Recent years have felt intensely transitional: a resurgence of conflict and instability has coincided with a great reduction in extreme poverty. But aggregates only tell half the story. Inclusive progress is to be measured by the extent to which all lives are unshackled from poverty and hunger. In 2016 – perhaps more than ever before – we concentrated on the last mile: a dedication to ensuring that each person and family actually has food on the table.
School meals
In poor countries, school meals are often the only hot food a child will get. Good nutrition in childhood translates into better school attendance, higher grades, stronger industrial productivity and less pressure on health systems. WFP research has established that every year, African countries lose as much as 16.5 percent of potential GDP to child malnutrition. Both a social safety net and a development trigger, school meals change the lives of individuals, families, communities and nations.
Schools in which WFP provided meals, including take-home food, in 2016
Countries in which WFP provided school meals or take-home food
Cash to buy food
In 2016 we pursued a trend towards giving people cash to buy their own food. Cash offers greater choice and access to a more diversified diet. It also stimulates local trade and services. Last year saw WFP act as the largest cash provider in the humanitarian community. As well as growing significantly in 2016, both in overall volume and as share of WFP’s portfolio, cash benefits increasingly took the form of mobile credit or electronic vouchers.
million
People who received cash or vouchers from WFP in 2016
million
Value of cash distributed by WFP in 2016
Countries in which WFP distributed cash or vouchers in 2016
1/4
Share of cash in WFP’s overall assistance package
Resilience and risk reduction
One of WFP’s aims is not to assist the same people year in, year out. Emergency work aside, we are digging the foundations today that will avert crises tomorrow. We offer food incentives for communities to build or repair long-lasting assets – schools, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure. We try to factor into our projects the inevitability of more frequent droughts, floods and other natural disasters. And we work to climate-proof farming practices and food production systems.
Hectares of land protected, improved or forested by WFP and partners in 2016
Capacity building
If we are serious about not having to assist the same people year in, year out, we must reduce their dependency on external assistance. Our various resilience projects help. But we also work with governments to enable them, over time, to meet their citizens’ food and nutrition needs themselves. In 2016, we shared vast amounts of skills, competences and technical capabilities – and continued to tailor our offer to different national contexts and food systems.