The World Food Programme (WFP) and Egypt’s Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade (MoSIT) has signed a five-year agreement to strengthen social safety nets in support of the food and nutrition needs of the most vulnerable.
WFP will assist the government in identifying key areas where improvements can be made to national supply chains. These improvements would aim to reduce the cost of food supplied through the national subsidy programme and ultimately its price as well as make it more nutritious.
WFP will also work with the government on improving people’s diets with a view to preventing chronic malnutrition among children in the first 1,000 days of their lives as well as among pregnant and nursing women.
WFP Representative and Country Director in Egypt, Menghestab Haile said, “One of our shared objectives through this agreement is reducing food losses by linking farmers, especially smallholder farmers, to improved storage and transportation solutions. We would also build on our past collaboration with the government in food fortification to boost the nutritional value of key food commodities included in the government’s subsidy programme.”
Under the agreement, WFP will also support the government in improving information technology and knowledge management systems for better data quality including the profiles and geographical distribution of people benefiting from the subsidy system. This would ensure targeting of most-rightful recipients of subsidised food as well as beef up monitoring and evaluation of the subsidy system.
The GIS Unit in MoSIT will be used as a tool for geographic targeting; and enhancing the capacity of key government institutions to monitor food security situation and providing timely early warning indicators to decision-makers.
Every day, WFP and its partners work to achieve the vision of a zero-hunger world. In alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals, achieving this vision by 2030 requires WFP to make nutritious food accessible and available all year round as well as eliminate stunting; increase rural economic opportunity; prevent food waste; and promote sustainable agricultural development.
