About World Food Programme

• The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. 
• Assisting almost 100 million people in around 83 countries each year, the WFP responds to emergencies making sure food reaches where it is needed, especially in times of civil strife and natural disasters. 
• The organisation has widened its operational remit and is now a leading provider of not just emergency food aid but also an agency engaged in supporting the nutritional requirements of communities through food assistance programmes. These vary from supporting school meals projects in different countries, including India, to the provision of cash and vouchers as a complement to in-kind food distributions.
• WFP is funded entirely by voluntary donations, most of which comes from governments. 
• Established in 1961, WFP is headquartered in Rome, Italy.
• It works closely with the other two Rome-based UN agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which helps countries draw up policy and change legislation to support sustainable agriculture, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which finances projects in poor rural areas.

Why in News?

• India has signed an agreement with the United Nation’s World Food Programme for the distribution of 50,000 MT of wheat that it has committed to sending to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian assistance.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-signs-mou-to-hand-over-wheat-to-wfp-in-kandahar/article38420123.ece