The WFP CoE continuously supports 30 countries in developing capacity to achieve Zero Hunger. Depending on the national contexts and demands, some countries require even closer technical assistance and remote support. In 2018, 17 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Lao, Liberia, Mozambique, Nepal, Kenya, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Togo) were directly supported by the WFP Centre to strengthen national capacities to promote sustainable development. Concrete outcomes from this capacity strengthening support enhanced national school feeding policies, programmes, and system components.
The WFP Centre has provided specific support to seven countries in taking ownership of their school feeding programmes through South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives. It also started to support four African countries in connecting smallholder farmers producing food along with cotton to institutional markets, including school feeding programmes.
Funding for all these activities come from various sources, including the countries that are cooperating with the WFP Centre of Excellence. Each country that engages in South-South cooperation needs to invest human and financial resources for the activities to succeed, and their motivation is to access knowledge, skills, and resources that would not be available to them otherwise. Brazil and all 30 countries involved in the WFP Centre of Excellence’s activities benefit from a network of experts, resources, technology, and opportunities that help to recognize and responding to the problems and requirements of each country towards sustainable development.
The WFP Centre organized, co-organized, or participated in 20 high-level events to strengthen advocacy for South-South cooperation, Zero Hunger and school feeding. This is part of the WFP Centre’s strategy to engage new partners and strengthen governments’ commitment to improving nutrition, expanding school feeding, and overcoming hunger. These events help positioning the WFP Centre of Excellence, the World Food Programme and Brazil as key players in the international cooperation arena. They are also an opportunity for partner countries to share their experiences and showcase their accomplishments.