Is WFP Redundant?

I attended the World Food Programme (WFP) talk last week to understand more about its mission and vision. WFP is one of the largest NGO that provides food aid to people all around the world, particularly Africa. Despite its high profile, it is ironic to find that many countries are not willing to support its cause. One of the main reasons, I am guessing, is that WFP’s mission is analogous to giving fishes to poor and able people rather than teaching them how to fish. In other words, its mission does not make its targeted population self-sufficient/ self-sustainable in the long run. Worse, it may make turn them into a bunch of lazy people who are heavily reliant on external help for survival.

I personally share the views of these countries. And I think we should be contented to find that there’s another UN agency, Food and Agriculture Organization that looks into teaching these people to be self-supporting. However, does this mean that there’s no longer any role for WFP in this world? Well, not really.

We have to understand that it takes time for the measures put in place by Food and Agriculture Organization to yield some results. During the period between implementation and outcome, we still need to provide food to these people and no other agencies can do the job better than WFP.

In addition, we have to consider situations such as natural disasters, wars, etc where the only viable option is to provide direct food aid to the victims.