World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

WFP celebrates World Food Day (16 October) by reaffirming its commitment to helping communities overcome food insecurity. In Mozambique, WFP works with its partners so smallholders can improve the quality of their produce and gain better market access. WFP also supports asset creation and social safety nets in the fight against hunger in Mozambique.

UN REACH, a new United Nations initiative in Mozambique aimed at strengthening the Government’s capacity to scale up food and nutrition interventions, was launched this week. This is the latest step in a series of promising actions to tackle the country’s high levels of stunting.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) signed a landmark agreement in Botswana on 25 May 2012 to work together to fight food insecurity in the 15 member countries of the SADC region of southern Africa.

The Government is Brazil is providing $2 375 000 for a new local food purchase programme to be set up by FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP) to benefit farmers and vulnerable populations in five African countries – Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal.

MAPUTO – Mozambique was today hailed for its pioneering role in supporting the UN World Food Programme’s innovative Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative that helps connect small scale farmers to markets as well as improving the quality and supply of their products.

International food prices have increased steeply in the last six months, bringing the UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) Food Price Index to its highest level since September 2008. However, recent harvests have been better and global food stocks are higher.

FAO has called for a renewed commitment to guarantee the right to food for the world's hundreds of millions of hungry people.

Read UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon message to mark World Food Day, which this year promotes the Right to Food.

WFP has bought more than two million tons of food on local markets in Southern Africa in the last five years – the equivalent of providing 12 million hungry people with a full food basket for an entire year.

WFP has expressed deep concern over erratic weather patterns in southern Africa which have devastated harvest prospects for millions of people, and could spell yet another year of widespread food shortages.