Food aid – risk reduction and crisis prevention

Combating undernourishment and malnutrition is a priority for the SDC. With food aid, it uses humanitarian resources to save lives and alleviate suffering.

The SDC's focus

As a contracting party to the Food Assistance Convention, Switzerland provides food aid and contributes to improving global food security. In this area, Swiss Humanitarian Aid works closely with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and NGOs in particular. In 2018, Swiss contributions to the WFP totalled over CHF 75 million and benefited some 27 countries. Over 50% of the contributions addressed hunger crises in Africa, with the rest being spent in the Middle East, Asia, as well as Haiti and Colombia.

In recent years, the Swiss Confederation's food aid programme with Swiss dairy products has been converted into a new, more flexible arrangement, with the aim of reaching as many people in need as possible. In 2017, the SDC supported programmes run by 20 NGOs and three Swiss representations in 16 countries by supplying milk powder worth CHF 7 million from Switzerland. A further CHF 13 million went to the WFP. From 2018, all the funding is being channelled to the WFP. For Algeria and North Korea, where milk powder is the best means of intervention, the WFP purchased the products in Switzerland at the export price.

In addition, compensation of CHF 7 million is earmarked to support nutrition projects in the current dispatch period (2017–20). This money is primarily intended for NGOs that previously received support in the form of milk powder supplies from Switzerland.

Background

Over 820 million people in the world are undernourished. The deterioration in the global food situation is predominantly due to long-running conflicts, often exacerbated by climate shocks such as droughts and floods. The worst-affected areas are conflict zones in sub-Saharan Africa, including Somalia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and north-eastern Nigeria, as well as Yemen and the wider Middle East. People in these countries are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and rely on food aid.

The WFP works mainly with cash payments. These are used to promote the marketing of locally produced food, with the recipients free to choose how this is done.

The international community is increasingly trying to boost the crisis preparedness of people at risk of hunger, by means of targeted action.

Current projects

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Provide support to multi-sectoral needs for vulnerable families in the states of Bolivar and Sucre States

01.06.2023 - 31.12.2024

In cooperation with national and international stakeholders, RET will provide multi sectorial assistance for a total of 7’331 direct beneficiaries in Sucre and Bolívar states, by addressing their basic needs and strengthening opportunities in the sectors of food security and livelihoods, nutrition and health services, as well as in water, sanitation and hygiene; in line with the Humanitarian Response Plan for Venezuela 2022 – 2023 and the SDC Guidance Note for Venezuela 2022 – 2024.


2023 Annual Allocation to WFP Country Strategic Plans - Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023

Against historic levels of food security due to conflicts, climate change and COVID-19, Switzerland supports annually in 28 SDC priority countries operations of the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide humanitarian and development assistance. It funds indistinctively Country Strategic Plans, incorporating all WFP programmes or projects, based on affected population needs and potential synergies with other local partners, especially national governments and civil society.


2023 Annual Allocation to WFP Country Strategic Plans - DRC

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023

Against historic levels of food security due to conflicts, climate change and COVID-19, Switzerland supports annually in 28 SDC priority countries operations of the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide humanitarian and development assistance. It funds indistinctively Country Strategic Plans, incorporating all WFP programmes or projects, based on affected population needs and potential synergies with other local partners, especially national governments and civil society.


2023 Annual Allocation to WFP Country Strategic Plans - Central Africa

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023

Against historic levels of food security due to conflicts, climate change and COVID-19, Switzerland supports annually in 28 SDC priority countries operations of the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide humanitarian and development assistance. It funds indistinctively Country Strategic Plans, incorporating all WFP programmes or projects, based on affected population needs and potential synergies with other local partners, especially national governments and civil society.


2023 Annual Allocation to WFP Country Strategic Plans - Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023

Against historic levels of food security due to conflicts, climate change and COVID-19, Switzerland supports annually in 28 SDC priority countries operations of the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide humanitarian and development assistance. It funds indistinctively Country Strategic Plans, incorporating all WFP programmes or projects, based on affected population needs and potential synergies with other local partners, especially national governments and civil society.


2023 Annual Allocation to WFP Country Strategic Plans - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023

Against historic levels of food security due to conflicts, climate change and COVID-19, Switzerland supports annually in 28 SDC priority countries operations of the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide humanitarian and development assistance. It funds indistinctively Country Strategic Plans, incorporating all WFP programmes or projects, based on affected population needs and potential synergies with other local partners, especially national governments and civil society.


2023 Additional Allocation to WFP Country Strategic Plans, DRC

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023

Against historic levels of food security due to conflicts, climate change and COVID-19, Switzerland supports annually in 28 SDC priority countries operations of the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide humanitarian and development assistance. It funds indistinctively Country Strategic Plans, incorporating all WFP programmes or projects, based on affected population needs and potential synergies with other local partners, especially national governments and civil society.


2023 Annual Allocation to WFP Country Strategic Plans - Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023

Against historic levels of food security due to conflicts, climate change and COVID-19, Switzerland supports annually in 28 SDC priority countries operations of the World Food Programme to provide humanitarian and development assistance. It funds indistinctively Country Strategic Plans, incorporating all WFP programmes or projects, based on affected population needs and potential synergies with other local partners, especially national governments and civil society.


WFP, Hurrican Ian Response, Cuba

01.12.2022 - 31.05.2024

Hurricane Ian has caused significant losses in the agricultural and fishing sector limiting the availability and access to food and affecting the livelihoods of the population in the provinces Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Mayabeque and Isla de la Juventud. With its contribution to the World Food Programme through the United Nations Plan of Action, SDC helps providing food assistance and restore food production and livelihoods to meet the needs of 798’000 severely affected people in those provinces.


Appui aux ménages en situation d’ultra-pauvreté à Belle-Anse, Sud-Est Haiti

15.11.2022 - 31.05.2024

Près de 10% de la population haïtienne vit en ultra-pauvreté. Avec sa contribution au programme Chemen lavi Miyò (CLM), la Suisse répond aux besoins humanitaires et de relèvement en appuyant 200 ménages dans le Sud-Est pour les faire sortir de l’ultra-pauvreté. L’approche capitalise sur l’expérience de la Suisse et ses partenaires en Haïti et vise à réduire les inégalités, l’insécurité alimentaire et la vulnérabilité aux catastrophes naturelles.


WFP: Food assistance in Cauca. Strengthening food sovereignty and autonomy of the Nasa people

01.11.2022 - 31.10.2023

Due to the protracted armed conflict, many indigenous communities in the department of Cauca remain in a situation of vulnerability and food security crisis. The situation has worsened by internal challenges to consolidate peace, as well as by the impact of climate change, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the effects of the Ukraine crisis.

In this scenario, SDC will support WFP with additional resources to complement its early recovery actions in favor of vulnerable communities, under the principle of saving lives, fostering recovery processes and strengthening their livelihoods, thus improving the food security of communities.


RBCM - Solidar Suisse Resilience Building in Central Mozambique

01.12.2021 - 30.06.2023

After having provided emergency relief and recovery support (response to Idai 2019, Chalane 2020, Eloise 2021), Solidar Suisse is assisting climate change and conflict related displaced persons and host communities in Central Mozambique with durable solutions mainly in the sectors of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), housing, and agricultural production, thus increasing resilience and enabling the beneficiaries to resume a normal life.

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