UN World Food Programme Partnership

While WFP conducts their work using several different food assistance approaches, World Vision partners with them through five main programming types.

General food distribution

General food distribution has been the historic cornerstone of WFP’s approach and remains a fundamental aspect, particularly in fragile contexts or humanitarian crises.

In-kind food assistance helps families to continue eating in the wake of disasters, displacement, during lean seasons or when food supplies are cut off. The foods we distribute are chosen for their ability to prevent malnutrition and provide energy. Distributions may happen across geographical areas or be given to specific groups that are particularly vulnerable. This approach phases out when communities can meet their needs in other ways.

Cash and voucher-based programming

Cash and voucher-based programming is an effective way to improve food security and nutrition in settings where the local market and financial sector is functioning. Cash transfers—provided in forms ranging from physical bank notes to mobile money or vouchers—empower people to prioritize their needs and make purchases accordingly in their own local markets. This upholds their dignity and respects the fact that not all families have the same food needs.

Findings show that when vulnerable households are empowered to choose, they make decisions that improve their food security and wellbeing—as seen in Lebanon, where 91 per cent of families receiving multipurpose cash in 2018 prioritized food, followed by rent and medical fees. Because they permit people to purchase their needs locally, cash transfers help to maintain existing supply chains and strengthen local markets. Between 2009 and 2019, WFP cash transfers injected approximately $6.8 billion US into national economies.

Food or cash for assets

The food or cash for assets approach considers the fact that the world's most vulnerable, food-insecure people often live in fragile contexts prone to disaster, where resources are scarce, and infrastructure or environments may be compromised.

People are provided with cash or food-based transfers that help them to cover their immediate food needs while they work on projects that develop or restore their local assets—this might include constructing roads, rehabilitating land or participating in skills training to manage and maintain the assets. The goal is improving communities' long-term food security and resilience through healthier environments and increased agricultural productivity.

Integrated school feeding

Integrated school feeding programs form an important safety net for girls and boys, improving their access to education, health and nutrition.

The barriers to a complete education are many—but a daily meal at school combats malnutrition while supporting students’ development and cognitive abilities, allowing them to focus on learning. Feeding programs also lessen the burden of vulnerable families.

When out of school, girls become more susceptible to early and forced marriage, early pregnancy and gender-based violence, but the assurance of a meal during the school day provides an incentive for families to keep their children, especially their girls, attending—studies have shown that feeding programs can increase enrolment by an average of 9 per cent.

Improvements in children’s education provide significant advantages for society. Homegrown feeding programs support local economies, with food purchased directly from local farmers and traders. More broadly, WFP cites that every $1 US invested in school feeding yields up to $9 in economic return, because of the health, education and productivity benefits.

Targeted vulnerable group feeding

Through targeted vulnerable group feeding programs, we go beyond the undernutrition addressed through other interventions and focus on all forms of malnutrition.

This approach integrates projects that treat and prevent direct causes of malnutrition—inadequate and insufficient diets—with projects that address root issues—like knowledge gaps in feeding practices or unsafe drinking water. Targeted feeding programs focus on the most vulnerable people, particularly young girls and boys, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and those living with HIV.