G/AG/GEN/221  
 
20 June 2023  
(23-4208) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Agriculture  Original: English  
 
BACKGROUND DOCUMENT TO THE 105TH WTO REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE 
ON AGRICULTURE (27 -28 JUNE 2023)  
Submission by World Food Programme (WFP)  
The following submission, dated 19 June 2023, is being circulated at the request of the World Food 
Programme (WFP).  
 
_______________  
 
 
1  RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GLOBAL FOOD INSECURITY  
1.1.  The hunger and malnutrition crisis continues to be driven by various converging factors: 
conflict, climate extreme s, economic shocks and soaring fertilizer prices that disrupt food production. 
In 79 countries with World Food Programme (WFP) operational presence and available data, 
345 million people are estimated to be acutely food insecure in 2023.1 
1.2.  Net-food importi ng developing countries ( NFIDCs )2 are home to 245 million – or three out of 
four – acutely food insecure people. All countries with population expected to fall in famine -like 
conditions ( IPC phase 5) in 2023 belong to the group of NFIDCs. These are Burkina Faso, Mali, 
Somalia and South Sudan.3  
1.3.  Organized violence and conflict continue to constitute key drivers of acute food insecurity in 
most of the world's food crises .4 Armed violence severely limits the ability of people to meet their 
food requirements, disrupting access to basic services and hampering the ability of humanitarian 
actors to reach communities in need. In addition to being strongly correlated, conflict and  food 
insecurity also contribute to population displacement.  
1.4.  The May 2023 Hunger Hotspots report , jointly prepared by WFP and t he Food and Agriculture 
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), underscored that weather extremes remain significant 
drivers of food insecurity in some countries and regions. The May 2023 forecast suggests a major 
risk of El Niño conditions leading to mo re climate extremes, particularly in Central America .5 
1.5.  The global economy is expected to slow down in 2023, amid monetary tightening in advanced 
economies, increasing cost of credit affecting emerging and developing economies, and persistently 
high intern ational commodity prices .6 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects global GDP 
growth at 2.8 % in 2023, the lowest value in the last ten years besides the COVID -19-induced plunge 
in 2020. The slowdown in global growth could have a particular impact o n low‑ and middle ‑income 
countries that rely heavily on exports to advanced economies .7 
 
1 WFP, February 2023, WFP Global Operational Response Plan: Update #7 – February 2023 . 
2 WTO, WTO list of NFIDCs for the purposes of the Marrakesh Ministerial Decision on measures 
concerning the possible negative effects of the reform programme on LDCs and NFIDCs . 
3 Integrated Food  Security Phase Classification . 
4 FAO and WFP, Hunger Hotspots Report, May 2023, https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP -
0000149627/download/?_ga=2.177577445.173834769.1686563187 -452813577.1576669866 . 
5 Ibidem. 
6 International Monetary Fund, 2023, World Economic Outlook April 2023. Washington, DC, 
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/04/ 11/world -economic -outlook -april-2023. 
7 Ibidem . G/AG/GEN/221  
 
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  1.6.  Despite a continuous decrease since April 2022, international prices for basic foodstuffs remain 
very high. The FAO Food Price Index of May 2023 stood 23 % above that of December 2019, but 
22.1% below its peak in March 2022.  
1.7.  Despite the overall decline in international food prices, the same effect has not been felt equally 
across domestic markets. Over the past year, inflation of food prices climbed 15 % or more in  
60 countries, including Argentina, Lebanon, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Zimbabwe, where 
prices more than doubled. Inflation further reduces access to food for many poor households 
worldwide .8 
1.8.  Among poor countries reliant on food imports, with tu mbling currencies and high food inflation, 
those with debt issues are in the most vulnerable position. In February 2023, the United Nations 
Development Programme (UNDP) identified 52 developing economies suffering from severe debt 
issues. Among these, 36 c ountries are NFIDCs .9 
1.9.  The Black Sea Grain Initiative  (BSGI), signed in July 2022, has helped  bring international prices 
of staple foodstuffs down for all countries reliant on imports – as well as for WFP. As of 13  June 2023, 
the UN Joint Coordination Centre has facilitated the outbound passage of over 31.5  million metric 
tonnes of food commoditie s, helping push global food prices down from their peak.10 
1.10.  As of early June 2023, 21 WFP -chartered vessels have sailed under the Initiative, carrying 
625,000  metric ton nes of grain to support WFP operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, 
Sudan a nd Yemen. While the BSGI was recently renewed until July 2023, there are concerns about 
new market disruptions in case of delays for future extensions.  
2  WFP RESPONSE TO THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS  
2.1.  With reference to the Work Plan of the WTO Committee on Agricult ure (documents G/AG/35 
and G/AG/W/233 ), updates are provided on three areas: food assistance, resilience strengthening, 
and partnerships with other international organizations.  
2.2.  As we are witnessing an unprecedented global food crisis, WFP works with its pa rtners to 
provide food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable populations, scaling up operations to 
address critical new needs. From 1 January to 8 June 2023, the food procured by WFP amounted to 
1.4 million metric ton nes, valued at USD 1.1 billio n. Over two -third (68%) of these food purchases 
(both in terms of volume and value) was from LDCs and NFIDCs. The full breakdown by country is 
contained in Annex 1.11 
2.3.  Since the approval of WFP's Local and Regional Food Procurement Policy  in 2019, the world 
has changed dramatically, with a cluster of multiple crises. In this context, WFP has increased local 
and regional procurement as a tool to support and protect food systems, their  actors and the people 
who live in them. By injecting resources into local economies, supporting smallholders and value 
chain actors, and developing more sustainable food procurement pathways through local sourcing 
and diversification of commodities, WFP c ontributed to supporting food systems and strengthening 
their resilience.  
2.4.  WFP's local and regional procurement supports inclusive agricultural growth and sustainable 
social and economic transformation. In 2022, WFP has acquired 51 % of both the value and v olume 
of its operational food requirements from local and regional sources. This amounts to a significant 
purchase of 725,000 metric ton nes, valued at USD 542 million.  
2.5.  Deliberate efforts have been made to improve smallholder farmers (SHF) livelihoods. Tra ced 
pro-SHF purchases increased from a value of USD 42.2 million in 2020 to 71.4 million in 2022, 
 
8 Trading Economics. Food Inflation , accessed 18 May 2023, with data for February 2023 or later 
considered as recent. For Venezuela and  Cuba, data from the website of the National Statistical Office is used. 
For DRC, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, food inflation is estimated based on changes in the cost of WFP 
food baskets as official data is not available.  
9 UNDP, February 2023, Building blocks out of the crisis: The UN’s SDG Stimulus Plan . 
10 https://www.un.org/en/black -sea-grain-initiative/vessel -movements . 
11 Since the approval of the MC12 Decision to exempt WFP from export restrictions (17 June 2022) and 
9 June 2023, WFP procured globally 3.9 million metric ton nes, worth USD 2.9 billion.  G/AG/GEN/221  
 
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  representing a rise of 68 % of value transferred to SHFs and 7% from the total volume of 
local/regional purchases.  
2.6.  Support to value chain analyses has also grown significantly over the past two years, being 
instrumental in identifying actions and partners to address bottlenecks to enhance efficiency along 
the food va lue chains. WFP is leveraging its global collaboration and Memorandum of Understanding 
with the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in this area of work.  
2.7.  WFP is also working on building evidence of the impact of WFP's procure ment and of the 
programmatic work implemented in the framework of the Policy to identify investments needed to 
scale up the support to smallholder farmers and relevant value chain actors – including innovative 
technologies as well as partnerships with rese arch centers and the private sector.  
2.8.  WFP will continue to use local and regional procurement as a catalyst to develop more resilient 
food value chains, by improving local production capacities through land rehabilitation and 
restoration, infrastructure im provements, and natural resources management.  
2.9.  Finally, WFP maintains close collaboration with international financing institutions and other 
international organizations to seek solutions to tackle the global food crisis. Jointly with the World 
Bank, the IM F, FAO and the World Trade Organization, WFP is advocating and calling for urgent and 
coordinated action, and creating a framework for closer cooperation both at the policy and country 
levels.  
 G/AG/GEN/221  
 
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  ANNEX 1 – DETAILS ON WFP PURCHASES IN 2023  
Data for 2023, 1 January until 8 June 2023  
a) WFP food purchases from Least Developed Countries12 in 2023  
Origin Country  Value (USD)  Quantity (MT)  
Afghanistan   32,759,000   60,699   
Ethiopia   29,394,144   51,580   
Uganda   22,727,213   39,806   
Rwanda   20,510,438   15,220   
Burkina Faso   15,521,362   27,992   
Democratic Republic of the Congo   15,250,938   14,164   
Myanmar   11,595,641   22,445   
Benin   10,140,537   19,819   
Niger   9,250,701   19,956   
Sudan   8,198,049   7,749   
Guinea   6,404,642   11,039   
Chad  5,995,043   12,881   
Tanzania   5,649,100   9,850   
Malawi   3,716,157   4,869   
Madagascar   2,972,711   958  
South Sudan   2,700,000   5,000   
Sierra Leone   1,733,675   2,636   
Mozambique   1,520,843   2,305   
Mali  1,164,989   1,509   
Guinea -Bissau   1,001,803   1,072   
Zambia   933,395   1,560   
Central African Republic   767,870   1,169   
The Gambia   586,372   648  
Yemen   480,700   190  
Haiti  202,904   92  
Senegal   198,718   880  
Burundi   147,060   98  
Angola   144,368   215  
Nepal   75,525   78  
TOTAL   652,353,076   821,804   
% (Food purchases from LDCs over total food purchases)   58%  55%  
 
12 Based on the latest list from UN: https://www.un.org/development/des a/dpad/wp -
content/uploads/sites/45/publication/ldc_list.pdf . G/AG/GEN/221  
 
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  b) WFP Food Purchases from Net food -importing developing countries (outside of LDC)13 
in 2023  
Origin Country  Value (USD)  Quantity ( MT) 
Pakistan  57,773,932  26,102  
Kenya  29,718,954  18,572  
Jordan  25,016,755  35,084  
Morocco  24,256,353  23,351  
Honduras  18,652,585  14,974  
Venezuela , Bolivarian Republic of  9,839,716  8,400  
Egypt  9,165,252  6,116  
Sri Lanka  653,367  1,263  
El Salvador  620,486  607 
Côte d'Ivoire  375,829  360 
Senegal  198,718  880 
Namibia  13,900  48 
TOTAL  176,285,847  135,757  
% (Food purchases from NFIDC over total food purchases)  16% 9% 
c) Data on food procured from the EU member States  post-MC12 Decision to exempt WFP 
from export restrictions in 2023 (quantity/commodities)  
Origin Country  Total value 
(USD)  Total quantity 
(MT) 
France  88,392,934  25,854  
Poland  31,297,570  8,747  
Romania  14,611,598  31,906  
Hungary  12,509,324  8,008  
Belgium  5,783,804  4,741  
Spain  162,912  48 
TOTAL EU  152,758,142  79,304  
% (Food purchases from EU over total food purchases)  14% 5% 
 
 
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13 Based on the latest list from WTO, 29 March 2023: 
https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/di rectdoc.aspx?filename=q:/G/AG/5R12.pdf&Open=True .