Côte d’Ivoire has recorded strong economic growth and increased investment in social sectors over the past decade, resulting in tangible progress in poverty reduction and human development. 

Building on these achievements, the Government’s National Development Plan (2021–2025) charts a path towards becoming an upper middle-income country by 2030, with a strong focus on strengthening human capital through better health, education and social protection. 

At the same time, poverty and malnutrition still affect significant segments of the population, highlighting the need to further expand the reach and impact of national efforts.

In the north, conflict and instability in neighbouring Burkina Faso has led to the arrival of over 66,000 asylum seekers – mostly women and children – adding pressure to already vulnerable communities.

The World Food Programme (WFP) supports Côte d’Ivoire with a mix of emergency assistance and long-term solutions. These include life-saving food and nutrition support, resilience building and climate-smart programmes. 

WFP also works to strengthen national systems and institutions to ensure local ownership and sustainability.

A central focus is the sustainability of the national school meals programme, which promotes food systems development and empowers women and youth. 

WFP’s operations are concentrated in the north, west and northeast of the country – regions with the highest levels of food insecurity and vulnerability.

What the World Food Programme is doing in Côte d'Ivoire

Emergency response
In response to the influx of asylum seekers from Burkina Faso, WFP provides monthly cash assistance to 33,880 asylum seekers to meet urgent food needs, along with quarterly support to 5,700 vulnerable host community members. However, due to a worsening funding situation, the level of assistance was halved in 2024, and the number of people assisted reduced by 38 percent in 2025.Most asylum seekers arrive with few belongings and limited livelihood options. WFP post-distribution monitoring shows that nearly all cash is spent on food, highlighting urgent needs as pressure grows on already vulnerable communities and scarce local resources.
School meals
WFP provides daily nutritious meals to over 166,000 primary-school children in seven vulnerable regions. By linking school meals with local agriculture, WFP improves nutrition and school attendance while boosting local economies and strengthening community resilience. The programme includes health and nutrition promotion, water and sanitation access, literacy support, and assistance to smallholder farmer groups. In 2025, WFP launched a home-grown school feeding initiative for over 40,000 children and 100 farmer groups in cocoa-producing areas, helping keep children in school and out of cocoa plantations. This programme promotes ethical, inclusive supply chains through partnerships with the private sector.
Nutrition
WFP supports the Government in laying the groundwork for rice fortification as a strategy to address micronutrient deficiencies – demonstrating its feasibility, developing a national strategy, measuring its acceptability and building private sector capacity to locally produce fortified rice to international standards. WFP also contributed to the National Multisectoral Nutrition Plan (2024–2027). WFP provides monthly cash assistance to people living with HIV as well as nutritionally vulnerable pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 2, complementing national safety nets and supporting both better nutrition and health overall. WFP also promotes social and behavioural change through nutrition education, mass awareness campaigns, malnutrition screening, and cooking demonstrations using local nutritious foods.
Resilience building
WFP supports smallholder farmers with technical training in post-harvest management, and access to equipment, markets and financial services. Using an approach known as Community-Based Participatory Planning, WFP helps communities identify and prioritize their development needs – promoting inclusive dialogue and local ownership. To address weather hazards, WFP implements early-warning systems, weather monitoring, insurance schemes and climate-smart agriculture, focusing on women and youth in rural areas. WFP also supports land restoration through techniques such as half-moons, water-retention trenches and agroforestry, helping communities build long-term resilience while protecting natural resources and adapting to changing environmental conditions.
Capacity strengthening
WFP supports national systems and institutions to strengthen emergency preparedness, food security and social protection. In partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, WFP enhances real-time data collection and monitoring systems. With the Ministry of Health, WFP improves supply chains and trains staff in inventory and stock management. WFP also supports the Ministry of Education in scaling up a nationally owned school meals programme through policy development, capacity strengthening and South–South cooperation. In collaboration with the Ministry of Solidarity and National Cohesion, WFP helps improve contingency planning, simulation exercises and crisis response mechanisms. These efforts contribute to a more effective, prompt and nationally led response to shocks.
Supply chain
WFP provides on-demand supply chain services to UN agencies, the Government and NGO partners, including storage, procurement of food and non-food items, and logistics support. WFP also facilitates the reception and transport of food from the Port of Abidjan to humanitarian operations in Burkina Faso, positioning Côte d’Ivoire as a secure and reliable alternative regional supply corridor.

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Partners and Donors

Achieving zero hunger is the work of many. Our work in Cote d’Ivoire is made possible by the support and collaboration of our partners and donors, including:
The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire United States Department of Agriculture Green Climate Fund Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères - France Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

Operations in Côte d'Ivoire

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Contacts

Office

CCIA-BAD, 4th floor 01 BP 1747 Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire
Abidjan Plateau
Côte d’Ivoire

Phone
+225 20 20 77 00
Fax
+225 20 226349
Email
WFP.Abidjan@wfp.org
For media inquiries
WFP.Abidjan@wfp.org
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