27 October 2010, Kabul - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan today marks World Food Day by celebrating the bold leadership and outstanding contributions of national governments toward lasting solutions to hunger and malnutrition.

“When we act together we have the power to bring about real change in the lives of millions of people who would otherwise struggle to feed their families,” said WFP Deputy Executive Director for Hunger Solutions, Sheila Sisulu. “Through our partnerships with governments, local authorities and small-scale farmers, WFP is helping to roll out innovative programmes that boost nutrition, and build sustainable solutions to hunger.”

Just last month, the government of Cape Verde took over full ownership of the national school meals programme after more than three decades of cooperation with WFP. The transition is a glowing example of a country-led solution to hunger, and maintains a programme that helps children to develop healthy minds and bodies while investing in the future of Cape Verde and its people.

“Leaders are seizing the opportunity to align effective policies, programmes and resources behind national and regional priorities,” Sisulu added, highlighting the impact of comprehensive national strategies designed to boost farm production, improve nutrition, strengthen social protection systems and ensure that children have access to the right food at the right time.

“Afghanistan is currently one of the most food-insecure countries on Earth, and to change that WFP is working more closely than ever with our government partners to fight hunger through sustainable programmes that can eventually be fully ‘Afghanized,’” said Bradley Guerrant, WFP’s Deputy Country Director and Officer-in-Charge.

With unparalleled deep field presence in more than 70 countries around the world and more than four decades of experience meeting the food and nutritional needs of women, children and families, WFP is proud to work closely with national governments, foundations, private sector businesses, NGOs and others to inform the development of country-led food security plans and support their successful execution.

In many of the regions where WFP works, countries are leading the way in developing food and nutrition safety nets. WFP plays a vital supporting role by providing the expertise, resources to design, scale up and connect these sustainable and innovative programmes and transform a bold vision for lasting food security into a concrete reality for many in need.

The theme of this year’s World Food Day - “United Against Hunger” – was chosen to recognise efforts made in the fight against hunger at national, regional and international levels. WFP’s contribution to country-led food security plans builds on this theme through the deployment of an array of innovative tools that vary from country to country. All are focused on harnessing agricultural potential to improve access to the nutritious food that is the building block of life. Examples include:

AFGHANISTAN – WFP’s innovative Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative uses WFP’s purchasing power to help connect farmers and food producers to markets and enhance agricultural production. In Afghanistan, this means that WFP is buying more than 6,000 metric tonnes of wheat directly from small-scale farmers and farmers’ organizations this year. WFP is also working with local factory partners to, for the first time, produce in Afghanistan some of the fortified biscuits distributed to schoolchildren.

EGYPT –WFP and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) have been working with the government of Egypt on a nationwide project to fortify wheat flour – the basic ingredient in the staple food, baladi bread – and thereby protect 50 million Egyptians from anaemia and other micronutrient deficiencies. The successful implementation of the flour fortification programme resulted in the Government of Egypt's adoption of a new national programme with WFP to fortify subsidized vegetable oil with vitamins A and D, reaching over 60 million Egyptians.

GHANA – WFP’s school meals programme in Ghana now provides midday meals for 150,000 children a day, using food that is grown by Ghanaian farmers. Working with the government and purchasing school meal food locally, WFP is supporting education, increasing the income of local farmers and reducing short-term hunger and malnutrition by providing food fortified with vitamins and minerals.

BANGLADESH – WFP is working closely with the Government of Bangladesh to build community resilience to natural disasters. Climate change adaptation strategies have already resulted in 30,000 homesteads being raised above flood levels, and 1.6 million women being trained in disaster preparedness. This partnership has spanned 30 years, during which time 26,000 km of raised rural roads have been built keeping millions of people linked with markets during floods, and 17,000 km of river and coastal embankments constructed/rehabilitated, protecting agricultural land from salt water intrusion, siltation and erosion.