The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) in Rwanda recently received US$3.6 million from the German Federal Foreign Ministry (GFFO) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). This funding will support ongoing projects targeting the food and nutrition needs of women and children in the refugee community. It will also go toward strengthening government social protection systems to increase food security and smallholder farmers’ incomes.

According to the National Institutes of Health, as much as 80 percent of refugees globally face food insecurity. Support for WFP’s work in Rwanda, which is home to over 127,000 refugees, helps to ensure food and nutrition security for these vulnerable populations, a top priority for WFP.

WFP is working toward their goals of food and nutrition security through their ongoing school feeding activities for refugee and host community children. Additionally, they provide food assistance to newly displaced people. Projects like these enable food and nutrition security for these at-risk populations.

“Chronic malnutrition and anemia continue to affect one third of children below five years of age in Rwanda. With funding from our partners, WFP works with the government to address root causes of this issue,” Lambert Hakizimana, from the Office of the Representative and Country Director for the World Food Programme, tells Food Tank.

Read the full article about food and nutrition in Rwanda by Emily Weaver at Food Tank.