Food for nutrition: mainstreaming nutrition in WFP

Most preventable deaths among hungry people take place outside of emergency contexts. In countries not involved in conflicts or natural disasters malnutrition is directly implicated in the deaths of millions of children and mothers each year. Thus, WFP's great efforts focused on saving lives in emergencies should be mirrored by efforts aimed at tackling malnutrition, and hence saving lives, beyond emergencies as well. While food sufficiency is not the same as good nutrition, food is nevertheless an important part of the nutrition equation. New scientific evidence confirms that it is possible to have positive nutritional impacts with food aid. Consistent with Strategic Priority No. 3, WFP seeks to use food resources to achieve nutritional impacts in three complementary ways: a) enhancing the effectiveness and impact of targeted mother and child health and nutrition interventions (MCHN) that combine food and appropriate nonfood inputs; b) enhancing the nutritional value of WFP food (for instance, through micronutrient fortification); and c) enhancing the nutritional impact of other WFP (non-MCHN) interventions. These approaches represent a mainstreaming of nutrition across WFP's activities. Adoption of evidence-based programming, joint interventions with partners, and new project designs offer the promise of greater WFP effectiveness and impact in the coming years.