WFP goes for a makeover

The work of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is no longer going to be only about delivering food, the former "food aid agency" announced in its new strategy for the next three years (2008-2011); it would now bill itself as a "food assistance agency".

The World food Program is now a food assistance agency. (Image: WFP)

Marc Cohen, research fellow at the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said the WFP has been moving "beyond the role of providing food, to facilitating access to food for some years now".

The agency's change of direction has been influenced by many of its donors - mostly the European Union (EU) members - who have been keen to break the link between overseas food aid and supporting their farmers. "They have increasingly encouraged WFP to procure food regionally," said Cohen. According to the EU, in 2004 all developed countries gave cash to the WFP, the only exception being the US, the agency's biggest donor.

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