scheme is designed to provide nutritional support to the poorest families and at the same time to promote local businesses and local producers.  

Photo: WFP/Simona Caleo

Bottom Photo: Mali 4 October 2012

Cash distribution in Diancounte Camara village, Kayes region.

Severe drought caused by failure and uneven distribution of rainfall and prolonged dry spells in 2011 led to a delayed planting season, resulting in a sharp drop in agricultural production and reduced food availability. About 4.6 million people are currently estimated to be at risk of food insecurity in Mali due to the food and nutritional crisis and the crisis in the North. Internally displaced persons (IDPs), due to conflict, are estimated at 173,950 across the country (Protection Cluster, August 2012) and Malians having taken refuge in neighboring countries are estimated at 261,624 (OCHA bulletin 14 August). The political and security situation remains volatile in the country. Mali is formally requesting backing of the United Nations for the force to intervene in the country. WFP is intervening in the eight regions of Mali with the implementation of food assistance, nutritional and resilience building interventions. In June 2012, the WFP launched, for the first time in Mali, an unconditional cash transfer programme. Funded by the European Commissionís Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) for a total cost of more than 1.3 million euro, this pilot programme targets 45,000 people affected by the drought in the regions of Kayes and Koulikoro. The cash (US$115 for the two rounds) is provided to households identified as very poor to enable them to buy their own food on the local markets. The cash transfer programme contributes to the strengthening of food security, the prevention of hunger and acute malnutrition and the protection of livelihoods of vulnerable populations. Beneficiaries receive SIM cards from WFP financial partner, telecommunication company Orange Mali; they then receive a text message on this new phone number alerting of the transaction. WFP technical NGO partner Welthungerhilfe, in charge of beneficiary identification, then informs the beneficiaries of when and where they can pick up the money. WFP coordinate and monitor overall activities. A drought affected beneficiary of cash transfer in Diancounte Camara village.

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Ultra-poor rural women in Bangladesh who have benefitted from...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:33:47 +0200

Ultra-poor rural women in Bangladesh who have benefitted from WFP’s Vulnerable Group Development programme - this includes training in income-generating activities, enrolment in personal savings plans, micro-credit, and receipt of micronutrient fortified food.

Photos: W`FP/Rein Skullerud

Zaatari, Jordan, 26 March 2013 On the first day of school...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:34:21 +0100

Photo: WFP/Dina El-Kassabi

Photo: WFP/Dina El-Kassabi

Photo: WFP/Dina El-Kassabi

Zaatari, Jordan, 26 March 2013

On the first day of school feeding in Zaatari, Ahmed and his friends receive date bars from WFP and ask, “can we have snacks every day?”.

The World Food Programme is committed to helping Syrian refugees receive their education, that’s why we are providing these mid-day nutritious snacks to students at Zaatari camp schools, giving them the extra boost of energy they need to get the most our of their lessons.

Photos: WFP/Dina El-Kassabi

World Water Day Top Photo: Kenya, Turkana, Etuko 3rd March...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:56:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

World Water Day

Top Photo: Kenya, Turkana, Etuko 3rd March 2012

FOOD-FOR-ASSET, ETUKO WATER PAN
Three years ago, Elizabeth Narot Titim and her community had to walk almost 10 kilometres to fetch water for her family, but now, thanks to a WFP-sponsored food-for-assets project, that distance has been cut to about 2 kilometres.
Elizabeth is a beneficiary of the Etuko water pan project in the Turkana district of northwestern Kenya. The community in Etuko built the water reservoir in collaboration with WFP and the Turkana Rehabilitation Project (TRP), part of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. The reservoir consists in two water large basins. The largest water basin is fenced to prevent livestock and wild animals to reach the water, animals are allowed to drink form the smaller basin.
Under food-for-assets (FFA) programmes, beneficiaries receive food assistance as they work on projects aimed at improving both their ability to cope with drought and also their food security status. Each family sends one person to work on the project, and with the support of the donors such as the EU, WFP provides food for the entire household.
At the Etuko water pan, the community now have water for both household and livestock needs.
“Before the project, we had to walk long distances to fetch water but now we have more time to concentrate on our farms,” says Elizabeth.
In the photo: The women walk to pick up their jerry cans and buckets to collect the water they need.

Middle Left Photo: Niger, Mangaize Refugee camp, 3 May 2012

In Niger, WFP has launched an emergency operation to support 3.9 million people, with a special focus on children under age two. Around 35 percent of people being assisted will receive cash. Areas where cash transfers will be used have been carefully selected according to how well local markets are functioning, food availability and prices. The operation also includes food relief for Malian refugees and for returning Nigerien workers fleeing insecurity in northern Mali.
So far, around 11,300 metric tons of food assistance have been distributed to more than 1.1 million people since the scale up in November. Of these, 423,ooo people have been provided with support through food-for-work and cash-for-work activities in the worst-affected areas of the country. Around 11,0000 metric tons of food have been distributed through food-for-work and US$4.2 million through cash-for-work since November.
In the last week in April alone, around 264,000 people in Tahoua and Niamey regions benefitted from food for work activities, and more than 100,000 people through cash for work. In April and May, cash and food for work are being scaled up to reach one million people.

Middle Right Photo: Niger, Dosso, Village Koumari: the village is located in the department of Dogondutchi, North- Eastern of Niamey.

As of November 2011, 7 percent of the region’s population was considered severely food insecure. Maradi has been particularly affected by pest infestations resulting in heavy crop losses; the early and systematic rise in food prices compounded by variable and often limited availability of cereals on the market; the return of migrant workers following insecurity in Nigeria; and the reduction in fuel subsidies in Nigeria, affecting food and fuel costs in southern areas of Niger. The situation of pastoralists is of particular concern as pastureland and water for livestock is becoming increasingly limited, compounded by insecurity in neighboring Nigeria which has disrupted traditional movement of herders. Vulnerable households have relied increasingly on negative coping mechanisms to meet basic food and other survival needs, including: migrating in larger numbers and for longer periods – affecting children’s school attendance; selling productive assets; and reducing the quality, quantity, and variety of food consumed. The situation of children is of particular concern. The June 2011 national nutrition survey found acute malnutrition prevalence of 12.2 percent among children 6-59 months; among children 6-23 months, the prevalence was 21.4 percent. The nutrition situation is anticipated to have deteriorated further as a result of the compounded food security shocks in the area since end 2011. Maradi has been targeted under WFP’s preemptive response to the crisis since November 2011, benefitting from food and cash-for-work, to keep families in place and children in school, and targeted supplementary feeding activities in 150 CRENAMs (nutrition feeding centers) in the region for the treatment of moderately malnourished children. Since the scale-up, as of end April WFP has assisted 204,498 beneficiaries in the region.

WFP implements CFW for 6,426 beneficiaries in collaboration with national NGO partner AREN. Thus far, CFA 83,170,800 have been distributed (more than USD 166,340). Of the CFW 918 project participants, 397 (43%) are female. Of the participants, 45 are labour-constrained (of which 33 are female), and benefit from unconditional cash transfers. Project works began in January, focusing on de-weeding, construction of half-moons that enable water conservation for several planting situations such as: fruit trees, crop production and forage for livestock consumption. Of the 358 hectares planned, 320 hectares have been worked as of 18 April which means that the project is at 89% of its completion.

Bottom Photo: Kenya, Turkana, Songot 3rd March 2012

FOOD-FOR-ASSET, ROCK WATER CATCHMENT PROJECT
This community in Songot, in northwestern Kenya’s Turkana region, have been receiving food assistance for many years. However, 3 years ago, WFP changed is approach to food assistance in these communities to one that helps communities build a more sustainable future.
Now, the community members are taking part in WFP-supported food-for-assets (FFA) programmes, where they receive food assistance as they work on projects aimed at improving their ability to cope with drought, as well as improving their overall foodsecurity.
“We are happier with food-for assets because the assets we create will be with us for a long time,” says Simon who is also the chairman of the Songot rock catchment project. The project is implemented by the community in collaboration with WFP and the Turkana Rehabilitation Project (TRP), part of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

In the FFA programme, is each family sends one person to work on the project, and with the support of the donors such as the EU, WFP provides food for the entire household.
Through the Songot rock catchment project, the community now have water for household and livestock needs and are also growing vegetables and fruits through irrigation.
According to Simon, women of the community previously had to trek long distances in search of water for household needs, and the men also had to walk long distances in search of pasture and water for their livestock. This exposed them to insecurity as they were competing with other pastoralists for scarce resources.
“Now we no longer have to go to hostile territory since we have our own water source right here at Songot,” pointed out Simon.

Photos: WFP/Rein Skullerud

WFP Syria Operation Top Photo: Beqaa (Bekaa) valley, Lebanon,...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:19:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Maria Anguera de Sojo

Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa

Photo: WFP/Marco Frattini

Photo: WFP/Jane Howard

WFP Syria Operation

Top Photo: Beqaa (Bekaa) valley, Lebanon, August 2012

Thousands of refugees from Syria have fled to the impoverished Beqaa valley of Lebanon in search of safety and shelter. To assist both communities, WFP has provided them with vouchers that they can use to shop for their own food at local stores.

WFP conducted shop assessments in Tripoli to identify and select shops where Syrian refugees can redeem their vouchers. A few kilometres away, in the Akkar district and the Bekaa Valley, the voucher system has already been running well and is helping the local economy too.

Needs assessments in Lebanon indicated that food is a priority need for Syrian refugees there. As more Syrian refugees register in Lebanon, WFP continues to increase the number of beneficiaries receiving food vouchers. At the same time WFP continues to provide direct food assistance in areas where beneficiaries do not have easy access to local markets.
“At first, some shops in Bekaa were reluctant to participate in the voucher programme, but when they saw for themselves how other shops were benefiting and money coming in they are now keen on being part of our voucher project,” says WFP Head of the Bekaa sub-office Elena Bertola.

Photo: WFP/Maria Anguera de Sojo

Middle Left Photo: Syria, September 2012

About 85 percent of WFP’s 1.5 million beneficiaries inside Syria have been displaced due to fighting in their areas. WFP is providing food assistance to affected populations in all 14 Syria governorates.

Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa

Middle Right Photo: Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan, December 2012

Temperatures are dropping in the Zaatari refugee camp, home to 30,000 Syrians who have fled the conflict in their country, looking for safety in neighbouring Jordan. Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, currently home to 30,000 Syrians who have fled recent fighting in the country. Some 75% of the camp’s inhabitants are women and children.
The 30,000 refugees in Zaatari are just a fraction of the Syrians who have fled their country in recent months and weeks. A total of 370,000 Syrians are believed to have crossed into Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

Photo: WFP/Marco Frattini

Bottom Photo: Turkey. February 2013

The e-card voucher system means that money is spent in local shops and boosts the local economy. This family bakery has seen its business triple. They began baking Arabic flat bread to cater to the taste of the Syrian refugees, and they now also deliver to the camps.

Photo: WFP/Jane Howard

Tanzania, March 2013 From the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, an...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:35:00 +0100

Tanzania, March 2013

From the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, an all-women team of climbers from Africa and Asia share a message for International Women’s Day about what women can achieve when they receive an education and the right nutrition as girls. WFP school meals help make this happen for millions of girls around the world, so that as adults they themselves will be able to keep hunger at bay

Photographs: WFP/Jen Kunz

Bangladesh: Working To Enhance Resilience to Natural Disasters...

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:56:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/GMB Akash

Photo: WFP/Rawnak Matin

Bangladesh: Working To Enhance Resilience to Natural Disasters and Climate Change

Top Photo: As a first step, WFP approaches ultra-poor men and women to identify community assets that they regard as the most useful to increase their resilience to natural disasters and the effects of climate change. Possible projects include the construction or repair of canals, ponds, roads, and embankments.

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Bottom Left Photo: Training sessions are scheduled during the monsoon season, when work is made difficult by heavy rains. Participants learn about disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and survival during crisis.

Photo: WFP/GMB Akash

Bottom Left Photo: In the third year of the programme cycle, female labourers and wives of male labourers participate in business development trainings which prepare them to receive a cash grant for investment – thus strengthening their families’ economic resilience. In 2013, approximately 17,200 women will receive such a grant to be invested in income generating activities such as livestock rearing, agricultural crop production or small-scale business ventures. For twelve months, they will also receive a monthly cash allowance to cushion their family economy while they focus on their investment.

Photo: WFP/Rawnak Matin

Sahel, a lot has been done, a lot more needs to be...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:50:00 +0100

Niger, Ouallam, village of Tounfini, 3 May 2012 Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Burkina Faso, Dori 1st October 2012 Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Mali, Kayes 5 October 2012 Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Mali Diancounte Camara village in Kayes region 4 October 2012 Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Mali, Kayes 5 October 2012 Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Sahel, a lot has been done, a lot more needs to be done.

Captions:

Top

Niger, Ouallam, village of Tounfini, 3 May 2012

In Niger, WFP has launched an emergency operation to support 3.9 million people, with a special focus on children under age two. Around 35 percent of people being assisted will receive cash. Areas where cash transfers will be used have been carefully selected according to how well local markets are functioning, food availability and prices. The operation also includes food relief for Malian refugees and for returning Nigerien workers fleeing insecurity in northern Mali.
So far, around 11,300 metric tons of food assistance have been distributed to more than 1.1 million people since the scale up in November. Of these, 423,ooo people have been provided with support through food-for-work and cash-for-work activities in the worst-affected areas of the country. Around 11,0000 metric tons of food have been distributed through food-for-work and US$4.2 million through cash-for-work since November.
In the last week in April alone, around 264,000 people in Tahoua and Niamey regions benefitted from food for work activities, and more than 100,000 people through cash for work. In April and May, cash and food for work are being scaled up to reach one million people.

In the village of Tounfini WFP conducted an assessment mission to identify the needs of the population. Women collect Hasu leaves and Anza seeds for food in the absence of anything better to eat. Fathi’s husband left during the crisis in 2010 to search for work and has never come back since.

Fathi is cooking the Hasu leaves for her and her four children it takes her a full day to collect the amount of leaves she has in her bowl.

Middle left:

Burkina Faso, Dori 1st October 2012

Targeted Food Assistance, Sebba, Sahel Region.
In collaboration with the national partner Croix Rouge Burkina WFP implements this Targeted Food Assistance project in the framework of the protracted relief and recovery operation (PRRO), The project is implemented to assist the most vulnerable populations during the lean season from July to October. These kinds of projects are co-funded by EU member’s states, the EC or ECHO and are divided into Food and Cash deliveries; food is provided in the three most food insecure regions (including the Sahel Region) where WFP assists the vulnerable households with 38.5 kg of food commodities.

Middle right:

Mali, Kayes 5 October 2012
Nutrition, GFD and FFW activities in Ambidedi village about 50 km from Kayes.
The general food distribution is provided to drought affected people.
Beneficiaries receive rations that on a day basis would break down as follows cereal 450g, pulses 100g, oil 30g, and salt 5g for a total amount of 2,100 kcal daily. Through activity WFP is targeting 185,000 beneficiaries across the country. A number of nutritional education activities are implemented at distribution sites including the promotion of breast feeding and a culinary training demonstration aimed to teach mothers how to cook the fortified food received from WFP.

Bottom left:

Mali 4 October 2012

Cash distribution in Diancounte Camara village in Kayes region.
Severe drought caused by failure and uneven distribution of rainfall and prolonged dry spells in 2011 led to a delayed planting season, resulting in a sharp drop in agricultural production and reduced food availability.
About 4.6 million people are currently estimated to be at risk of food insecurity in Mali due to the food and nutritional crisis and the crisis in the North.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs), due to conflict, are estimated at 173,950 across the country (Protection Cluster, August 2012) and Malians having taken refuge in neighboring countries are estimated at 261,624 (OCHA bulletin 14 August).
The political and security situation remains volatile in the country. Mali is formally requesting backing of the United Nations for the force to intervene in the country.
WFP is intervening in the eight regions of Mali with the implementation of food assistance, nutritional and resilience building interventions.
In June 2012, the WFP launched, for the first time in Mali, an unconditional cash transfer programme. Funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) for a total cost of more than 1.3 million euro, this pilot programme targets 45,000 people affected by the drought in the regions of Kayes and Koulikoro.
The cash (US$115 for the two rounds) is provided to households identified as very poor to enable them to buy their own food on the local markets. The cash transfer programme contributes to the strengthening of food security, the prevention of hunger and acute malnutrition and the protection of livelihoods of vulnerable populations.
Beneficiaries receive SIM cards from WFP financial partner, telecommunication company Orange Mali; they then receive a text message on this new phone number alerting of the transaction.
WFP technical NGO partner Welthungerhilfe, in charge of beneficiary identification, then informs the beneficiaries of when and where they can pick up the money. WFP coordinate and monitor overall activities.
A drought affected beneficiary of cash transfer in Diancounte Camara village.

Bottom right:

Mali, Kayes 5 October 2012

Nutrition, GFD and FFW activities in Ambidedi village about 50 km from Kayes.
The general food distribution is provided to drought affected people.
Beneficiaries receive rations that on a day basis would break down as follows cereal 450g, pulses 100g, oil 30g, and salt 5g for a total amount of 2,100 kcal daily. Through activity WFP is targeting 185,000 beneficiaries across the country. A number of nutritional education activities are implemented at distribution sites including the promotion of breast feeding and a culinary training demonstration aimed to teach mothers how to cook the fortified food received from WFP.

All photographs: WFP/Rein Skullerud

wfp: WFP Food Assistance Returns To Kismayo (Somalia) 30...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:43:43 +0100

wfp:

WFP Food Assistance Returns To Kismayo (Somalia)

30 January 2013

Top: WFP has set up five nutrition centres around the city, where pregnant and nursing women and young children are checked for malnutrition. At this one in Kismayo General Hospital, women and children line up to be assessed and, if necessary, registered for the supplementary feeding programme.

Middle Left: A member of WFP’s partner organisation at the centre hands out 30-day rations of Plumpy’Sup, a ready-to-use supplementary food, to those with registration cards. So far, two thirds of those needing treatment are children.

Middle Right:All eyes are on this bowl of yellow split peas being handed out at the hot meals centre. Fruit is also distributed daily, alongside rice and split peas. A recent rapid food security and nutrition assessment found that half the households in Kismayo are struggling to meet their daily needs.

Bottom: This young woman has just had her pot filled with cooked rice. With so many variables in their lives - the security situation and the seasonal rains to name just two - it is important that the poorest have enough to eat while they rebuild their lives after so many years of conflict.

Photos: WFP/David Orr

Turkey , Yayladagi (Hatay region), 2 February 2013 Syrian...

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:27:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Jane Howard

Photo: WFP/Jane Howard

Photo: WFP/Jane Howard

Photo: WFP/Jane Howard

Turkey , Yayladagi (Hatay region), 2 February 2013

Syrian Refugee Camps

The sound of shelling rumbles in the background from across the border from refugee camps in the Hatay region of Turkey. Syrian refugees here receive electronic food vouchers in an “e-card” programme run by WFP and the Turkish Red Crescent.

Top: Hossein Mohammad, shopping in the Turkish town of Altinozu, is a restaurant owner who was wounded in the fighting. “All of a sudden I got six bullets in my stomach,” he says. “We came here to seek medical treatment – not because we wanted to leave Hama.” he says. Two of his sons have died in the conflict.

Center: The e-card voucher system means that money is spent in local shops and boosts the local economy. This family bakery has seen its business triple. They began baking Arabic flat bread to cater to the taste of the Syrian refugees, and they now also deliver to the camps.

Bottom Left: Yacoub Kantar, a mechanic, is shopping in Yayladagi for a family of 12. In this town, 15 shops are taking part in the programme, including butchers’ and bakeries. The WFP e-card provides a monthly budget of 80 Turkish Lira (US$45) per person to spend in local shops.

Bottom right: In the pink – Jihan, who’s eight years old, poses in front of her tent. Most tents house eight or nine people.

Photos: WFP/Jane Howard

Helping Tens Of Thousands Made Homeless By Mozambique Floods WFP...

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:39:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Leonor Fernandez

Photo: WFP/Leonor Fernandez

Photo: WFP/Leonor Fernandez

Helping Tens Of Thousands Made Homeless By Mozambique Floods

WFP and the rest of the humanitarian community in Mozambique have mobilized to help the large numbers of people displaced by seasonal flooding in southern Mozambique. The needs are huge and - with ominous weather systems looming on the horizon - the struggle is far from over.

Top Photo: Joana Tembe lost her home to the floods. Here at Hokwe camp, she waits in line for food from WFP for herself and her family.

Bottom left Photo: Most of those in the camps for the flood-affected are women and children. Many of the menfolk from this part of Mozambique are working in the mines in South Africa

Bottom right Photo: This woman will divide the sack of WFP maize she carries among five households at Chihaquelane camp

Photos: WFP/Leonor Fernandez

From 28th to 31st January 2013, about 150 people from around the...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:40:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Gracia Maria Espinal

Photo: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds

Photo: WFP/Charles Hatch-Barnwell

From 28th to 31st January 2013, about 150 people from around the world will gather together at the FAO Headquarters in Rome for the WFP/P4P Annual Consultation. As we enter the fifth and final year of the P4P pilot, this forum will provide a unique opportunity to reflect on the past four years and explore ways of moving forward together. The meeting will take place over four days, with two days for discussion with all participants and two days for internal discussions. In addition to WFP HQ and field staff, other participants will include government partners, private sector, agricultural institutions, donors and non-governmental organizations.

Top Photo: Honduras, La Merced de Chirina, Jamastran, Danli, El Paraiso, April 2010

Purchase for Progress (P4P) contributes to poverty reduction in Honduras by supporting the agricultural production of small-scale farmers and connecting them to the local market. P4P offers a reliable market opportunity to small holders by purchasing corn and beans to distribute through school meals.
Currently, 13,000 small-scale farmers are benefitting from this project, many of them women.

Juan Martinez – is a small beans producer and he is so happy with the result of his plot. He has been supported with training and products by WFP.

Photo: WFP/Gracia Maria Espinal

Bottom left Photo: Malawi, June 2010

Landlocked Malawi, which is currently ranked 164 out of 177 on the Human Development Index, is a low-income, food-deficient and least developed country with the majority of its population of 12 million living below the poverty line.
WFP is working to connect farmers in Malawi to markets through the Purchase for Progress initiative.
P4P will contribute to the efforts by the Malawi Government in its quest to eradicate poverty and improve the welfare of Malawians by increasing income and capacity of smallholder farmers to efficiently produce
quality commodities beyond subsistence.

The P4P project aims at strengthening the productive and marketing capacities of small and low-income farmers to enable them to take advantage of the marketing opportunities beyond WFP.
WFP’s entry point to improving low-income farmers’ access to markets is to create a platform of substantial and stable demand for food staples.
Together with supply side investment and capacity building, the demand is to stimulate an increase in yields and increased volume of marketable surpluses.

Photo: WFP/Charles Hatch-Barnwell

Bottom right Photo: South Sudan, State of Central Equatoria, Kajo Keji, December 2011

P4P in South Sudan focuses its activities on enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of farmers by offering a market outlet to farmers organizations and traders, building the local capacities to process and store the grain efficiently, manage warehouses, and facilitating access to credit through guaranteed contracts. P4P and its partners work to increase farmers’ production and enhance their ability to compete in the commercial market, as well as developing market infrastructure in the form of warehouse facilities. To enable the farmers, P4P and its partners provide training in agricultural practices and facilitate access to credit through guaranteed contracts.

Since October 2010, more than 360,000 South Sudanese have returned back to the newly independent South Sudan. In mid-December Edward Kiju, Celina Poni and their families returned back to Kajo-Keji in the southern part of the country after spending most of their lives in neighbouring Uganda. WFP, who is committed to support all returnees arriving South Sudan is taking the opportunity to assist around 50 farmers with food locally produced in the Kajo-Keji area. Thanks to an already functional farmers association in the area, P4P South Sudan managed to mobilise a total of 18 metric tons of maize which is successfully being distributed to the returnees.
Photo: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds

Tanzania, January 2013 The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Food and...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:30:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Jen Kunz

Photo: WFP/Jen Kunz

Photo: WFP/Jen Kunz

Photo: WFP/Jen Kunz

Tanzania, January 2013

The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome, David Lane, has completed a one-week tour of WFP, FAO, IFAD and USAID projects throughout Tanzania. The trip gave him the chance to see firsthand how the U.S. government is working with WFP, IFAD, and FAO to support Tanzanian smallholder farmers, business, and the government in improving the food security situation for the country’s most vulnerable.

Top: Ambassador Lane talks with a District Government official while watching Masaai warriors dance at Arkatan Primary School, Monduli, Arusha, where WFP is providing school lunches to around 500 students.

Bottom left – After touring the warehouse rehabilitated through the Purchase for Progress initiative, Ambassador Lane meets the local farmers. Jikuzeni Kware SACCOS has over 600 members, 285 of whom are women. Each member cultivates between 0.5-3 hectares of land, primarily sunflowers, maize and beans.

Bottom middle – Ambassador Lane helps out in the weekly food distribution in Sakila Village, where WFP is implementing a Food for Assets project. Food is distributed based on work done by community members on a contouring project, protecting some 200 hectares of land from degradation.

Bottom right – Ambassador Lane helps dish up a nutritious lunch of maize and pulses to students at Arkatan Primary School, Monduli, Arusha.

Photographs: WFP/Jen Kunz

Bangladesh, June 2011 Students who attend the Hat Sarutua...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:51:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Amy Johansson

Photo: WFP/Amy Johansson

Photo: WFP/Amy Johansson

Bangladesh, June 2011

Students who attend the Hat Sarutua Primary School in Sirajganj, Bangladesh. WFP is actively engaged with the government on safety net reforms and is piloting innovative food and cash-based safety nets, such as the Food Security for the Ultra poor (FSUP) project which helps 30,000 ultra-poor women by providing cash grants and training sessions. It also contributes indirectly towards education for girl children. One of the student’s (second from left) mother is an FSUP beneficiary. Prior to becoming a beneficiary, she could not afford education for her daughters. After investing and reinvesting the cash grant received from WFP now she is able to send her daughters to school.

Photos: WFP/Amy Johansson

The set of photographs represents events tied to the World Food...

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:45:00 +0100

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Vigno Hounkanli

Photo: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds

Photo: WFP/Challiss McDonough

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud 

Photo: WFP/David Longstreath

Photo: WFP/Naomi Scott

Photo: WFP/Riccardo Gangale

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

Photo: WFP/Rein Skullerud

The set of photographs represents events tied to the World Food Programme that took place during 2012.

Haiti, Port-au-Prince, “Camp l’Aviation” Nutrition Center,...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:00:18 +0100

Photo: WFP/Marcela Ossandonavetikian

Photo: WFP/Jean Max Saintfleur

Photo: WFP/Marcela Ossandonavetikian

Haiti, Port-au-Prince, “Camp l’Aviation” Nutrition Center, November 2012

Immediately after the earthquake, it was difficult to measure the impact of the catastrophe on children under 5 and on pregnant and lactating women. There was a risk that malnutrition rates could explode. Working with its partners, WFP decided to tackle this problem by adopting an innovative strategy based on prevention and treatment. Blanket distributions of fortified foods designed to combat malnutrition were organized. An independent study done with the support of the Ministry of Health demonstrated that this approach helped Haiti avoid a nutritional crisis in the aftermath of the earthquake. More than a year later, nutrition interventions are ongoing. Pregnant and lactating women, as well as children under 5 receive fortified foods, such as fortified peanut paste and corn soya blend, along with oil and sugar, to treat malnutrition.

First and third photo: Photo: WFP/Marcela Ossandonavetikian

Middle photo: Photo: WFP/Jean Max Saintfleur