Good news from the front lines of hunger

The past year – my first as Executive Director of the World Food Programme – has vanished in a blur. The unfolding crisis in Syria and neighbouring countries has kept all of us in the humanitarian community busy, but for me, it is the continuing crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa that has provided a constant backbeat to my first twelve months in this job. (..) Lives have been saved and money has been invested in building resilience, ensuring the people of the Sahel are better equipped to cope with future droughts. But does good news get the attention it deserves?

UN food relief agency ramps up operations in Syria, preparing to feed 3 million people

The deputy head of the United Nations food relief programme today wrapped up his visit to Syria where the agency and its main partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, are scaling up operations to feed three million people in July. “This is an agonizing time for Syrians, with millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance,” said UN World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Amir Abdulla said in Damascus. (..) During his two-day visit, Mr. Abdulla spoke with Syrians receiving their monthly WFP food basket at a Syrian Arab Red Crescent food distribution point in Al-Kisweh, 15 kilometres south of the capital.

UN agency calls on Syria’s neighbours to keep borders open for refugees

The United Nations refugee agency today called on countries around Syria to keep their borders open for refugees, while also stressing the need for “urgent and robust” international support for host countries and aid agencies. (..) The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it assisted 1,000 families displaced from Al-Qusayr this week with food rations for one month, including rice, sugar, vegetable oil and lentils. Those families had reached the town of Hesieh at night on foot with only the clothes on their backs. They were sheltering in two schools, tents or with local families. “These people have been under siege inside Al-Qusayr for months and this is the first time WFP has been able to reach them,” spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs told reporters.

Analysis: Slowing Nigerian grain trade threatens Sahel food security

Northern Nigeria’s grain trade, which supplies almost half of the Sahel’s cereals, has slowed severely, while abnormally high prices of staple grains across the Sahel are causing serious food security concerns in this chronically vulnerable region. (..) World Food Programme (WFP) market analysts report that grain supply is low in many of the main markets across the region, and that fewer traders from Niger and elsewhere are crossing the border to re-supply in Nigeria. (..) In highly import-dependent Niger, “this situation must raise a red flag,” said WFP market analyst Jean-Martin Bauer, referring to poor trade conditions that spurred Niger’s 2005 and to some extent the 2010 food crises. “If trade slows down from Nigeria to Niger, it’s a huge issue for all countries depending on Nigeria,” he said.