About Food for Work

Food for Work is a program that provides food for people in impoverished countries as payment for services within the community. The World Food Programme (WFP) started Food for Work, also called Food for Assets. The organization created by the United Nations aims to fight hunger by teaching self-sustaining practices. This program is one of many WFP works with deprived people to create sustainable living systems. WFP works with other organizations and missionary projects to further reach communities.

History

The Food and Agriculture Organization and U.N. General Assembly founded the World Food Programme in 1963. Based in Rome, WFP aims to provide access to food for the world's poorest people. Since the organization's beginning, WFP has fed more than 1.4 billion people, according to its website. Resources are based on donations, with the majority from government assistance. Disaster relief and rebuilding war-torn communities have been major areas of need around the world.

Function

Food for Work/Food for Assets reaches the poorest areas of the world to feed communities while reducing the cycle of poverty. The goal is to provide for malnourished families, to create rebuilding projects for the community otherwise neglected. With food as wages, farmers can work on irrigation systems to increase crop yields and sustainability. The idea is families can focus on creating a self-sustaining community to combat hunger in the future, not just the present.

Facts

About 960 million people around the globe lack food, according to WFP. Food for Work/Food for Training delivered food to 17.1 million people in 2007. In 2009, the group's goal was to deliver food to 100 million people in 80 countries.

Programs

Food for Work offers food for work on farming or building projects. Food for Training programs provide food for people to learn new work skills and education. This program offers impoverished people the opportunity to learn trades, such as gardening, sewing and building. WFP also buys food from local farmers for competitive process in a program called Food for Progress. This system allows for faster ration distribution and invests money locally, according to WFP.

Size

WFP works from Africa and the Middle East across to Latin America and Asia. The program acted in 78 countries in 2008. Countries dealing with war and natural disasters, therefore in a food shortage, receive vital attention. Areas such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ghana received aid in recent years.

Food Rations

Each person receives food rations of 2,100 calories per day. Food rations consist of cereals (wheat, corn, rice), beans, salt, sugar and bread or high-energy biscuits. In an emergency situation, about 57 truckloads of food can feed 100,000 people for a month, according to WFP. About 3,000 non-governmental organizations worldwide partner with WFP to distribute food.

Resources

• World Food Programme