Tag Archives: food aid

AMA

New Japanese funding helps WFP sustain school meals and nutrition programmes in Guinea-Bissau

MaraviPost

ROME, Italy, 09 March 2026-/African Media Agency(AMA)/- The Embassy of Japan in Dakar and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today have signed a new food assistance agreement worth JPY 200 million (approximately US$1.32 million) to support food and nutrition assistance in Guinea-Bissau.
This contribution will enable WFP to provide nutritious school meals to approximately 200,000 children nationwide, while also supplying locally produced food supplements and diversified food baskets, including fresh vegetables and fruits to more than 3,000 children under five to help prevent and treat malnutrition.

“We welcome Japan’s continued support, a longstanding partner of WFP in Guinea-Bissau and across the region whose commitment is essential to ensuring that children can continue to access school meals and nutritional support,” said Kinday Samba, WFP’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “We are so grateful to all governments, private sector actors, and institutions that like Japan, support our efforts in protecting the most vulnerable groups during these uncertain times.”

According to the 2025 Global Hunger Index, 22 percent of Guinea-Bissau’s population is undernourished, and nearly one in three children under the age of five suffers from wasting, largely due to limited access to diversified and nutritious diets. Japan’s support comes at a critical time, helping WFP maintain essential programmes amid increasing pressure on food security.

Funding shortfalls during the current school year have already led to a reduction in the number of children receiving daily school meals—from 200,000 to 151,800—and to simplified menus consisting mainly of rice, canned fish and beans, with Japan’s contributions playing a central role in sustaining the programme. Nutrition interventions have also been affected, with the supply of specialized nutritious foods for young children reduced from six months to three months—a 50 percent cut that limits WFP’s capacity to support children during their most critical growth period.

“Japan will continue to engage resolutely in addressing urgent challenges such as hunger and malnutrition, in cooperation with international organizations, including the World Food Programme”, said His Excellency Mr. Takeshi Akamatsu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. “Under all circumstances, the Government of Japan will always place a strong emphasis on humanitarian assistance and continue to implement assistance that is responsive to the needs of the population. Through this support, we hope to deliver food aid to as many people as possible.”

During the 2024–2025 school year, support from the Government of Japan enabled WFP to assist more than 197,000 schoolchildren through the national school feeding programme. In addition, for the first time, Japan’s supplementary emergency funding in 2025 allowed WFP to provide voucher-based food assistance to nearly 2,000 families affected by the 2024 floods in the Oio and Tombali regions.

With this new contribution, WFP will strengthen essential nutrition support while reinforcing local production capacities, through school meals and locally sourced food supplements for young children. This approach is vital for promoting rural development, resilience and more sustainable futures for vulnerable communities.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Word Food Programme

About World Food Programme
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, via @wfp_media

The post New Japanese funding helps WFP sustain school meals and nutrition programmes in Guinea-Bissau appeared first on African Media Agency.

AMA

Families in Sudan pushed to the brink amidst brutal conflict and famine as WFP resources dry up

MaraviPost

ROME, Italy, 15 January 2026-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-As Sudan marks more than 1,000 days of brutal conflict this month, what has become the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis shows no signs of abating. This comes as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is struggling to keep life-saving emergency operations running.

WFP has reached over 10 million of the most vulnerable women, men, and children in Sudan with emergency food, cash, and nutrition assistance since the resurgence of civil conflict in April 2023. The agency continues to deliver life-saving food aid to an average of four million people every month, including in previously hard-to-reach areas across the Darfur and Kordofan regions, and Khartoum and Al Jazira states.

“These hard-earned gains now risk being reversed,” said Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response. “WFP has been forced to reduce rations to the absolute minimum for survival. By the end of March, we will have depleted our food stocks in Sudan. Without immediate additional funding, millions of people will be left without vital food assistance within weeks.“

WFP has teams on-the-ground and the access to scale up and save more lives, funding permitted. Over the last six months, nearly 1.8 million people – in famine or risk of famine areas – have received regular monthly WFP assistance helping to push back hunger in nine locations. Recent breakthroughs, including a joint UN convoy into Kadugli in October, have offered a narrow window to reach families who have been cut off from assistance for months.

After more than two years of fighting, more than 21 million people face acute hunger in Sudan. Famine has been confirmed in parts of the country where months of fighting made access for aid workers largely impossible, and nearly 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes.

Today, 3.7 million children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are also malnourished. Recent surveys indicate record levels of malnutrition in some locations of North Darfur where up to more than half of the young children are malnourished.

“One thousand days of conflict is one thousand days too many. Every single day that fighting continues, families are falling deeper into hunger and communities are pushed further to the brink,” said Smith. “We can turn the tide and avert famine conditions spreading further, but only if we have the funding to support these most vulnerable families.”

WFP urgently requires USD700 million to continue its operations in Sudan from January to June.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Word Food Program

Note to the editor:
Sudan emergency page here
High-resolution photos available here

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, via @wfp_media, @wfp_sudan

The post Families in Sudan pushed to the brink amidst brutal conflict and famine as WFP resources dry up appeared first on African Media Agency.

Lifestyle

Trump’s Shutdown Travel, SNAP Benefits Gap, NYC Mayoral Race

Maravi Post Reporter

President Trump returns to Washington D.C. after a week of international travel and a weekend at his resort in Florida while the government shutdown enters its second month. SNAP benefits ran out over the weekend, leaving millions without food aid as courts press the administration to use emergency funds. And New York City voters head to the polls tomorrow in a heated mayoral race between Zohran Mamdani and former Governor Andrew Cuomo that could shape the future of the Democratic Party.

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Lifestyle

Democrats’ Shutdown Pressure, SNAP Deadline, Nuclear Testing

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Democrats are facing growing pressure to end the government shutdown as millions brace to lose food aid and health care costs surge. A federal judge weighs whether to force the Trump administration to keep SNAP benefits flowing for 42 million Americans as funding runs out. And President Trump says the U.S. should resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time in decades, a move experts warn could reignite a global arms race.

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Lifestyle

Gaza Aid Violence, Harvard On Trial, Congress Redistricting

Maravi Post Reporter

Many Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military fire as they try to get food aid, the Trump administration is in court pushing Harvard University to comply with its demands, and lawmakers in Texas are heading into a special session to try to redraw voting districts for Congress.

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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Bloch, Steve Drummond, Ben Swasey, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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