World Food Programme

Executive Director David Beasley meets women and men restoring degraded land in Burkina Faso. Photo: WFP/George Fominyen

WFP is governed by an executive board which consists of representatives from 36 member states, and provides intergovernmental support, direction and supervision of WFP's activities. The European Union is a permanent observer in WFP and, as a major donor, participates in the work of its executive board.[17] WFP is headed by an executive director, who is appointed jointly by the UN Secretary-General and the director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The executive director is appointed for fixed five-year terms and is responsible for the administration of the organization as well as the implementation of its programmes, projects and other activities.[18] David Beasley, previously Governor of the U.S. state of South Carolina, was appointed to the role in March 2017. He heads the WFP secretariat, which is headquartered in Rome.

In October 2020, WFP had 19,660 staff.

The following is a chronological list of those who have served as executive director of the World Food Programme:[19]

1. Addeke Hendrik Boerma ( Netherlands) (May 1962 – December 1967)
2. Sushil K. Dev ( India) (January 1968 – August 1968) (acting)
3. Franciso Aquino ( El Salvador) (July 1968 – May 1976)
4. Thomas C. M. Robinson ( United States) (May 1976 – June 1977 acting; July 1977 – September 1977)
5. Garson N. Vogel ( Canada) (October 1977 – April 1981)
6. Bernardo de Azevedo Brito ( Brazil) (May 1981 – February 1982) (acting)
7. Juan Felipe Yriart ( Uruguay) (February 1982 – April 1982) (acting)
8. James Ingram ( Australia) (April 1982 – April 1992)
9. Catherine Bertini ( United States) (April 1992 – April 2002)
10. James T. Morris ( United States) (April 2002 – April 2007)
11. Josette Sheeran ( United States) (April 2007 – April 2012)
12. Ertharin Cousin ( United States) (April 2012 – April 2017)
13. David Beasley ( United States) (April 2017 – present)

About two-thirds of WFP's life-saving food assistance goes to people facing severe food crises, most of them caused by conflict.[20] By the end of 2020 WFP was tackling emergencies and crises across 20 countries.[21] Its response typically includes a combination of food, cash, nutrition supplements and school feeding. WFP estimates that nearly 272 million people in countries where it operates are acutely food insecure, or at risk of becoming so, due to the aggravating effects of COVID-19. WFP extended its reach to assist nearly 97 million people across 73 countries with critical food and nutrition assistance. A total US$1.7 billion in cash assistance was distributed to vulnerable people in 67 countries from January to October 2020. WFP also expanded its monitoring from 15 to 39 countries, to track real-time, evolving needs.[22]

Supplies are unloaded from an UNHAS helicopter for flood victims in Goonda province. Mozambique. Photo: WFP/Marco Frattini

WFP's largest and most complex emergency response is in Yemen, amidst ongoing conflict, a ravaged economy and a decimated health system unable to cope with COVID-19, factors that are combining to cause one of the worst hunger crises in the world and which threaten famine.[23] In Syria, WFP provides food assistance to more than 4.5 million people amidst a civil war that has displaced over 6.5 million people.[24]

WFP is also a first responder to sudden-onset emergencies. When floods struck Sudan in July 2020, it provided emergency food assistance to nearly 160,000 people.[25] WFP provided food as well as vouchers for people to buy vital supplies, while also planning recovery, reconstruction and resilience-building activities, after Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique and floods washed an estimated 400,000 hectares of crops on early 2019.[26]

WFP's emergency is also pre-emptive, in offsetting the potential impact of disasters. In the Sahel region of Africa, amidst economic challenges, climate change and armed militancy, WFP's activities included working with communities and partners to harvest water for irrigation and restore degraded land, and supporting livelihoods through skills training.[27] It uses early-warning systems to help communities prepare for disasters. In Bangladesh, weather forecasting led to distributions of cash to vulnerable farmers to pay for measures such as reinforcing their homes or stockpiling food ahead of heavy flooding.[28]

WFP coordinates responses to large-scale emergencies on behalf of the wider humanitarian community, as lead agency of the Logistics Cluster and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster. It also co-leads the Food Security Cluster. The WFP-managed United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) serves over 300 destinations globally. WFP also manages the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD), a global network of hubs that procures, stores and transports emergency supplies for the organization and the wider humanitarian community. WFP logistical support, including its air service and hubs, has enabled staff and supplies from WFP and partner organizations to reach areas where commercial flights have not been available, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]

Emergency Response procedures

WFP has a system of classifications known as the Emergency Response Procedures designed for situations that require an immediate response. This response is activated under the following criteria:

1. When human suffering exists and domestic governments cannot respond adequately
2. The United Nations reputation is under scrutiny
3. When there is an obvious need for aid from WFP

The Emergency Response Classifications are divided as follows, with emergency intensity increasing with each level:[30]

• Level 1 – Response is activated. Resources are allocated to prepare for WFP's local office to respond
• Level 2 – A country's resources require regional assistance with an emergency across one or multiple countries/territories
• Level 3 (L3) – The emergency overpowers WFP's local offices and requires a global response from the entire WFP organisation

WFP took pre-emptive action to reduce the impact of floods in Bangladesh. Photo: WFP/Sayed Asif Mahmud

WFP works with governments and humanitarian partners in responding to increasing number of climate-related disasters. It also takes pre-emptive action to reduce the number of people needing humanitarian assistance. WFP used Forecast-based Financing to provide cash to vulnerable families, allowing them to buy food, reinforce their homes and take other steps to build resilience ahead of torrential rains in Bangladesh in July 2019.[31] WFP's response to Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas in September 2019 was assisted by a regional office in Barbados, which had been set up the previous year to enable better disaster preparedness and response. In advance of Hurricane Dorian, WFP deployed technical experts in food security, logistics and emergency telecommunication, to support a rapid needs assessment. Assessment teams also conducted an initial aerial reconnaissance mission, with the aim of putting teams on the ground as soon as possible.[32]

A child holds a WFP supplementary, specialized food to treat malnutrition among children, at a WFP-supported nutrition clinic in Yemen. Photo: WFP/Issa-Al-Raghi.

WFP has broadened its focus in recent years from emergency interventions to addressing all forms of malnutrition including vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and overweight and obesity. WFP addresses malnutrition from the earliest stages through programmes targeting the first 1,000 days from conception to a child's second birthday.[33] It provides access to healthy diets, targeting young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and people living with HIV and TB.[34][35] WFP works with governments, other UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector, supporting nutrition interventions, policies and programmes that include nutritious school meals and food fortification.[36]

A child eats a WFP school meal in Lao. Photo: WFP/Vilakhone Sipaseuth

School meals encourage parents in vulnerable families to send their children to school, rather than work. They have proved highly beneficial in areas including education and gender equality, health and nutrition, social protection, local economies and agriculture.[37] WFP works with partners to ensure school feeding is part of integrated school health and nutrition programmes, which include services such as malaria control, menstrual hygiene and guidance on sanitation and hygiene.[38]

Smallholder farmers produce most of the world's food and are critical in achieving a zero-hunger world. WFP's support to farmers spans a range of activities to help build sustainable food systems, from business-skills training to opening up roads to markets.[39] WFP is among a global consortium that forms the Farm to Market Alliance, which helps smallholder farmers receive information, investment and support, so they can produce and sell marketable surplus and increase their income.[40] WFP connects smallholder farmers to markets in more than 40 countries. It procured 96,600 mt from smallholder farmers for a total of US$37.2 million in 2019, helping improve the smallholders’ livelihoods.[41]

In 2008, WFP coordinated the five-year Purchase for Progress (P4P) pilot project. P4P assists smallholding farmers by offering them opportunities to access agricultural markets and to become competitive players in the marketplace. The project spanned across 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and trained 800,000 farmers in improved agricultural production, post-harvest handling, quality assurance, group marketing, agricultural finance, and contracting with WFP. The project resulted in 366,000 metric tons of food produced and generated more than US$148 million in income for its smallholder farmers.[42]

WFP's Food Assistance for Assets programme improves the prospects for long-term food security, while helping create conditions for peace. People receive food or cash to meet immediate food needs, which frees up their time for working on community assets or livelihood resources that can increase resilience to climate change and improve access to markets.[43]

A beneficiary shows the humanitarian assistance card she used to receive money at a WFP cash transfer point in Niger. Photo: WFP/Simon Pierre Diouf

WFP is the largest cash provider in the humanitarian community. The aim is to provide better value for people and donors, allowing for increased food choices and diet diversity for beneficiaries, while boosting local smallholder production, retail and the financial sector. WFP and the European Union joined forces with the Government of Turkey and the Turkish Red Crescent to launch the Emergency Social Safety Net in 2016, one of the largest humanitarian cash programmes ever mounted by the United Nations and the largest humanitarian project the EU has ever funded. It provides monthly cash to vulnerable refugees using individual debit cards. A 2019 survey revealed that the project helped prevent 1.7 million refugees from falling deeper into poverty. WFP stepped back in April 2020, with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Crescent Societies taking over its role.[44][45]

WFP places a strong emphasis on transferring skills and knowledge to a range of public, private and civil society actors who are pivotal to sustaining national policies and programmes. The goal is to build governments’ and other partners’ capacities to manage disaster risk and improve food security, while also investing in early warning and preparedness systems for climate and other threats. In the most climate disaster-prone provinces of the Philippines for example, WFP is providing emergency response training and equipment to local government units, and helping set up Automated Weather Stations.[46]

WFP's digital transformation centres on deploying the latest technologies and data to help achieve zero hunger. WFP's Munich-based Innovation Accelerator has sourced and supported more than 60 projects spanning 45 countries.[47] In 2017, WFP launched the Building Blocks programme. It aims to distribute money-for-food assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan. The project uses blockchain technology to digitize identities and allow refugees to receive food with eye scanning.[23] WFP's low-tech hydroponics kits allow refugees to grow barley that feed livestock in the Sahara desert.[48]

WFP's partnership work includes combining its expertise with other UN agencies. Photo: Hussam Al Saleh

WFP works with thousands of partners, including governments, private sector, UN agencies, international finance groups, academia, NGOs and other civil society groups. The more than 1,000 NGOs it collaborates with around the world forms its biggest group of partners.[49] WFP places strong emphasis on its partnership with the other two Rome-Based agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The agencies reaffirmed their joint efforts to end global hunger, particularly amid the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, during a joint meeting of their governing bodies in October 2020.[50] In the United States, Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) organization World Food Program USA supports the WFP. The American organisation frequently donates to the WFP, though the two are separate entities for taxation purposes.[51]

WFP won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its "efforts for combating hunger", its "contribution to creating peace in conflicted-affected areas," and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of food as a weapon of war and conflict.[52][53] Receiving the award, Executive David Beasley called for billionaires to “step up” and help source the US$5 billion WFP needs to save 30 million people from famine.[54]

In 2018 the Center for Global Development ranked WFP last in a study of 40 aid programmes, based on indicators grouped into four themes: maximising efficiency, fostering institutions, reducing burdens, and transparency and learning. These indicators relate to aid effectiveness principles developed at the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005), the Accra Agenda for Action (2008), and the Busan Partnership Agreement (2011).[55]

There is wide general debate on the net effectiveness of aid, including unintended consequences such as increasing the duration of conflicts, and increasing corruption. WFP faces difficult decisions on working with some regimes.[56]

Some surveys have shown internal culture problems at WFP, including harassment.[57][58]