World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

WFP has launched an emergency operation to deliver life-saving food assistance to thousands of people fleeing conflict in Mali. As refugees stream into areas already strained by drought in the Sahel, it's imperative to reach them with assistance in time for the summer Hunger Season.

Just back from a trip to the drought-stricken Sahel region of Africa, WFP Executive Director Ertharin encourages G8 leaders meeting at Camp David later this week to build on the promise of the 2009 L’Aquila Summit, by uniting public and private sector partners behind national plans for food security. This article was written for the Global Food For Thought blog of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

On the second day of her visit to the drought-hit country of Niger, WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin met families who are providing for themselves by working on projects that will protect them from hunger down the line. Travelling alongside UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, the WFP chief sent back this blog post to tell us about her trip.

One month after arriving at WFP, Executive Director Ertharin Cousin was out in the field in the west African nation of Niger, one of the countries most affected by the drought in the Sahel region. After the first day of her field trip, in which she traveled with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, the WFP chief sent back this account of her experiences.

For the third time in a decade, drought in the Sahel region of Africa is threatening millions of people with hunger. But how do people survive in these situations and what are we doing to help them? Here are the answers to eight questions about the current hunger crisis in the Sahel and WFP's response to it.

A poor harvest in the West African country of Niger has caused food prices to shoot up at a time of year they would normally be at their lowest. Concerned that the bad harvest could lead to a full-blown hunger crisis, WFP is planning an urgent scale-up of operations to reach as many as 3 million people with food aid.

Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday...it focuses on food  and family… and it’s over fast. But this year, instead of waking up early to put a turkey in the oven , I found myself in Niger where, one might think, these days there is less to be thankful for than ever.

In remote areas of Niger, families at risk of hunger are now using 'smart' cards to withdraw the cash they receive as part of a WFP food assistance programme. Villagers are thrilled with the new technology, but, without the benefit of formal education, they need to find their own ways of remembering their PIN code.

In early September, WFP nutrition focal points and their government counterparts from 18 countries across West Africa gathered in Dakar for a four-day workshop.