World Food Program

Update on Haiti from Top UN Aid Chief

Jan 21st, 2010 1:38 PM UTC
By Kara Arsenault

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Yesterday, I joined a group of DC-based reporters at the UN Foundation to hear the latest on the situation in Haiti from Sir John Holmes, the top UN aid chief on Haiti (formally called the Under-Secretary General of the UN and Emergency Relief Coordinator). Sir John joined us via teleconference from the UN offices in New York, having returned from Haiti on Sunday.

Here are a few highlights from our lunchtime Q&A:

• So what’s the UN’s role in Haiti? To act as a central coordinator—for all major UN agencies (including UNICEF and World Food Programme), the International Federation of Red and Red Crescent, as well as global NGOs and countries around the world. To help coordinate the humanitarian assistance, the UN agencies and other standing invitees (World Bank, InterAction) work together in clusters (distinct teams with clear responsibilities), making sure that information on the ground gets shared, needs are being met, areas aren’t getting missed and duplication isn’t an issue.
• Sir John reminded us that the scale of the emergency is huge—which means you need a huge humanitarian response. And what a response he’s seen. He said in all the years he’s been doing this type of work, he’s not sure he’s ever witnessed such a large mobilization effort. He said everyone is of course frustrated at how long things take, but this is a classic relief situation: a massive effort that takes some time.
• Logistically, things are turning a corner. Aid is getting out more rapidly—a half a million people have been given food, there’s greater access to water, and search and rescue is winding down. At least 5 field hospitals are up and running, and the port should be ready to go in the next few days. The banking system has collapsed, but a few cash points should be up and limping by today. Airport traffic is also flowing more smoothly. While the US is in control of logistics at the airport, the UN is helping to advise and prioritize flights in and out, with the top priority at the moment going to medical relief teams.
• Aid workers are making the best with what’s available. There’s a massive shortage of office space, so people are finding a nook wherever they can. In many cases, they’re sleeping like sardines on the floor or the ground outside. There is some food and water available and no showers. Workers are mostly just living on what they’ve brought with them.
• Sir John said that while the UN is focused on immediate relief at the moment, they’re hoping to start thinking more long-term, beginning with a cash-for-work program. People would get paid to help clear rubble, provide basic services and repairs, start building houses. He said this is something the UN has done before, but they’d like to do it on an even greater scale. He said they’re committed to making sure that we turn this dreadful disaster into something better, even more sustainable for Haiti.

To listen to the full news briefing, check out this post from the UN Dispatch and look for the video player at the bottom.

Haiti reaction round-up

Jan 19th, 2010 5:54 PM UTC
By Kara Arsenault

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Here’s another round-up of today’s news—including on-the-ground stories, pictures and updates—from our partners and friends on their work in Haiti.

American Red Cross
Read a situation report from President and CEO Gail McGovern.

AmeriCares
Chief of Staff Carol Shattuck recounts her experience on AmeriCares first emergency airlift to help Haiti with earthquake and humanitarian relief.

CARE
A story from the field by Rick Perera.

Catholic Relief Services
CRS turns a golf course into a relief camp in Port-au-Prince.

Concern Worldwide
Program Officer Susan Finucane offers a video update of Concern’s work on the ground in Port-au-Prince.

Leon H. Sullivan Foundation
“In the aftermath of the largest earthquake to hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti in more than two centuries, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation has initiated a relief effort to help meet the population’s immediate needs and participate in long-term efforts to restore normalcy to a country plagued by natural disasters.

“To merely replace the unsound buildings and feed people temporarily will not be enough. My organization is working on projects to help Haiti and its people become more self-sufficient over the long term,” said Hope Masters, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Sullivan Foundation. “We who have so much must never forget to help those who have so little.”

Mercy Corps
Cassandra Nelson, Director of Multimedia Projects, talks with CNN.

Oxfam America
A blog update from staff member Coco McCabe on the ground in San Juan. Also, a video on distributing water in Haiti.

Partners in Health
An on-the-ground update from Dr. Evan Lyon, who has been working at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince since Saturday.

Physicians for Peace
A blog update and photos from Dr. Lisbet Hanson in Haiti. Also, Physicians for Peace will be holding a collection drive in Norfolk, VA this Saturday.

Save the Children
Save the Children sets up child friendly spaces in Haiti.

TransAfrica Forum
An online resource for the latest news on the earthquake and its aftermath. TransAfrica Forum also held a candlelight vigil at the Haitian Embassy in Washington DC earlier this afternoon.

World Food Programme
“Within the next week, we aim to move the equivalent of 10 million ready-to-eat meals so that people whose homes have been destroyed, and who have no access to cooking facilities, can feed their families,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “We are also procuring 4.2 million rations of supplementary ready-to-use foods specifically designed to give children the calories and nutrition they need each day.”

Haiti response round-up

Jan 14th, 2010 5:17 PM UTC
By Kara Arsenault

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Here are a few more updates today from our partners and friends on the effort underway in Haiti:

American Red Cross:
“We are humbled and thankful for the outpouring of support from our blog visitors offering their services to help those in need in Haiti. We committed $200,000 last night, and increased that amount this morning to $1 million.”

AmeriCares:
“AmeriCares is sending $3 million worth of medical aid to survivors of yesterday’s deadly, 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti from our Stamford warehouse. Disaster relief modules stocked with emergency medicines and medical supplies valued at $2 million have been deployed from the Amsterdam warehouse.”

Bread for the World:
An extensive list of where and how to help earthquake victims.

Catholic Relief Services:
“In the Dominican Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, CRS is preparing 10,000 packages, each containing food and water for a family of five. The first 500 are scheduled to be delivered to Port-au-Prince on Friday. Today four CRS staff members are traveling by bus from the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince as CRS begins to increase our presence in Haiti to respond to this unprecedented disaster. CRS has committed an initial $5 million (US) to help survivors of the devastating quake.”

Episcopal Relief and Development:
View a video statement by Presiding Bishop and President of Episcopal Relief & Development.

FEED:
In 2009, WFP School Feeding reached over 400,000 Haitian children in 850 primary schools. FEED is working to maintain WFP School Feeding in Haiti during this critical time.

International Relief & Development:
IRD, a specialist in disaster response and emergency relief operations, has mobilized an emergency response team to Haiti. IRD will focus on the provision of emergency commodities, such as water, sanitation kits, medicines, hygiene kits, and shelter materials.

Islamic Relief:
Islamic Relief USA announced that it will immediately fly a $1 million shipment of aid to Haiti.

Jubilee USA:
Jubilee USA is calling on the Obama administration to take 3 specific steps as part of its comprehensive response to the Haiti earthquake.

Mercy Corps:
A blog post showing satellite images from Port-au-Prince.

Oxfam International:
A six-strong team of Oxfam emergency specialists has been dispatched to Haiti from the UK today to assist the 200 staff who were already stationed in Haiti when the earthquake hit on Tuesday.

Partners in Health:
On the ground reports from staff in Haiti.

Save the Children:
An interview with President and CEO Charles MacCormack.

World Food Programme:
“A WFP food distribution reached 3,000 people in the southern town of Jacmel on Wednesday and, despite logistical difficulties, more distributions were planned for Thursday in three areas of Port-au-Prince with high a population concentration.”

World Vision:
“On Thursday, World Vision will rush 18 metric tons of lifesaving supplies from its warehouse in Denver to Haiti, which was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake Tuesday that affected some 3 million people. Thursday’s shipment will include tarpaulins for temporary shelter, blankets, collapsible water containers, hygiene kits, and cooking sets.” Also, click here to watch an interview with Laura Blank, Media Relations Manager at World Vision.

Yele Haiti:
Wyclef Jean’s nonprofit organization, Yele Haiti, has raised over $1 million for the victims of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake from mobile donations.

World Food Summit Opens

Nov 16th, 2009 2:00 PM UTC
By Beth Adler

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Today marks the opening of the World Food Summit on Global Food Security which is being held in Rome through Wednesday. The meeting, which brings together officials from the UN food security-related institutions (like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] and the World Food Program [WFP]) and an estimated 60 heads of state, is designed to garner political will to address global food insecurity. The UN FAO has asked those in attendance at the Summit to commit $44 billion per year in official development assistance (ODA) for agricultural development, and to adopt 2025 as a deadline for eradicating global hunger.

Over 1 billion people worldwide suffer from food insecurity, and the challenge ahead will only be exacerbated by climate change, population growth, and rural-urban migration. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon cautioned today that food security cannot be tackled without addressing climate change. “Food security and climate change are deeply interconnected,” he said. “Today’s event is critical, so is Copenhagen.” The FAO predicts that we will need to grow 70 percent more food by 2050. At the same time, however, farmers, particularly in places like Africa where crops are rain-fed and rainfall is becoming increasingly erratic, could see drastic declines in harvests.

In the lead-up to the Summit last week there were concerns about attendance and outcomes. News reports indicated that the Summit might not set measurable targets for addressing food insecurity, and a draft communiqué released last week by the FAO contained promising language, but also lacked specific and measurable goals. Thus far at the Summit leaders have only reaffirmed the first Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger and poverty by 2015; it seems unlikely that the UN’s more ambitious targets will be ratified.

In the next few days we’ll update you about happenings at the Summit. The coverage of this event will wrap up our Food Security in Focus series. We hope you’ve enjoyed the content here on the website as much as we’ve enjoyed tracking and writing it! And we will, of course, continue to keep you posted about news in the agriculture and food security sector.

Farming the Future

Check out this post on World Food Day from our partner organization World Food Programme. This post—exploring how the WFP is working to invest in local agriculture—is part of our Food Security in Focus series. Stay tuned to the ONE Blog for more entries in coming days.

-Kara Arsenault

Most of the world’s half-billion smallholder farmers struggle to make food spring from the earth. Hit hardest by the rising tide of natural disasters—and often lacking access to the credit, fertilizers and improved seeds that would boost their resilience— they continually hover a half-step away from ruin.

And yet, whole continents depend on their labors. In sub-Saharan Africa, where some 80 million smallholder farmers (mostly women) supply 80 percent of the food, they are the future.

In 2008, the World Food Programme (WFP) bought $1.1 billion worth of food in 73 developing countries. That same year, we launched a 21-country pilot initiative called Purchase for Progress (P4P), which seeks to leverage our huge purchasing power to the advantage of the smalltime farmers in the poorest countries where we work.

The program, which receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates and Howard G. Buffett Foundations, aims to empower tens of thousands of small-scale farmers to move beyond subsistence— by connecting them to markets. The food WFP buys from the farmers will feed the hungry in the same country. A guaranteed buyer also gives farmers the confidence—and the cash—to invest in their own enterprises.

This formula has already proved a “win-win” for small farmers from Asia to Latin America.

In Nicaragua, we heard from 76-year-old farmer Dionisio Blandon, who can finally afford quality seeds and fertilizers for his 1.4 hectare plot of maize because his P4P-supported cooperative has extended credit—to be repaid after the harvest. He expects his income to increase by 40 percent.

Anne Rono, a mother of seven from Kenya, tells us she’s usually at the mercy of traders who take advantage of small farmers by offering them below-market price for their maize. But this year—thanks to P4P—she’s getting a reliable buyer and a fair price, putting more cash into her hands so she can purchase fertilizer for her fields—and school books and clothing for her kids. In her words: “P4P can change my life.”

Find out more about Purchase for Progress here.

-Jennifer Parmelee, World Food Programme

Zimbabwe still hungry despite increase in crop production

Thanks to good rainfall, Zimbabwe has been able to increase production of maize—the staple crop in the country—by 130% to 1.1 million tons. Despite this increase, however, 2.8 million people will still face food shortages this year, as the UN Food and Agriculture Orgaization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) report. Zimbabwe’s food security situation is still extremely tenuous, with basic necessities out of reach for most households. The report also warned that Zimbabwe could see the lowest-ever wheat harvest this winter due to high seed prices and electricity shortages.

“This year’s improved harvest comes after two consecutive years of poor production,” said the World Food Programme’s Jan Delbaere, who worked on the report, reports AP news agency. “Having depleted their food stocks and sold livestock and other assets to cope with the effects of the recent crises, many rural households are still struggling to survive.”

If you’re curious about the report, you can find it here.

-Beth Adler

The Future of US Food Aid

I recently attended a hearing held by the House Sub-Committee on Africa and Global Health on the effectiveness of US food aid, specifically the use of locally and regionally-procured aid (LRP) as opposed to traditional in-kind aid.

Sub-committee members Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) joined Chairman Donald Payne (D-NJ) to hear testimonies from senior officials from relevant US government offices, including the Government Accountability Office (GAO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Transportation (DoT).

Prior to the testimonies, Payne, Watson, and Woolsey re-iterated the “monumental nature of world hunger,” reflected in the large portion of international aid designated to food assistance. This food aid is largely in the form of US-grown and shipped commodities, or in-kind aid – $2.1 million in 2008. In recent years, however, many are looking to the possibility of local or regionally-procured food aid. The World Food Program (WFP), for example, now almost exclusively employs LRP methods. The sub-committee asked: how effective is LRP and what are its potential challenges?

The hearing coincided with the release of a GAO report on the effectiveness of LRP, which much of the discussion centered around. It found that:

• LRP can be a less expensive method of food assistance: the average cost of WFP’s local procurements in sub-Saharan Africa was 34% lower than the food aid shipped from the United States.
• LRP also arrives more promptly: whereas in-kind food assistance took an average of 147 days to reach its destination, local and regional procurements took 35 and 41 days, respectively.
• Challenges do exist for LRP implementation, including the lack of reliable suppliers, weak legal systems in receiving countries, restrictions on donor funding, and limited infrastructure.

The report also noted the possibility of rising prices due to increasing demand in those regions where food is locally procured – making food more costly to families who already cannot afford it. This lack of reliable market intelligence – when and how to purchase in local markets – could curtail LRP’s success.

It’s important to ask as well, if LRP would stimulate or depress local and regional economies. Bud Philbrook, Deputy Undersecretary at the USDA noted that, “poorly targeted local and regional purchases have the potential to lead to price spikes and shortages of staple foods in source countries.” Too much demand in local markets can overwhelm the market and cause shortages that could harm more than help. The USDA noted that this risk exists for in-kind food aid as well and suggests that, “the best way to mitigate these potential adverse affects is through improved market intelligence.”

Most of the testimonies agreed that LRP could be an effective complement to in-kind aid, rather than a complete substitute. Jon Brause, Deputy Assistant Administrator at USAID explained, “Our U.S.-grown food will continue to play the primary role in meeting global emergency needs. The objective of alternative procurement methods…is to increase the number of tools at our disposal to ensure the greater effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of the U.S. Government humanitarian response – not to overhaul the current in-kind program.”

For more information, check out this Guardian article on the GAO findings.

-Pooja Gupta