Partnering with WFP
The World Food Programme (WFP) is a humanitarian organization providing food assistance to people affected by conflicts, natural disasters and the impacts of climate change. WFP’s efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid and special operations, and the organization also provides logistic services to the entire humanitarian community, including passenger air transportation through the UN Humanitarian Air Service.
Building on a longstanding and robust collaboration, WFP and FAO share a common vision of promoting food security by alleviating hunger for vulnerable communities worldwide through food assistance while working to eliminate its root causes through resilience focused programming.
Importantly, FAO and WFP lead on the development and implementation of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is a multi-partner initiative for improving food security analysis and decision making at global, regional, and country level.
Global Frameworks
In August 2023, FAO, IFAD, and WFP, known collectively as the Rome-Based Agencies (RBAs), signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a period of five years.
The MoU enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the agencies’ contribution to food security and nutrition, and in particular, the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.
The MoU outlines six thematic areas in which the RBAs agree to enhance collaboration: agrifood systems; nutrition; gender equality and women’s empowerment; resilience building; youth; and climate change, environment, and biodiversity.
However, this does not preclude the RBAs from exploring collaboration in other areas of mutual interest where there is a clear comparative advantage and the benefits of collaboration outweigh the costs.
The MoU also states that the RBAs’ collaborative efforts will be underpinned by science and innovation; strong data and analysis; knowledge sharing; awareness raising; and joint resource mobilization, communication, and advocacy.
Memberships
FAO and WFP are Members of several groups and initiatives at both global and country-level to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Below are a few highlights:
Both organizations are Members of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), a high-level forum for joint policy formation and decision-making, which guides, supports, tracks and oversees the coordination of development operations in countries and territories across the world.
Since 1974, FAO, WFP and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) provide technical support to the Committee on World Food Security, which is the foremost inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all stakeholders to work together to ensure food security and nutrition for all.
Together with the European Union, FAO and WFP are Founding Members of the Global Network Against Food Crisis, which is an alliance of humanitarian and development actors united by the commitment to tackle the root causes of food crises and promote sustainable solutions through shared analysis and knowledge, strengthened coordination in evidence-based responses and collective efforts across the Humanitarian, Development and Peace (HDP) nexus.
Both FAO and WFP chair the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), which serves as the longest-standing and highest-level humanitarian coordination forum of the United Nations. The IASC brings together the executive heads of several organizations and consortia to formulate policy, set strategic priorities and mobilize resources in response to humanitarian crises.
FAO and WFP co-lead the Food Security Cluster (FSC), which was established to coordinate the food security response during a humanitarian crisis, addressing issues of food availability, access and utilisation. The FSC works with national and regional cluster systems in both sudden onset disasters, be they from natural or human causes, and long-running crises.
FAO and WFP are also Members of UN-Nutrition, whose mission is to coordinate and leverage the response of UN agencies to address malnutrition in all its forms, along with its root causes. UN-Nutrition is universal in scope, working to safeguard the nutrition of all people in all countries.
International Observances
The United Nations designates specific days, weeks, years and decades as occasions to mark particular events or topics in order to promote, through awareness and action, the objectives of the Organization.
In 2026, FAO, together with WFP and IFAD, will facilitate the implementation and observance of the International Year of the Woman Farmer. The occasion will serve as a platform for the adoption of effective policies and actions against the barriers and challenges that women farmers face across agrifood systems, as well as to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women in agriculture.
Flagship Reports
FAO and WFP, together with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO), jointly produce the annual flagship report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).
The report monitors and analyses the world’s progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition. It also provides in-depth analysis on key challenges for achieving these goals in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Useful Links and Resources
Contacts
Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division (PSU)
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Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER)
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