The World Food Programme (WFP) has implemented a new food-distribution concept in North Darfur with the goal of providing more autonomy to the agency’s beneficiaries, all of whom have been affected in one way or another by Darfur’s long years of conflict. The time when the World Food Programme distributed food only from trucks is passing. Now, the agency has embraced a newer and more community-based method of food distribution designed to stimulate local economies: the voucher system.

 

The most important element of this new system is a piece of paper that beneficiaries receive from WFP personnel to exchange for their preferred food at designated markets. WFP officials say this new system offers several benefits over the traditional truck-distribution method. While WFP’s traditional method of food delivery is still applied in certain crisis situations and especially in regions of the world without the infrastructure needed to produce enough food for the people living there, the truck-delivery system requires significant operational overhead. 

 

The voucher programme, highlighted in this photo story, transfers the food-distribution responsibilities to Darfuris themselves, who decide how they will use WFP’s assistance with the vouchers they receive. The beneficiaries typically exchange their vouchers at local markets for staples such as sugar, oil, millet, flour, lentils and even soap. In this way, the system sidesteps some of the logistical challenges associated with distributing food by truck to a large number of people across Darfur.

 

Read the full article in the May issue of Voices of Darfur. Download the magazine (PDF) here.