WFP's expertise in logistics meant that in 2005 the agency was mandated to lead logistics operations whenever a humanitarian emergency requires a joint response from UN agencies and the humanitarian community. The group of agencies or organisations which work together is called the Logistics Cluster.

As the global lead of the Logistics Cluster, WFP is responsible for ensuring a well coordinated, efficient and effective logistics response takes place for each emergency, not just for WFP food, but for the larger humanitarian response.

In order to ensure life-saving relief cargo reaches affected populations in time, the WFP-led Logistics Cluster provides effective coordination of the logistics sector and, if needed, augments logistics infrastructure and provides common logistics services for the humanitarian community as a whole.

Since the first cluster activation during the Pakistan earthquake response in 2005 the WFP-led Logistics Cluster has supported the logistics response for over 30 emergency operations worldwide.