World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

 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 evaluation of WFP’s partnerships is one of four strategic evaluations undertaken in the 2010–2011 biennium that relate to the shift from food aid to food assistance as called for in WFP’s 2008–2013 Strategic Plan.

 This evaluation of WFP’s partnerships is one of four strategic evaluations undertaken in the 2010–2011 biennium that relate to the shift from food aid to food assistance as called for in WFP’s 2008–2013 Strategic Plan.

As we sit here today more than 13 million people across the Horn of Africa are in urgent need of assistance. This crisis is about more than the famine and nutritional emergency, it is a crisis that is multi-faceted and calls for a multi-sectoral response in which the health, nutrition and food security, water, sanitation, protection and education sectors all play a role. Throughout the region, agencies are working to ensure a coordinated response through its implementation with partners and in their respective leadership role in selected clusters/sectors.

This evaluation of WFP’s partnerships is one of four strategic evaluations undertaken in the 2010–2011 biennium that relate to the shift from food aid to food assistance as called for in WFP’s 2008–2013 Strategic Plan.

The evaluation analysed how WFP’s partnerships and its role within them are affected by this strategic shift. Recognizing that the shift is an ongoing process and that the evaluation took place at the mid-point of the strategic planning cycle, the evaluation aimed to support organizational learning.   Partnership is a key element in WFP's Strategic Plan and is essential for effective international humanitarian and development assistance.  

The evaluation found that WFP is seen as a valued and respected partner and that working in partnership contributes to increased impact.  However the evaluation found areas of weakness that need to be addressed in order for WFP to be an even more effective partner, for example to develop a comprehensive partnership strategy, clarify its roles in relations to the shift to a food-assistance model and refine its internal systems and capacities.

 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.

This report presents the key findings, conclusions and recommendations of the WFP Kenya country portfolio evaluation.

In the mission team’s view, the quantity and quality of the informal cooperation and formal coordination were generally high. A number of signed formal agreements were concluded in the form of: a) regional, country-level and local Memoranda of Understanding and operational plans; b) separate agreements on cooperation in specific sectors such as logistics and telecommunications; and c) countrylevel and local joint work plans.