12 things you may not know about the World Food Programme

Facts and figures about our work to help end hunger
, WFP Staff

1.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace. We work in over 120 countries and territories, and assisted 124 million people in 2024 – 54 percent of whom were women and girls.

People carry large boxes on their heads through rocky terrain with mountains behind.
People in Kunar Province carry high-energy biscuits distributed to hundreds of families affected by a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan. Photo: WFP/Photolibrary

2.

Each day, WFP can have up to 5,000 trucks, 80 aircraft and 20 ships on the move, delivering food and other assistance.

A truck loaded with sacks drives down a road at sunset, casting long shadows.
Trucks loaded with wheat flour arrive in Kerem Shalom, on the Gaza-Israel-Egypt border. Photo: WFP/Photolibrary

3.

WFP worked on emergencies in 47 countries in 2024, delivering life-saving assistance to 90 million people. 

Two people carry a heavy sack across a grassy field while others work in the background.
People collect WFP emergency food assistance airdropped to thousands of families in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State. Photo: WFP/Peter Louis

4.

We provided school meals, take-home rations and cash-based transfers to 20 million schoolchildren in 2024, while 45 national governments increased domestic funding for school meal programmes.

Three children in white shirts eat from bowls at a wooden table, smiling at the camera.
Children in Choluteca Department, Honduras, enjoy red bean soup as part of WFP's school meals programme. Photo: WFP/Giulio d'Adamo 

5.

WFP received US$9.8 billion in contributions in 2024. This accounted for only 54 percent of operational needs, meaning severe trade-offs – including ration reductions and the scaling back of programmes in key operations.

A woman picking tomatoes in a field.
WFP food is distributed to people displaced by conflict in Somali Region, Ethiopia. Photo: WFP/Michael Tewelde

6.

We assisted 1.9 million smallholder farmers across 51 countries in 2024, improving their post-harvest management and access to markets.

Two smiling individuals stand in a field, one holding a farming tool over their shoulder.
Two farmers prepare to tend their crops in the Lake Chad region of Chad after benefiting from the Haguina resilience initiative to restore land, for which WFP partnered with the Government, UNHCR and others. Photo: WFP/Asma Achahboun

7.

In 2024, WFP supported 20.4 million people in developing more resilient livelihoods. This included the rehabilitation of 228,200 hectares of land, the planting of 25,500 hectares of forest, and the construction or repair of 54 bridges and 2,744 km of feeder roads and trails.

Person in hat and long sleeves kneels in lush forest, tending to a small plant—depicting sustainable farming or environmental care.
José Faustino Hernández plants a coffee seedling in his agricultural plot located in Jalapa, Guatemala, under a programme that supports sustainable farming practices. Photo: WFP/Nelson Pacheco

8.

WFP delivered 2.5 million metric tons of food to 81 million people – two thirds of all the people we supported – in 71 countries in 2024.

A person balances a box labelled “Refined Sunflower Oil” on their head among a crowd.
A woman carries food away from a distribution point in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. Photo: WFP/Denise Colletta

9.

WFP bought 59 percent of the food used in its operations in local and regional markets in 2024, saving time and money on transport costs and helping sustain and grow local economies.
 

Workers unload boxes from a WFP vehicle with the organization’s logo and flag visible.
Staff unload food boxes for people caught up in conflict, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Photo: WFP/Sayed Asif Mahmud

10.

WFP transferred US$2.2 billion in cash-based transfers and commodity vouchers to 46.9 million people in 75 countries in 2024, increasing consumer choice and strengthening local markets.

Two people smiling in front of a shop; one holds an ID card. Shelves and a poster with flags and prices are visible behind them.
Gentille Sibomana (left) buys food with a biometric e-voucher in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The vouchers increase consumer choice while boosting local markets. Photo: WFP/Benjamin Anguandia

11.

We supported 24 million people so they were better protected from climate shocks in 2024, including through early-warning messages, money transfers ahead of shocks and insurance payments afterwards so people could rebuild their livelihoods.

People travel in an open boat steered by poles under cloudy skies near tree-lined shores.
A boat is steered across water in Sukkur Division, Pakistan, where anticipatory action helped to reduce the impact of flooding. Photo: WFP/Dinar Ahmad

12.

WFP provided life-saving malnutrition prevention and treatment to 21.4 million women and children in 20 crisis-affected countries in 2024.

Children drink from cups on colourful mats while others gather outside near brick walls.
A child drinks enriched porridge in Mokora Sombola, in the Far North region of Cameroon. Photo: WFP/Joseph Fambovev
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