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Food for Peace

Addressing food security crises in Eastern and Central Africa

Food for Peace

U.S. support for overseas food aid was formalized in the Agricultural and Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as P.L. 480 or “Food for Peace.” On a global level, more than 800 million people today are chronically undernourished, and more than 180 million children are significantly underweight. For the United States Government, reducing the number of chronically undernourished and underweight people throughout the world is both a humanitarian concern and a strategic goal. The P.L. 480 Title II program, administered by USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP), is the largest source of resources within the U.S. Government available to focus on the problem of food insecurity in the developing world.

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The United States through USAID/FFP is the largest donor of food aid to the U.N. World Food Program.  WFP is our main partner in providing emergency food aid needs.  The food aid provided by the United States Government has helped save many lives, as well as addressing the effects of malnutrition.   Some of the highlights of the EA/FFP office are:

Food For Peace’s Fiscal Year 2010 Regional Impact

  • The EA/FFP office provided oversight to over 1 million metric tons of food aid worth $960 million to eleven countries in Eastern and Central Africa;
  • Provided technical assistance in the design of country specific guidance for Multi-Year Assistance Programs (MYAP) to bilateral Missions in Sudan, Ethiopia and DRC; 
  • Extensive monitoring in  Somalia, Djibouti and Chad;
  • Conducted a program review of two MYAPs in Uganda resulting in revised targeting and anthropometric selection criteria for Supplementary Feeding Program;
  • Developed a Refugee Livelihood Assessment tool for use by FFP officers in situational assessments and program reviews; 
  • Conducted trainings on FFP’s newly (re)launched Quarterly Web Interfaced Commodity Reporting (QWICR) system in Uganda; and
  • Assisted the Office of Assistance and Acquisition, Washington in performing an inspection of pre-positioning storage facilities in Mombasa, Kenya.

Note: 

94% of food aid is used to address emergencies such as:

a)      Direct feeding of refugees
b)      IDPs/vulnerable pops
c)      Small % of funds used for development programs supporting livelihoods of vulnerable pops including health, agriculture, nutrition, education, income generation, support to people with HIV/AIDS.

The East Africa Regional FFP team directly manages food aid programs in two limited presence countries:  Djibouti and Somalia.

 

 
  • qwicr.com - QWICR is a secure, online Title II commodity reporting system accessible to USAID Missions, PVO Cooperating Sponsors and Food for Peace Officers. QWICR provides PVO Cooperating Sponsors with a "quicker" Office of Food for Peace Regulation 11-compliant reporting platform.
Another scene of food distribution in Dadaab Refugee Camp that is supported by the American People.

Photo: USAID/EA

Another scene of food distribution in Dadaab Refugee Camp that is supported by the American People.

As drought intensifies in the Horn of Africa, new arrivals to the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya collect food supplies provided by the American People.

Photo: World Food Program

As drought intensifies in the Horn of Africa, new arrivals to the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya collect food supplies provided by the American People.

Community members standing next to a USAID-funded  generator that supplies power to the borehole. The generator was supplied by USAID during the 2009 drought response.  One of the concerns raised by communities was the lack of money to purchase diesel to run the generator, the amount of wear on the generators as more people need to use the borehole due to lack of ground water resources, and the lack of skilled machinists to maintain the generators.

Photo: USAID/EA

Community members standing next to a USAID-funded generator that supplies power to the borehole. The generator was supplied by USAID during the 2009 drought response. One of the concerns raised by communities was the lack of money to purchase diesel to run the generator, the amount of wear on the generators as more people need to use the borehole due to lack of ground water resources, and the lack of skilled machinists to maintain the generators.

A pastoralist from Kajiado, Kenya brought his cattle to a water point visited by the assessment team.

Photo: USAID/East Africa

A pastoralist from Kajiado, Kenya brought his cattle to a water point visited by the assessment team.

Refugees in Dadaab Camp.

Photo: USAID/East Africa

Refugees in Dadaab Camp.

WFP food distribution in El Berde, Bakool region, Somalia.

Photo: WFP – Peter Smerdon

WFP food distribution in El Berde, Bakool region, Somalia.

People unload bags of food on the beach in Somalia.

Photo: WFP

Bags of food are offloaded on the beach in Somalia. Since September 2007 the U.S. government has provided over $53 million in food aid to the people of Somalia.

Opening of Food Pre-Positioning Warehouse in Djibout

Photo: USAID/Djibouti

In Djibouti USAID Assistant Administrator Kate Almquist and Djibouti Prime Minister Dileita open the first food pre-positioning warehouse in Africa. Food For Peace supports vulnerable people in Djibouti and throughout East Africa.

Food distribution

Photo: Anita Oberai

Food aid is distributed in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Since the beginning of the year, more Sudanese refugees have been able to return to their home country.

Children in school in Djibout

Photo: FFP

Food For Peace assists in conducting health, hygiene and nutrition education in schools, in addition to the school feeding programs.

Women wait for food assistance.

Photo: FFP

Food For Peace beneficiaries line up for food assistance. In Somalia, USG humanitarian assistance is provided through UN agencies and NGOs.

Children wait for food distribution.

Photo: FFP

Children wait for food distribution in Mogadishu, Somalia. Households in many parts of Somalia are now extremely food insecure.

Trucks waiting at the Kenya/Somalia border to cross

Photo: Courtesy WFP

Trucks waiting at the Kenya/Somalia border to cross into Somalia with food aid

Cattle recently moved to Bor town for safekeeping from Murle raiders from neighboring Pibor

Cattle recently moved to Bor town for safekeeping from Murle raiders from neighboring Pibor. The stability that Sudan requires remains elusive for many communities.

Refugees at a UNHCR registration center in Djibouti

Refugees at a UNHCR registration center in Ali Addeh camp in Djibouti

Michael Hess at Dadaab Refugee Camp

Photo: Tiare Cross, OFDA

Michael Hess at Dadaab Refugee Camp

Man standing on bags of food.

Photo: Myra Vinner

Food For Peace

Reclaimed field.

Photo: CARE

After: With assistance from USAID, communities rehabilitated irrigation systems, reclaimed the basin surface.

Flooded valley.

Photo: CARE

Before: The rudimentary irrigation system in this valley had broken down.

People walking through flood waters.

Photo: AFP

Heavy rains in October caused flooding at Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. With parts of the camp destroyed, refugees were forced to move to higher ground where they constructed make-shift shelters out of plastic bags and cardboard boxes.

People cultivating in a field

Children line up for food at school feeding program

Photo: FFP

The School Feeding Program provides children with nutritious food every day.

People distributing food at center.

Photo: FFP

Children line up for a meal at the School Feeding Program at Excel Primary School in Kangemi Slums, Nairobi.

Girl with food.

Photo: FFP

A school feeding program in Nairobi's slums means students have more energy to concentrate.

People at feeding center.

Photo: FFP

Rations are prepared at a food aid center in Uganda. The Famine Early Warning System Network helps guide Food Aid and Food Security decisions in East and Central Africa.

Peaple at Food Distribution Center

Photo: Food for Peace

Food For Peace rations are prepared for distribution in Uganda.

Boy transporting food aid on bicycle

Photo: Food For Peace

A young boy transports Food Aid rations to his home. FFP combines direct assistance programs with activities that help households become less vulnerable.

Woman holding child.

Photo: Food For Peace

In Burundi, Food for Peace helps mothers feed their children.

Women and children sitting.

Women and children wait for food distribution at a Food for Peace Distribution Center.

Women feeding children.

Photo: Leslie Rose/USAID

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