Namibia is an upper-middle-income country with a population of 3 million people. Despite economic recovery, it still faces persistent socioeconomic challenges. 

In 2023, unemployment rates stood at 36.9 percent for the population and 44.4 for young people. The country grapples with high inequality. According to the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Namibia suffers from a serious level of hunger, ranking 86th out of 121 countries. 

Namibia has had significant progress in human capital development since the introduction of the school feeding programme in 1990. The national school meals programme reaches 466,860 students in over 1,500 schools in all 14 regions of the country. WFP and Government are extending the programme to early-childhood development centres, as well as improving safety, storage and nutritional content.

Climate change is primarily characterised by persistent droughts and erratic rainfall, damaging agricultural productivity as well as food and nutrition security. In May 2024, the Government of Namibia declared a state of emergency due to El Niño induced drought – regarded as the worst in 100 years.  This is expected to increase food insecurity.Indigenous peoples are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate shocks due to factors such as limited production capacity and restricted access to resources.

The World Food Programme’s focus is on ensuring people can meet their food and nutrition needs in times of crises; strengthening national social protection systems and national food systems; and deploying our services and expertise to the Government and other partners, especially in supply chains.  
 

What the World Food Programme is doing in Namibia

Rural transformation
The Rapid Rural Transformation initiative represents an innovative approach to tackling the complex challenges encountered by rural communities. This initiative promotes rural development through agricultural production, livelihood diversification, skills development, and access to essential services.
Home-Grown School Feeding
WFP offers technical support to the Government, assisting in the design and implementation of nutrition-sensitive school menus through the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme. This initiative supplies schoolchildren with a variety of nutritious meals sourced from local smallholder farmers, enhancing children’s ability to learn and remain in school while boosting market opportunities for local farmers. WFP, UNICEF and the Government are strengthening systems for the extension of national school feeding programmes to early-childhood development centres.
Nutrition
WFP has integrated nutrition activities into two food system projects: commodity vouchers and the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme. Working closely with the government, WFP aims to reduce stunting and malnutrition by focusing on nutritional gaps and empowering community members. WFP provides in-depth training on balanced nutrition, food preservation and processing, and healthy cooking methods. At the national level, WFP conducts studies to update national statistics data and recommends solutions through government programmes and policy dialogues.
Food systems
WFP is working with the Government to increase the local production of healthy and nutritious foods, raise incomes, improve market access and employment, and promote the use of sustainable agricultural practices.
Climate and resilience
WFP contributes to Namibia's resilience and climate-adaptation efforts by improving early-warning systems, supporting the development of the National Resilience Building Strategy, and co-leading the annual Vulnerability Assessment & Analysis.
Social protection
In this regard, WFP provides technical assistance to enhance the Government’s capacity to manage and implement national shock-responsive programmes. The expected outcome of this technical assistance is to enhance Government’s capacity to design, implement and scale up national shock-responsive safety nets, enabling food-insecure people to access to food and increase their income to cover other essential needs. These programmes are targeted at vulnerable households in both urban and rural areas.
Digital transformation
WFP supports the Government through in managing beneficiary data and in targeting, reporting and information sharing. WFP and the Government have developed and operationalized key digital platforms such as the Commodity and Beneficiary Management Information System, Namibia Integrated Digital Assistance Service, the Early Warning System (platform, and the Namibia School Feeding Information Management System.

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Partners and donors

Achieving Zero Hunger is the work of many. Our work in Namibia is made possible by the support and collaboration of our partners and donors, including:
Government of the Republic of Namibia European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Government of Japan African Group of Ambassadors Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Namibia

Operations in Namibia

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Contacts

Office

38-44 Stein Street, Klein Windhoek, Namibia
Windhoek
Namibia

Email
sem.uutoni@wfp.org
For media inquiries
luise.shikongo@wfp.org
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