World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

WFP assists African governments and communities to implement comprehensive, country-led, programmes to tackle hunger the world’s greatest solvable problem. In 2012, out of a total US$4.2 billion expenditure, two thirds (US$2.7 billion) was allocated to Africa. WFP is the world’s biggest buyer of food for humanitarian operations and it is the largest single purchaser of food assistance in Africa, but we do not work alone. This edition of WFP in Africa highlights our partnerships throughout the continent, illustrating the importance of working together to reach shared goals and objectives.

 The Annual Evaluation Report for 2011 focuses on lessons arising from implementation to date of WFP’s Strategic Plan 2008-2013. It covers 16 evaluations on: strategic themes in the transition from ‘food aid to food assistance’, such as partnerships and how Country Offices adapt to change; school feeding and WFP support to agricultural small holders and markets; and WFP’s strategic positioning and performance in Haiti, Kenya, Rwanda and Yemen; and others.

This is the first in a series of four strategic evaluations related to the transition from food aid to food assistance.  The evaluation analyzed WFP’s role in social protection and safety nets, which are increasingly seen as important mechanisms for promoting development.  The evaluation found that WFP is already contributing to social protection and safety nets, especially for some activities.  However, institutionalizing these approaches more broadly within WFP will require changes in WFP’s operations and efforts to build organizational and staff capacity.

 The Annual Evaluation Report for 2010 focuses on operational issues arising from evaluations of country portfolios and operations, and impact evaluations of selected school feeding programmes.

The findings reaffirm WFP’s corporate areas of strength in responding to emergencies under the most difficult circumstances and in providing school feeding, as one of the Programme’s flagship programmes. However, impact evaluations of these programmes also showed the importance of implementing school feeding in cooperation with partners who invest in education sector improvements. Areas where largest improvements can be made relate to food-for-work, where funding often is curtailed and thus strategic objectives moved beyond reach, and nutrition where the ambiguous objectives and small size of programmes make it difficult to demonstrate results.

Through Ethiopia's MERET land rehabilitation programme, chronically food-insecure communities, particularly women, participate in environmental rehabilitation and income-generating activities. 

The Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia is aimed at enabling the rural poor facing chronic food insecurity to resist shocks, create assets and become food self-sufficient.

This is the first in a series of four strategic evaluations related to the transition from food aid to food assistance.  The evaluation analyzed WFP’s role in social protection and safety nets, which are increasingly seen as important mechanisms for promoting development.  The evaluation found that WFP is already contributing to social protection and safety nets, especially for some activities.  However, institutionalizing these approaches more broadly within WFP will require changes in WFP’s operations and efforts to build organizational and staff capacity.