This has replaced the 1995 Convention. EU operations in support of food security consist of either supplying food products or financing development projects relating to food security. Among the products to be supplied as food aid the largest category is cereals. Cereals are staple products for coping with a range of famines and structural food shortages. Wheat and white maize are the main cereals allocated to Africa.
Rice is consumed largely in Asia but also in many other developing countries.
Pulses, in particular beans, are rich in protein and often particularly suited to the diets of the recipient groups. Other categories are vegetable oil, sugar, milk powder, and butteroil. Vegetable oil adds fat to the diet while sugar is useful as an energy booster in food supplement programmes for severely undernourished groups of refugees and displaced persons. In addition to food products, seeds, fertilisers, tools and other agricultural inputs may also be supplied as part of farm rehabilitation programmes aimed at improving the recipients' food security. Financial allocations intended to help the countries improve their food security may be used to finance storage programmes or early warning systems, public information and education programmes, the purchase of tools and inputs, farm rehabilitation projects and marketing.