India and World Food Programme (WFP)

Context: Recently, India signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for the distribution of 50,000 MT of wheat that it has committed to sending to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian assistance.

• The wheat will eventually be divided into five batches of 10,000 MT, to be distributed across the country on approximately 200 trucks that are run by WFP.

About Wheat Agreement 

• The wheat will be taken through Pakistan to the Afghan border crossing and handed over to WFP officials in Kandahar beginning February 2022.
• Iran has also offered to facilitate some of the wheat through Chabahar port and then on to Afghanistan’s border via Zahedan.

About UN WFP

• The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.
• Born in 1961, the WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminating the need for food aid itself.
• It is a member of the United Nations Development Group and part of its Executive Committee.
• WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS.

Major Objectives

• To end hunger by protecting access to food.
• Improving nutrition and achieving food security.
• Supporting the SDG implementation and partnering for its results.
• To focus on emergency assistance as well as rehabilitation and development aid.

Major Reports: Global Report on Food Crisis.
About “World Hunger Map”

• Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba is working with WFP to develop digital “World Hunger Map”.
• The map will help to monitor global hunger and operations to end scourge by 2030 which is one of UN’s key Sustainable Development goals.
• It also aims to boost efficiency of interventions and shorten emergency response times.