14 June 2008 - The United Nations World Food Programme has chalked out a strategic plan to solve the global good crisis. Under the plan, more than two billion dollars are going to be spent on food, transport and staff in the developing world.

A FOUR-year strategic plan to tackle the soaring hunger caused by global food crisis has been announced by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Josette Sheeran, WFP’s executive director, said on Friday that the strategic plan marks a revolution in food aid. It supports local markets in breaking the cycle of hunger.

Calling it an 80-80-80 solution, Sheeran told WFP Board in Rome that ’80 per cent of our cash for food is spent in the developing world, 80 per cent of our ground transport is procured in the developing world, and 80 per cent of our staff is hired locally in the developing world’.

More than two billion dollars are spent by WFP on food, transport and staff in the developing world.

The new plan has put emphasis on life-saving emergency aid. It focusses on prevention, local purchase of food, and using targetted cash and voucher programme.

The announcement of WFP’s four year strategic plan follows last week’s High-Level Conference on World Food Security in Rome, where world leaders gathered to discuss hunger and agriculture-development issues against the backdrop of high global food and fuel prices.

The tools laid out in the plan include early warning systems and vulnerability analysis, as well as preparedness and disaster reduction and mitigation, and effective emergency response in life-saving situations.

The plan also includes spending - to strengthen smallholder farming, local transport and communication networks, as well as school meals and support for mother-and-child health and nutrition programmes.

Last year, WFP used its cash resources to purchase $612 million worth of food in 69 developing countries.

Source: world.merinews