The UK and WFP support farmers and their families in Sudan
KHARTOUM – The United Kingdom is contributing an additional £13.5 million (approximately US$17.8 million) to support United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) resilience projects and food and cash assistance in Sudan until March 2019.
The UK contribution will enable WFP to continue its support to 93,000 smallholder farmers across Sudan, providing them with storage systems that reduce crop waste. Crop waste is a significant problem for Sudan, which relies heavily on its agricultural sector. WFP will also use the funds to create income opportunities for a further 24,000 families to boost their resilience during challenging agricultural seasons.
Ahead of the funding announcement, UK Minister of State for Africa, Harriet Baldwin MP and WFP Sudan Country Director, Matthew Hollingworth, visited North Darfur’s El-Fasher. The visit in August marked the first British ministerial visit to the region in many years.
“This visit has shown me the growing importance of the UK-Sudan relationship, and I’m pleased that our two countries are working in partnership on our shared priorities,” said Baldwin.
UKaid has been pivotal in helping WFP broaden its programmes and focus on longer-term development solutions by committing to multi-year predictable funding in November 2017. Since then, the Department for International Development (DFID) has further increased its funding for WFP in Sudan from £35.7 million to £49.2 million.
The funds aim to strengthen the so-called Humanitarian-Peace-Development Nexus, removing barriers between those working in the areas of emergency aid, development planning and peace building. This is achieved through an integrated approach to programming, whereby WFP’s cash-based transfer platforms often serve as digital social safety nets, playing a crucial role in laying the foundation for resilience and longer-term development.
“We value UKaid’s continued support particularly its willingness to be flexible in its approach to multi-year funding, which has helped both of our organisations to find more efficient ways to serve people in need and enabled responsible programming so that the people we serve can predict the type of assistance they will receive,” said Hollingworth.
The increased funding will also support assistance via food vouchers and cash-based transfers for 490,000 internally displaced people in Darfur and 28,800 refugees in Al Nimir and Kario.
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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Belinda Popovska, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 1200 2000 (ext. 2125), Mob. +249 912158413
Abdulaziz Abdulmomin, Tel. WFP/Khartoum, +249 183248001 (ext. 2123), Mob. +249 912167055
