Memorandum submitted by the United Nations
World Food Programme
INTRODUCTION
1. Hunger is a complex and multi-dimensional
phenomenon that affects large areas of the globe. The World Food
Programme (WFP) is the United Nations' frontline agency in the
fight against global hunger, with unique and diverse expertise
on hunger and its impact that comes out of more than 45 years
of confronting hunger head-on across a full range of situations.
WFP has evolved, and learned much, about what works and what does
not work, and what is required to face the challenges of the next
decade.
2. WFP is entering a new era, marked by
a historic shift from being a food aid to a food assistance agency,
with a more nuanced and robust set of tools, including cash and
vouchers, to respond to critical hunger needs. The global context
in which we operate is rapidly changing, and the organization
therefore needs to respond in an effective manner to emerging
trends and challenges. For example, soaring food and fuel prices
have already diminished the purchasing power of some of the most
vulnerable households, potentially exposing more people to hunger.
Food aid flows are at their lowest levels ever and the food surplus
disposal era is clearly over. Climate change may exacerbate catastrophes
that destroy livelihoods, reduce agricultural yields and threaten
lives, pushing ever more people into situations of concern.
3. WFP's Strategic Plan 2008-11 will be
presented to our Executive Board for approval in June this year.
The draft document highlights the objectives which will set the
course of the organization for the coming years. It focuses on
WFP's unique expertise and role in addressing hunger, with the
overarching goal to reduce dependency and to support governmental
and local efforts to ensure long-term solutions to the hunger
challenge.
4. In response to the Terms of Reference
of this Inquiry, WFP will examine each one of the issues in the
order in which they are published.
Section 1: The effects on food prices and
availability of increasing demand and changes in energy and agricultural
policies
5. On 20 March 2008, WFP issued an extraordinary
emergency appeal to address the critical funding gap in our programmes
created by soaring food and fuel prices, which are converging
to hit the most vulnerable. We continue to urge Governments to
be as generous as possible in helping us close this gap, which
stood at US$ 500 million on 25 February 2008 and has been growing
daily.
6. The cost of food purchases alone has
risen 55% since June 2007. The decrease in purchasing power led
us to announce the abovementioned US$ 500 million shortfall in
our budget for food rations. In the weeks following that announcement,
food prices increased by another 20% and such increases show no
sign of abating.
7. For WFP, an organization that relies
completely on voluntary funding, this is an urgent call to action.
We are adjusting operational budgets to reflect the higher prices
of food commodities and fuel, and are working with donors to identify
supplementary resources. In the absence of additional funding,
the number of hungry people we support will have to be reduced,
and food rations cut.
8. While this phenomenon will affect every
country in the developed and developing world in different ways,
experts warn that developing nations, especially net food importers,
will be hit hardest. This will be particularly marked in countries
where high food prices combine with shocks from weather or political
crises. Additionally, competition between crops for food and crops
for biofuels will continue to affect food prices and supply.
9. Also of concern is the emergence of a
new face of hunger, increasingly affecting communities that had
previously been protected. As stated by the UN Secretary-General,
Ban Ki-moon, " . . . Inevitably it is the bottom billion
who are hit hardest: people living on one dollar a day or less.
When people are that poor and inflation erodes their meagre earnings,
they generally do one of two things: they buy less food, or they
buy cheaper, less nutritious food. The result is the same—more
hunger and less chance of a healthy future."
10. Progress towards achieving the first
of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—to
reduce the proportion of hungry people by half by 2015—is
therefore even more at risk. WFP's efforts will include working
with governments, UN agencies such as FAO, and other partners
to address long-term solutions while we tackle these urgent needs.
Section 2: How WFP engages with local communities
to identify needs, and to assist in programme design
11. The depth and extent of WFP's field
presence is unique among international organizations and is one
of the key features that sets us apart. WFP's activities focus
on the poorest populations, who often live in remote and under-serviced
areas. In many situations, WFP may be one of the few—and
sometimes the only—international organization present. This
field focus gives us a privileged understanding of the situation,
and of the needs, of the communities with which we work.
12. Our deep knowledge about the hungry
poor is due to a number of factors which allow us to identify
the most appropriate set of interventions in any given situation:
for example, our strong vulnerability analysis and mapping (VAM)
capacities which facilitate targeting, the promotion of participatory
approaches, and our first class logistics capacity which allows
us to access communities where few other organizations—if
any—are operating.
13. The main actors—and partners for
WFP—on the front line of hunger are indeed local communities
as well as national and local governments. Governments have the
primary responsibility for meeting the hunger-related needs of
their populations. They also have a unique depth and breadth of
knowledge about their peoples, including their needs, customs
and preferences. Moreover, they have often developed tools and
policies that are country-specific and are thus the best institutional
and operational starting points for complementary hunger-reduction
interventions.
14. At the community level, the need for
local participation in needs identification as well as programme
design and implementation is a critical element for WFP. Our assistance
programmes are designed to ensure that communities, local governments,
as well as local NGOs and other partners, contribute their knowledge,
skills and resources to the processes that influence their lives,
and our involvement carries right down to the household level.
WFP also aims to overcome gender inequalities, where they exist,
by creating opportunities for both women's and men's voices to
be heard. In addition, our programmes reflect the important socio-economic
role of women in helping to obtain food security at the micro
level.
Section 3: How WFP monitors and evaluates
its operations
15. WFP prides itself to be at the forefront
of accountability and transparency. We have invested significant
time, money and effort to ensure we are transparent in our operations
and accountable toward national governments, other partners, beneficiaries
and our own staff.
16. We continue to be accountable for the
efficient and effective use of the resources entrusted to us by
closely monitoring and evaluating the outputs of our activities
and measuring the outcomes and impact that can be attributed to
them. Our operations are monitored on a regular basis using systematically
collected data on specified indicators to ensure that: operations
remain relevant; food assistance effectively reaches the intended
beneficiaries both in terms of quality and quantity; and that
food assistance and other financial resources are efficiently
utilised.
17. A separate office within WFP is dedicated
to the formal evaluation of operations. The Office of Evaluation
reports directly to the Executive Director and is responsible
for all matters related to evaluation, including the issuance
of evaluation policies, guidance materials, quality assurance,
and management of evaluations. Internal evaluations carried out
by the Office of Evaluation analyze strengths and weaknesses and
provide recommendations of how to improve further. They are presented
and discussed by WFP's Executive Board. WFP management responds
to the main recommendations to ensure action is taken to implement
best practices and lessons learned.
18. Evaluations of operations follow WFP's
Evaluation Quality Assurance System (EQAS), introduced this year,
which systematizes the approach and formats for evaluation products,
and ensures transparency in the process and conduct of evaluations.
This system will facilitate a synthesis of evaluation findings
into an annual evaluation report, which will give an indication
of the performance of the Programme as whole. WFP aims to evaluate
30 operations per year, which are selected in a way that is as
representative of WFP's global operations as possible.
Section 4: WFP's strategy to meet increased
needs in the context of higher food prices
19. As outlined in Section 1, the negative
impact of rising food prices on vulnerable populations could be
dramatic if the international community does not act quickly to
address this new emergency. To gain a better understanding of
the situation, WFP is engaging with experts from think tanks,
academic and operational organizations, including the Overseas
Development Institute (ODI), the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
UN (FAO) and major NGO partners.
20. Our strategy to deal with the impact
of these external factors includes:
21. Ensuring critical assistance is provided
to our current caseload and enabling Governments. WFP's extraordinary
appeal includes efforts to ensure that those people being assisted
under our currently approved operations are insulated from soaring
prices. In addition, Governments in developing countries must
be enabled to introduce or strengthen their social safety net
programs, not only to deal with the impact of high food prices
on the poor and vulnerable, but also to find the appropriate "policy
space" to implement policies and strategies that will send
the right price signals and thereby trigger the necessary food
production supply response.
22. Mitigating the effects of higher prices.
WFP is continuing to make every effort to mitigate price increases
by purchasing locally in markets relatively shielded from global
price rises. In this post-food surplus disposal era, WFP now has
available more than half its resources in cash, and we are committed
to utilize our purchasing power, when and where possible, to develop
suppliers' capacities and build up, with other partners, complementary
interventions aimed at supporting small-scale farmers. Indeed,
80% of cash to purchase commodities is spent locally in the developing
world, a 30% increased over 2006. In addition, 80% of our land
transportation is procured in the developing world with local
contractors, thus building up capacity. In addition, we aim to
support the sustainable development of food and nutrition security
systems, and transform food and nutrition assistance into a productive
investment in local communities.
23. Evolving methodology to identify countries
most at risk. Additionally, WFP is in the process of developing
a global model which aims to identify countries most at risk from
soaring prices. The criteria comprises those countries which import
a significant proportion of their food and fuel requirements;
those already facing inflationary pressure; and those whose populations
spend a large proportion of household income on food. It is important
to stress, however, that the elements of analysis are multi-dimensional
and are very much "work in process." We will also work
with other partners, such as OCHA, FAO and the World Bank, in
sharing analyses.
24. Country-level analysis in high-risk
countries: WFP is joining a range of partners, including the USAID
Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), Oxfam, Save the
Children-UK, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
UN (FAO), to conduct more in-depth local analysis of the impact
of price rises on populations. This analysis will help identify
which segments of the population are most affected, and the most
appropriate responses.
25. These actions alone will not sufficiently
close the gap on anticipated funding shortfalls. We are, however,
confident that if sufficient attention is devoted to this urgent
global crisis, the necessary resources can be mobilized to prevent
hunger claiming even more precious lives.
26. A new face of hunger—response
preparedness: WFP is discussing with its partners immediate responses
to the crisis. With urban populations likely to be seriously affected,
there is a need to work on targeting and programming in such areas,
where WFP and NGO partners generally have less experience. Given
that some of the responses likely to be needed—such as cash
and voucher programmes—take months to establish effectively,
WFP is working urgently to map existing safety nets aimed at providing
food and nutritional support, healthcare and emergency education,
and determining which of these can be scaled up.
Section 5:The effectiveness of WFP's food aid
activities
27. WFP has more than four decades of experience
in refining its food assistance tools, which not only provide
immediate life-saving assistance, but also break hunger at its
root causes and are part of broader solutions to tackle hunger
in all its manifestations. WFP annually distributes food to over
80 million of the poorest people in the world, the majority of
which are women and children.
28. When shocks or crises occur, the international
community expects WFP to be ready to respond quickly and effectively.
Whether refugees are fleeing war or drought is destroying farmland,
hunger is often the first emergency and the hungry look to WFP
for the first response. In 2006, the agency's food assistance
reached 63.4 million people caught in the world's ever-widening
net of humanitarian disasters.
29. Timing is a critical element in WFP's
emergency response and WFP has a proven track record of being
one of the first on the ground when disaster strikes. Five days
after the conflict broke in southern Lebanon, WFP had already
opened an office and deployed a team to assess requirements for
food, logistics and security support. Three months later, at the
close of operations, WFP had averted a humanitarian crisis by
delivering food to some 824,000 Lebanese people.
30. With its scale and complexity, Sudan's
emergency operation, which covers 5.6 million people in Darfur,
South Sudan and other areas, represents WFP's largest operation
for the fourth consecutive year. For the people who are completely
reliant on WFP assistance, such as the internally displaced in
camps and villages in Darfur, WFP's food distributions represent
the difference between life and death, particularly during the
peak of the hunger seasons. In addition, our food rations have
contributed to the decline of mortality, morbidity and malnutrition
rates. In South Sudan, WFP also manages a massive US$ 250 million
special operation to improve access and increase the transport
capacity of the road network. The operation contributes to immediate
peace dividends, facilitates return and resettlement, reduces
the cost of access to food and stimulates the transport sector
and commercial activity.
31. The link between education and nutrition
is a crucial one. Research shows that school feeding can increase
enrolment and attendance dramatically and boost children's performance
in the classroom. WFP provides free school meals as an incentive
for the children of poor families to go to school. In 2006, WFP
reached 20 million children with school feeding programmes—half
of them were girls. In the schools assisted by WFP, attendance
for both boys and girls averaged 90% and the overwhelming majority
of teachers reported an improvement in pupils' classroom behaviour
and attention span.
32. The provision by WFP of fortified foods
in combination with health initiatives, through mother and child
health and nutrition programmes, help to prevent the life-long
consequences of poor nutrition. WFP provides fortified blended
foods such as corn soya blend though its supplementary feeding
programmes. Fortification to deliver essential micronutrients
is increasingly taking place locally. A pilot project in a refugee
camp in Zambia using local mobile mills showed remarkable improvements
in the health and nutritional status of the refugees. Among children
there were improvements in height and weight, and anaemia and
vitamin A deficiency were both reduced by half.
Section 6: Cooperation between WFP and other
UN agencies such as FAO
33. Partnerships are essential for WFP in
order to accomplish its mission and achieve its objectives. In
fact, be it in precursor efforts, emergency response or during
the transition to sustainable solutions to hunger, success depends
not only on WFP's own capacity, but also on the extent to which
WFP manages to be a partner for others—be those national
governments, NGOs, the private sector or other UN organizations.
Many members of the UN family have long experience, and expertise,
in hunger-related issues, and WFP engages with all the main UN
agencies in meeting both short- and long-term needs.
34. For example, having a timely and effective
WFP response during a humanitarian emergency requires a close
WFP partnership with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA). WFP is a strong supporter of humanitarian coordination
mechanisms managed by OCHA, which include the consolidated appeals
process (CAP), the cluster system, the humanitarian coordinator
system, and certain key humanitarian pooled funding mechanisms.
35. The FAO is WFP's second largest UN partner
after UNICEF. The major areas of collaboration last year were
in agriculture and the environment; food security thematic groups;
and joint assessments. Working with the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) also provides an important link
between meeting urgent needs and creating long-term solutions.
Last year, WFP and IFAD cooperated mainly in agricultural development
and environmental protection, while globally, assessments, project
design, capacity-building and education, were also important features
of our work together.
36. UNICEF works with us particularly in
the areas of education, mother-and-child health, nutrition and
technical assistance. Continued strong partnership with UNICEF
is a strategic priority for WFP. We are jointly promoting the
"essential package", a set of complementary school-based
nutrition, education and health interventions that has become
a standard component of school feeding strategies and regional
and country-level initiatives. WFP and UNICEF are also focusing
their efforts on reducing the risk of the impact of HIV/AIDS for
orphans and vulnerable children, through prevention education,
and take-home rations.
37. On the basis of their joint Memorandum
of Understanding, WFP and UNHCR are committed to providing a full
package of services to refugees, internally displaced people—when
UNHCR has been requested to take the mandate—and returnees,
including through protection, food, non-food items, health and
education. Joint advocacy efforts have proved extremely successful,
and will be extended to other countries this year. WFP and UNHCR
also collaborate on ending child hunger and improving the nutritional
status of refugees.
38. Essential WFP partnerships to break
the chronic inter-generational cycle of hunger are, for example,
those with the other Rome-based agencies—FAO and the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Joint UN Programme
on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
39. In summary, last year, WFP worked with
13 UN agencies, three international organizations and the World
Bank on 208 projects in 79 countries. This is an impressive result,
particularly since it shows not only a large percentage of projects
where partners complement each others' inputs, but also an increase
in the number of jointly planned projects and joint programmes.
Section 7: DFID's contribution to WFP and
to achieving the MDG-1 hunger target
40. WFP is encouraged by the British Government's
role in galvanizing efforts to meet the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). We are particularly proud of our association
with DFID, both for its substantive policy guidance and governance
support, as well as for its concrete assistance, which over the
past five years has averaged at GB £60 million per year.
We are nonetheless witnessing a decline in direct funding from
some important donors, such as DFID, as they increase their support
to common funding mechanisms (from which WFP also benefits) as
part of the UN reform process.
41. WFP will continue to rely on DFID's
support to respond in an effective manner to the hunger challenge
in the face of new global realities. This response will include
enhancing our vulnerability analysis and mapping and needs assessments
tools to ensure appropriate targeting and nutritional support.
In this regard, we are particularly appreciative of DFID's Institutional
Strategy Grant, which over four years has provided us with substantial
financial assistance to enhance our effectiveness in the areas
of emergency preparedness and response, and capacity building.
42. We appreciate this opportunity to urge
a closer focus on the need to achieve MDG-1 (eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger), particularly in view of the current global
food crisis which could seriously jeopardize efforts made to date.
The need for WFP to be present in interventions that address the
root causes of crises and break the cycle of hunger is particularly
important to highlight. In the developing world, the vast majority
of the people who are chronically hungry are outside the scope
of the emergency activities which are recognized by many as WFP's
main focus.
43. WFP will continue to work with national
governments and other partners to enable development by means
of the appropriate tools. We will do this, for example, through
safety nets using targeted food or cash/voucher interventions,
which reduce malnutrition through school feeding, and mother and
child health activities. We would therefore appreciate DFID engaging
with us further to reinforce the capacity of governments and local
communities to design and implement strategies and programmes
that focus on addressing chronic hunger and under-nutrition.
44. WFP believes that eliminating hunger
can contribute significantly to the achievement of all the MDGs,
not only MDG-1. Fighting hunger means fighting poverty, illiteracy,
gender discrimination, child mortality, HIV/AIDS and improving
maternal health. We are also convinced that trade matters for
development, and can be an important tool in meeting the MDGs.
In this regard, we are now using our massive food purchasing power
in a more strategic manner to enable development, and support
farmers in developing countries.
Section 8: The prospects for a "one UN"
approach in meeting food security needs
45. WFP is committed to maximizing the opportunities
offered by joint programming and other "Delivering as One"
coherence tools and instruments to strengthen the international
community's capacity to support national governments in addressing
their food security requirements.
46. FAO, IFAD, and IFAD have jointly advocated
a "twin track" approach which recognizes that addressing
food security requires both direct action to alleviate hunger
immediately for the most vulnerable, and longer-term agricultural,
nutrition and rural development programmes to eliminate the root
causes of hunger. WFP's food assistance and related interventions
play a leading role in the first track of direct action. In some
cases, WFP can also play a supporting role in the second track
of agricultural and rural development, led by FAO and IFAD. Most
importantly, the three agencies work together to support coherent
UN, regional, and national action to address food insecurity,
most recently through our collaboration in the UN Secretary-General's
MDG Africa Steering Group process. In addition, we are working
closely with OCHA, in coordinating the humanitarian response to
urgent hunger needs, including from soaring food prices.
47. Many of WFP's activities in rural areas
help vulnerable households and communities shift to more sustainable
rural livelihoods, improve agricultural productivity and prevent
further degradation of the natural resource base. Examples include
land rehabilitation and management to transform marginal, eroded
lands into a sustainable, livelihood-enhancing resource base,
which include interventions such as terracing and reforestation
activities.
48. WFP does make an important contribution
to agricultural productivity through its programmes, but we rely
on other partners to address the topic in a more comprehensive
manner. WFP is best positioned to assist in the areas of market
development and demand enhancement, especially through local and
regional food procurement. WFP's massive purchasing footprint
around the world can help create a platform of substantial and
stable demand for the produce grown by poor farmers. WFP works
closely with FAO in the design and implementation of production-related
interventions, as FAO has the specific mandate in the UN system
related to agricultural production and productivity enhancement.
Section 9: WFP support to system-wide coherence
49. WFP supports UN reform designed to increase
the coherence and effectiveness of UN humanitarian and development
programmes, particularly when it serves to advance MDG-1.
50. We are actively engaged in the "Delivering
as One" Pilots, particularly in the four countries where
we have country offices—Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda and
Tanzania, and we are also an integrated part of the joint office
in Cape Verde. However, it is important to keep in mind that the
"Delivering as One" pilots are focused on development
activities, and may not be appropriate for responding to fast-moving
humanitarian operations, which require different country-level
structures. Activities closely linked with humanitarian activities,
such as disaster preparedness, risk reduction, and longer-term
recovery have nonetheless been considered in the "One Programme",
when deemed to be of a more predictable and longer-term nature.
51. WFP is playing a significant role in
on-going UN humanitarian reforms, working closely with OCHA, particularly
as cluster lead agency for logistics, the global food aid sector
lead, co-leader for the emergency telecommunications cluster,
and as an active participant in the nutrition, protection, and
early recovery clusters. The UN cluster system is designed to
make the best use of each agency's comparative advantages and
is seen as a step toward institutionalizing a more predictable
and accountable humanitarian response and reducing gaps in sectoral
coverage during emergencies.
52. We also undertake crucial services on
behalf of the entire humanitarian community, such as: the UN Humanitarian
Response Depots (UNHRD) which drastically reduces the cost of
deploying relief items and response time; the UN Humanitarian
Air Service (UNHAS) that includes direct, reliable and safe air
transportation; and the UN Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) whose
role is to optimize and complement the logistics capabilities
of cooperating agencies.
53. Priority will be given to fulfil WFP's
role and responsibilities in the above activities by, among other
things, seeking innovative ways of financing and maintaining crucial
emergency preparedness and rapid response capacities. The capacity
for WFP to continue to fulfil its leading role and responsibilities
is nonetheless dependent upon addressing the issues of adequate,
predictable, and multi-year funding.
54. The growth of WFP participation in joint
UN programmes at country level is another example of where the
"Delivering as One" approach is being applied to address
food security, nutrition, and related-health issues. In 2007,
WFP was involved in joint programmes with other UN agencies in
55 projects in 34 countries. Main sectors of collaboration are
health and nutrition, food security, HIV/AIDS, education, and
disaster preparedness. The Rome-based agencies are also collaborating
in 55 countries in the joint Food Security Theme Groups at the
country level.
55. UN reform is work in progress. Both
the development and humanitarian reform agendas are pushing for
a clearer, more systematic division of labour among agencies with
defined leadership and coordination roles at the sector level.
These reform efforts are also exploring approaches to pooled funding
arrangements at both the global and country levels as well as
greater interagency harmonization of business practices. WFP has
been—and will be—very much at the forefront of this
process, ensuring as best it can that it is successful in achieving
results on the ground that are responsive to national and community
needs. A successful UN reform that focuses on practical results
and those most in need should be our ultimate aim.
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