Context
In Gaza, Palestine's most populous city, 64.4% of the population is food insecure. Under Israeli occupation, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians depend on food aid to lift them out of extreme poverty, compounded by one of the highest unemployment rates in the world and a stagnant economy. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been helping to meet the Palestinians' food needs since 1991.
However, the resources allocated to the WFP are no longer sufficient to meet the growing food needs of the Palestinians. To make up for this shortfall, Germany is stepping up its support with an additional contribution of 3 million dollars.
The project
The UN agency WFP operates in 120 countries and is funded by donations from around 60 governments, companies and individuals. In Palestine, the largest donor is Germany, with total contributions of $56 million since 2018.
Food aid takes the form of food vouchers paid to the most vulnerable families. These food vouchers enable them to buy nutritious food (fresh dairy products, eggs, vegetables and meat) from 308 local retailers. This scheme gives people freedom of choice, respects their dignity and has a positive impact on the local economy.
Thanks to Germany's support in 2022, the WFP was able to maintain its aid during this difficult period, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis, reaching more than 270,000 non-refugee Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Little Extra
The WFP is diversifying its actions to improve food security in the country:
- In-kind donations (2,240 tonnes of wheat flour, chickpeas, lentils and vegetable oil) for 73,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank;
- Technical expertise and the loan of a cash transfer platform to national institutions and other humanitarian agencies to provide additional assistance to 640,000 people in Gaza;
- Support for the fishing industry by training young people in Gaza to build boats.
Sources :
This fact sheet was written by Lucile Lucas, student at Bordeaux Sciences Agro in 2022-2023.
Last modification : 15 Jun 2023.
World Food Programme (WPF)
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organisation fighting hunger. It responds to emergencies and uses food aid to build a path to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disaster and the impact of climate change.