Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Food Facility: Interim Report on Measures Taken SEC(2010)245
Date: 2010-03-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU financing, developing countries, eligibility criteria, food price, food production, food safety, international cooperation, price increase

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 12.3.2010 
COM(2010)81 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Food Facility: Interim report on Measures Taken 

SEC(2010)245 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Food Facility: Interim report on Measures Taken 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The dramatic rise in food prices in 2007 and 2008 demanded swift and decisive action from 
the international community to respond in the short-medium term to the effects of the crisis on 
the  poor  in  developing  countries.  The  EU  responded  rapidly  by  shifting  and  mobilizing 
resources  within  existing  development  and  humanitarian  instruments.  Yet  the  scale  of  the 
problem required further action and additional resources. As a result, in December 2008 the 
European Parliament  and  the  Council adopted a Regulation1 establishing a facility for rapid 
response to soaring food prices in developing countries, proposed by the Commission.  

This  Regulation  provides  for  the  implementation  of  the  €1  billion  'Food  Facility',  and 
constitutes the main EU response to this crisis, aiming to bridge the gap between emergency 
response and long-term development. In that sense, it complements the interventions of both 
the  humanitarian  instruments  and  of  the  longer-term  development  instruments  such  as  the 
country-based  development  interventions  and  the  Food  Security  Thematic  Programme.  The 
initiative is limited in time: the Regulation will expire on 31 December 2010, with activities 
ending  by  the  end  of  December  2011.  This  very  tight  timeframe  has  made  the  planning, 
programming  and  implementation  of  the  activities  particularly  challenging,  both  for  the 
European Commission and for the implementing partners.  

The primary objectives of the Food Facility are to (a) encourage a positive supply response 
from the agricultural sector in target countries and regions; (b) support activities to respond 
rapidly  and  directly  to  mitigate  the  negative  effects  of  volatile  food  prices  on  local 
populations  in  line  with  global  food  security  objectives,  including  UN  standards  for 
nutritional requirements; and  (c) strengthen the productive capacities and the governance of 
the  agricultural  sector  to  enhance  the  sustainability  of  interventions.  In  line  with  these 
objectives, three categories of measures are eligible for financing under the Food Facility:  

(a) measures to improve access to agricultural inputs and services;  

(b) safety net measures; and  

(c) other small-scale measures aiming at increasing production based on country needs. 

The  reporting  obligations  of  the  European  Commission  are  defined  in  Art.  11  of  the 
Regulation, which foresees inter alia that “In December 2009 the Commission shall provide 
the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  with  an  initial  interim  report  on  the  measures 
undertaken”.  This  interim  report  is  being  submitted  accordingly.  It  takes  into  account 
information up to the end of 2009. After providing a general context for the measures taken, 
the  Report  provides  qualitative  and  quantitative  information  on  the  various  steps  taken  thus 

1 

EC/2008/1337, OJ L 354/62 of 31.12.2008 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
far  to  implement  the  Food  Facility  Regulation  (programming,  formulation,  contracting,  and 
implementation), as well as the accompanying administrative and support measures (staffing, 
studies). This Communication is accompanied by a document which provides more detail on 
measures taken2 

This  report  has  been  delayed  by  a  few  weeks,  related  to  the  need  to  still  conclude  a  large 
number of Food Facility contracts before the end of the year, and to the time needed for the 
compilation  of  all  the  necessary  (financial)  information  over  2009.  In  line  with  the 
Regulation,  a  final  report  will  be  presented  by  the  European  Commission  before  the  end  of 
2012. 

2. 

FOOD FACILITY AND GLOBAL CONTEXT 

Food  Security  has  gained  much  attention  on  the international development agenda in recent 
years,  mainly  due  to  the  food  price  hikes  in  2007/2008  which  have  pushed  many  people 
further  into  poverty.  Estimates  by  the  Food  and  Agriculture  Organisation  (FAO)  put  the 
number  of  malnourished  people  worldwide  at  over  1  billion  for  2009,  compared  to  915 
million in 2008. This is the highest number since 1970, the earliest year for which comparable 
statistics  are  available  and  also  represents  a  reversal  of  the  trend  towards  reaching  MDG1 
(half  the  proportion  of  malnourished  in  the  world  by  2015).  The  problem  is  truly  global  in 
nature: the majority of the malnourished in the world live in Asia & the Pacific (642 million), 
followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (265 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (53 million), 
the Near East and North Africa (42 million) and in developed countries (15 million). 

After  the  2008  peaks,  the  relative  decrease  in  food  prices  has  done  little  to  alleviate  the 
problems in many developing countries. Prices remain high on many domestic markets, and 
the  number  of  'food-insecure'  people  remains  on  the  rise.  The  global  economic  crisis  has 
further  exacerbated  the  problem  and  the  effects  of  climate  change,  combined  with  global 
population growth, further threatens food security in many developing countries. 

As  a  logical  consequence,  food  security  has  remained  high  on  the  international  agenda 
throughout 2008 and 2009. At the UN level, on top of the rapid and active mobilisation of the 
individual  agencies,  the  Secretary-General  established  the  UN  High-Level  Task  Force 
(UNHLTF)  on  the  Global  Food  Security  Crisis.  The  UNHLTF  prepared  a  Comprehensive 
Framework for Action, which provides a framework that sets out the joint position of HLTF 
members on proposed actions aiming at easing the immediate plight of vulnerable consumers 
and  producers  of  food,  and  building  resilience  to  similar  price  shocks  in  the  future.  This 
Comprehensive Framework for Action inspired the establishment of the EU Food Facility as a 
medium-term instrument, complementing other forms of assistance. 

Furthermore, the FAO High-Level Conference on World Food Security (June 2008) discussed 
the  challenges  that  climate  change,  bio-energy  and  soaring  food  prices  posed  to  world  food 
security. Its final declaration called on the international community to increase assistance for 
developing  countries,  in  particular  the  least  developed  countries  and  those  that  are  most 
negatively  affected  by  high  food  prices.  This  call  was  echoed  by  the  G8+  Summit  in  Japan 
(July 2008), the Madrid Conference (January 2009), the G8/G20 meetings in L’Aquila (July 
2009) and the FAO World Summit on Food Security (November 2009). Particularly relevant 

2 

Commission Staff Document, SEC(2010)xx of xx.xx.2010) 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
                                                 
is the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, which includes a $ 20 billion pledge to tackle food 
insecurity,  based  on  country-led  strategically  coordinated  processes.  The  international 
commitment  to  fight  world  food  insecurity  was  reconfirmed  during  the  G20  meeting  in 
Pittsburgh in September 2009. 

Moreover, in the same international context proposals were made for the creation of a Global 
Partnership  for  Agriculture,  Food  Security  and  Nutrition  (GPAFSN).  This  initiative  has, 
amongst others, led to the reform of the Committee for World Food Security (CFS), launched 
in  October  2009.  The  reform  aims  to  make  the  CFS  a  central  stakeholder  platform  of  the 
evolving  Global  Partnership  complementing  the  work  of  a  High  Level  Panel  of  Experts 
(HLPE) and the UNHLTF.  

The  heightened  activity  at  the  international  level  makes  the  Paris  Declaration  on  Aid 
Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action all the more relevant. At the same time, the 
fact  that  many  of  the  most  important  initiatives  derive  from  international  forums  gives  a 
positive indication on the international community’s willingness to discuss and plan together 
a common and coordinated response. The commitment to the Paris Agenda is reflected in the 
Food  Facility  Regulation,  and  has  been  a  guiding  principle  in  its  implementation.  This  is 
evidenced by the fact that: 

•  most of the Food Facility projects and programmes that are implemented by International 
Organisations are based on joint assessments and proposals by UN agencies and the World 
Bank, coordinated by the UNHLTF;  

•  in  2009,  several  coordination  meetings  between  the  European  Commission  and  the 

UNHLTF were held; 

•  where  feasible  within  the  timeframe  and  cooperation  context,  budget  support  has  been 

chosen as implementation modality; 

•  in most target countries where the Call for Proposals was relevant, in-country workshops 
were organised to enhance coordination and guide the orientation of response proposals.  

3. 

PROGRAMMING 

The  Food  Facility  Regulation  provided  that  the  Commission  should  present  to  Council  and 
Parliament  an  overall  plan  that  includes  the  list  of  target  countries  benefitting  from  the 
Facility, as well as the balance between the entities eligible for implementation. This overall 
plan  was  submitted  in  March  2009  and  included  an  overview  of  indicative  allocations  to 
beneficiary countries, broken down according to the three main categories of eligible entities 
and  modes  of  implementation:  International  Organisations  through  contribution  agreements; 
non-governmental  organisations,  private  sector  and  Member  States'  agencies  through  a  Call 
for Proposals; and national governments through budget support. In the Overall Plan, most of 
the  indicative  allocations  (€920  million)  were   destined  for  the  country  level,  while  €60 
million  was  set  aside  for  regional-level  interventions  in  Africa.  The  final  €20million  was 
retained  for  administrative  support  for  the  implementation  of  the  Food  Facility  Regulation 
(temporary staff, studies, audits, monitoring & evaluation). 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
Applying the indicative criteria provided in the Annex to the Regulation3, 50 target countries 
were selected. For each target country an indicative allocation was determined based on these 
criteria,  and  on  a  population  size  factor,  while  taking  special  circumstances  into  account 
wherever appropriate. The overview of indicative allocations, as provided in the overall plan 
and  approved  by  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament,  is  given  in  section  I  of  the 
accompanying document.  

Subsequently,  the  €60  million  regional  level  e nvelope  for  Africa  was  further  defined  as 
addressing  three  types  of  interventions,  each  of  approximately  €20  million.  First,  a 
programme on vaccine provision and improvement of vaccine production and distribution in 
order  to  reduce  the  impact  in  various  parts  of  Africa  of  four  targeted  diseases  (Newcastle 
Disease,  Contagious  Caprine  Pleuropneumonia,  Goat  Plague,  and  Contagious  Bovine 
Pleuropneumonia).  The  programme  is  to  be  implemented  through  AU-IBAR  (Inter-African 
Bureau  for  Animal  Resources).  Second,  a  programme  in  Eastern  and  Southern  Africa 
involving COMESA and focusing on three components: (i) harmonisation of seed regulations 
and  standards  with  improvements  in  the  quality  and  availability  of  seeds;  (ii)  strengthening 
the supply of agroinputs to smallholders and strengthening of agro-dealer networks; and (iii) 
capacity  building  on  financial  services  for  smallholders,  including  weather-index  insurance. 
Third,  a  programme  in  the  ECOWAS-region  supporting  strategic  components  from  the 
regional  agricultural  programme  ECOWAP,  like  rice,  maize  and  millet  production,  and 
harmonisation  of  standards.  The  programme  includes  measures  to  strengthen  ECOWAS' 
implementation capacity. 

The  overall  plan  foresees  that  changes  affecting  country  allocations,  eligible  entities  or 
modalities, up to a cumulative amount not exceeding 5% may be made in the light of changed 
circumstances provided these changes do not significantly alter the nature of the overall plan. 
In the course of 2009 a number of factors gave rise to changes to the overall plan: 

•  differences  between  the  indicative  and  the  final  plans  and  budgets  submitted  by 

International Organisations; 

•  savings  negotiated  by  the  European  Commission  by  contractually  combining  various 

activities of International Organisations and hence reducing overheads; 

•  political  developments  which  affected  cooperation  and/or  the  foreseen  mode  of 
implementation: more specifically, the anticipated use of budget support had to be revised 
in a number of countries; 

•  the cumulative costs of the selected projects under the Call for Proposals usually deviated a 

few hundred thousand Euros from the indicative amount; and 

•  for a few countries, insufficient good quality proposals were submitted under the Call for 

Proposals to reach the indicative amount. 

Nevertheless,  as  a  whole  the  changes  to  the  overall  plan  have  been  limited.  At  the  end  of 
December, the anticipated changes were 2.7% for country allocations and 3.0% for changes 

3 

Poverty  levels  and  real  needs  of  populations;  food  price  developments  and  potential  social  and 
economic  impact  (reliance  on  food  imports;  social  vulnerability  and  political  stability;  and 
macroeconomic  effects  of  food  price  developments);  and  capacity  of  the  country  to  respond  and 
implement appropriate measures (agricultural production capacity, resilience to external shocks). 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
                                                 
between  eligible  entities  or  modes  of  implementation.  This  results  in  an  anticipated  overall 
change of 4.97 %4. Annex 1 provides a comparison between the programming in the overall 
plan and the outlook as of December 2009. 

4. 

FORMULATION AND CONTRACTING. 

The specific character of the Food Facility required fast treatment of the proposed actions. A 
specific  Task  Force  was  instituted  within  the  Commission  to  expedite  project  formulation, 
contracting  and  monitoring.  Moreover,  in  preparing  the  Food  Facility,  the  European 
Commission  had  already  invited  the  UN  agencies  and  World  Bank,  through  the  UN  High 
Level Task Force, to propose actions that could easily be expanded. These proposals formed 
the  first  actions  that  were  subject  to  detailed  formulation,  organised  in  two  'batches'  for 
discussion and approval by the Budgetary Authorities.  

The action fiches for the first 'batch' of projects were presented to the Quality Support Group 
(QSG) meeting which took place on 15 January 2009 and subsequently to the meeting of the 
Development  Cooperation  Instrument  (DCI)  Committee  on  17  February  2009.  A  first 
Financing Decision was adopted on 30 March 2009 for a value of €313.9 million. The second 
"set  of  measures"  was  presented  to  the  QSG  on  19  and  20  February  2009  and  to  the  DCI 
Committee on 23 March 2009. This Financing Decision was adopted on 29 April 2009 for a 
value  of  €393.8  million.  The  second  ‘batch’  include d  a  ‘Call  for  Proposals’  for  a  value  of 
€200 million. 

A  third  set  of  measures  for  a  value  of  €121.95  million  was  presented  to  the  Council  and 
Parliament  in  early  October.  The  Financing  Decision  was  adopted  by  the  European 
Commission on 9 December 2009. In the meantime, a separate Decision had been taken on a 
€7.75 million support programme for Tajikistan. 

The  speed  of  the  approval  process  owes  much  to  the  flexibility  shown  by  the  European 
Parliament  which  accepted  shortened  periods  for  exercising  its  right  of  scrutiny  of  the 
proposed measures. 

In general, the formulation of projects and programmes financed under the Food Facility, took 
into account the specific nature of the Regulation which required speed of implementation, a 
short-time  span,  coordination  and  a  focus  on  one  or  more  of  the  three  types  of  eligible 
activities under the Facility. The formulation process differed according to the chosen method 
of implementation: 

•  Projects with International Organisations were based on proposals from these organisations 
and subject to a range of checks and reviews (both at Delegation and Headquarters' level); 

•  Projects deriving from the Call for Proposals were based on proposals from NGOs, private 
sector  and  Member  States’  development  organisations  and  benefitted  from  information 
sessions organised in Brussels and in the relevant countries. Proposals were developed in 
two  stages.  First  short  concept  notes  were  submitted,  which  formed  the  basis  for  an 
invitation  to  present  full  proposals  out  of  which  the  final  group  of  retained  projects  was 
selected. 

4 

The  percentage  changes  in  country  allocations  and  in  modalities/entities  do  not  add  up,  as  there  are 
simultaneous shifts that should not be counted twice. 

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
                                                 
•  Budget  support  programmes  required  dialogue  with  the  recipient  national  Governments, 
with other development partners (including IMF and World Bank) and involved, in a few 
cases, a dedicated formulation mission. 

•  Support  at  the  regional  level  in  Africa  involved  specific  formulation  missions  for  the 
programmes  in  Western  and  Eastern/Southern  Africa,  while  the  African  livestock 
vaccination programme was based on a formulation workshop. 

Indicatively  €200  million  has  been  earmarked  for  the  Call  for  Proposals.  However,  an 
assessment  of  the  proposals  at  the  concept  note  stage  already  indicated  that  the  Call  would 
generate  more  quality  proposals  than  could  be  funded  from  the  initial  budgetary  allocation. 
Subsequently,  supplementary  allocations  of  a  total  value  of  €13.5  million  were  made  to  be 
able to finance additional proposals. 

Following the Call for Proposals, 800 concept notes were submitted. Subsequently, 275 pre-
selected proposals were developed into full applications by 22 September 2009, out of which 
131  have  been  awarded  a  grant  following  completion  of  the  evaluation  process  in  October 
2009. Relevance of the actions to the objectives of the Food Facility, as well as country needs, 
has  been  given  a  high  priority  when  assessing  the  proposals  while  their  potential 
effectiveness,  sustainability  and  feasibility  within  the  allotted  timeframe  (in  average  22 
months) have also been criteria for assessment. 

The  contracting  of  the  131  selected  proposals  took  place  at  the  end  of  2009,  together  with 
advance  payments.  Devolution  of  implementation  to  the  relevant  EU  Delegations  level  will 
follow  shortly  afterwards  in  early  2010.  The  full  list  of  selected  proposals  is  provided  in 
section III of the accompanying document. 

As  of  31  December  2009  a  total  amount  of  nearly  €510  million  had  been  contracted  with 
International  Organisations  (see  table  below).  The  total  contract  value  amount  of  the  Food 
Facility  at  the  end  of  2009  was  well  over  €700  million 5.  Payments  at  that  date  were  €456 
million,  most  payments  having  been  made  in  relation  to  projects  with  International 
Organisations (€325.2 million), followed by project s originating from the Call for Proposals 
(€115 million). 

Value of contracts concluded with International Organisations at 31 December 2009 

Organisation 

FAO 

World Bank 

WFP 

IFAD 

UNRWA 

UNDP 

Contract Value (€)

Percentage

215 352 085

100 950 00

83 864 476

31 682 272

39 700 000

13 193 139

42.2

19.8

16.4

6.2

7.8

2.6

5 

Contracts at least signed by EC. 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
                                                 
UNICEF 

Others 

Total 

11 229 000

14 000 000

509 970 972

2.2

2.8

100.0

In  terms  of  the  three  areas  of  eligible  measures  for  support  by  the  Food  Facility,  an 
approximation of the provisional distribution6 is as follows: 

Eligible measures 

Percentage  of  value  of  the 
International  Organisation's 
projects  

1  Measures  to  improve  access  to  agricultural 

inputs and services 

2 

Safety net measures  

3  Other  small-scale  measures  aimed  at  increasing 
microcredit, 

production 
infrastructure, storage, vocational training) 

(including 

Total 

5. 

IMPLEMENTATION 

40.4%

36.4%

23.2%

100%

Most projects implemented by International Organisations and approved under batches 1 and 
2 are still in the early stages of implementation. Project teams and, where relevant, Steering 
Committees are being established, procurement plans developed and beneficiary targeting and 
selection  being  implemented.  Information  on  the  status  of  projects  implemented  by 
International  Organisations  is  provided  in  section  IV  of  the  accompanying  document.  Other 
projects and programmes have been approved more recently (from the Call for Proposals and 
under batch 3) and hence have not yet led to effective implementation. 

Some of the projects which have been under implementation in partnership with International 
Organisations  since  spring  2009  are  starting  to  show  results  and  concrete  outputs.  Seeds, 
fertilizers and agricultural tools have been distributed; safety net mechanisms are in operation, 
vulnerability  assessments  undertaken,  national  capacity  building  training  delivered  and 
coordinating mechanisms strengthened.  

A number of projects are being implemented in conflict-torn countries where security is still a 
major  issue,  which  may  affect  the  progress  of  several  projects  (Somalia,  Sri  Lanka,  and 
Pakistan).  Challenges  also  exist  in  countries  that  have  been  hit  by  natural  disasters 
(Philippines, Bangladesh, Horn of Africa, Guatemala, and Haiti). 

6 

Based on information of projects with the International Organisations  

EN 

8 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
To  the  extent  possible,  projects  are  being  integrated  and  aligned  with  existing  donor 
coordination  mechanisms  at  country  level.  Preparation  of  projects  has  benefitted  from  these 
mechanisms to realize synergy potentials with other partners. The Food Facility interventions 
have  also  strongly  contributed  to  strengthening  coordination  among  UN  agencies  and  other 
national stakeholders.  

The  European  Commission  makes  regular  use  of  the  Results-Oriented  Monitoring  (ROM) 
system  to  provide  external,  independent  and  objective  feedback  on  the  performance  of 
cooperation  projects.  In  the  context  of  the  Food  Facility  an  international  tender  has  been 
launched  for  Results  Oriented  Monitoring  and  quality  assessment  of  approximately  120 
projects.  In  addition,  12  projects  will  be  monitored  under  the  existing  ROM-Thematic 
Programmes  contract.  In  November  2009,  teams  were  already  monitoring  projects  with 
various international organisations in Liberia and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

6. 

SUPPORT MEASURES 

A  maximum  of  2%  of  the  Food  Facility  (i.e.  a  maximum  of  €20  million)  can  be  used  for 
support  measures:  staff 
to  manage  contracting,  monitoring,  audit  and  evaluation; 
consultancies and studies to support implementation. This was the basis for the recruitment of 
part of the staff of the Food Facility Task Force in Brussels.  

In order to reinforce the capacity of certain EU Delegations with understaffed or non-existing 
the Food Security sections  support staff positions are being financed in 21 EU Delegations. 
The role of the additional staff is to follow the Food Facility projects (contract management 
for projects under the Call for Proposals, monitoring, etc.). For six of those Delegations local 
agents  have  been  or  are  being  recruited.  In  other  cases  contract  agents  are  being  recruited, 
most of whom have already started working in the Delegations.  

Furthermore,  a  series  of  supportive  consultancies  have  been  financed  through  the 
administrative credits of the Food Facility. There are three kinds of such consultancies. First, 
independent experienced experts have been recruited for the assessment of the concept notes 
and the full proposals for the Call for Proposals, as this is a condition of objectivity for the 
quality  of  the  selected  projects.  Secondly,  some  Delegations  which  were  understaffed  or 
handling  several  projects  (Liberia,  Nepal,  Tajikistan)  have  been  granted  support  (external 
experts financed from the administrative credits) for  dealing with the Food Facility projects 
and/or  "bridging"  the  period  until  the  arrival  of  the  contract  agent  Third,  the  formulation 
missions for Budget Support in Togo and Bolivia, as well as the formulation missions for the 
regional projects in Africa were also financed. 

Finally  a  number  of  studies  have  been  and  will  be  commissioned  to  support  Food  Facility 
implementation.  These  studies  include:  Institutional  Responses  by  the  UN  System  to  the 
Global  Food  Price  Crisis  and  the  EU  Food  Facility,  a  study  on  input  supply  subsidies,  a 
beneficiary  assessment  study,  a  study  on  safety  net  interventions  and  one  on  the  supply 
response from the agricultural sector to food price increases. 

7. 

CONCLUSION  

The adoption of the Food Facility Regulation demonstrated the EU’s ability to react rapidly 
and substantially to food security problems in developing countries caused by the food price 
volatility of 2007/08. Thus far, the €1 billion Fo od Facility is the most significant additional 

EN 

9 

   EN 

 
global  contribution  to  stimulate  agricultural  development  and  fight  hunger  since  the  G8 
leaders  pledged  their  support  in  this  respect  in  Tokyo  in  July  2008.  The  Food  Facility  has 
therefore  both  given  the  EU  international  credibility  and  enhanced  its  influence  in  the 
discussions  on  the  framing  of  global  governance  for  food  security.  Moreover,  the  specific 
manner in which the Facility is being implemented, by involving a range of UN agencies but 
also  other  actors,  and  by  building  on  national  needs  and  plans,  has  given  a  positive 
contribution to aid effectiveness. 

After  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Food  Facility  Regulation  on  1  January  2009,  the  European 
Commission  has  organised  its  implementation  with  speed  and  efficiency.  The  programming 
for  the  use  of  the  funds,  in  the  form  of  an  ‘overall  plan’,  was  submitted  in  February  and 
received  a  favourable  opinion  from  Council  and  Parliament  in  April.  Although  some 
relatively minor changes were subsequently made, the plan has remained valid as a guiding 
document for the implementation of the Facility. Supported by a dedicated task force within 
the Commission, Financing Decisions were prepared for a value of €707.7 million within the 
first  four  months  of  2009.  Along  with  Financing  Decisions  taken  later  in  the  year,  a  total 
value of Financing Decisions of €837.2 million wa s reached (compared to the target of €820 
million), while disbursements reached €456 million. Al l in all, by the end of the year, about 
150 contracts had been concluded with International Organisations, national governments and 
non-governmental organisations, and preparations were well advanced for the submission of 
the  final  ‘batch’  of  Financing  Decisions,  for  a  value  of  €145.3  million,  in  early  2010. 
Implementation  of  the  Food  Facility  Regulation  is  thus  fully  on  track  with  the  original 
planning and with the budgetary provisions.  

Implementation  in  the  first  target  countries  commenced  in  mid-2009,  while  in  the  final 
countries assistance will only be effective in early 2010. Therefore it is too early to assess the 
effects  of  the  assistance.  In  the  meantime,  the  groundwork  has  been  laid  for  an  extensive 
monitoring and evaluation framework that will allow lessons to be learned and impacts to be 
assessed in the next few years. 

The measures taken thus far show that the implementation of the Food Facility is advancing 
well.  Nevertheless  a  number  of  challenges  exist  that  may  affect  the  further  effectiveness  of 
implementation. These challenges include difficulties of a political and/or security nature in a 
number  of  target  countries,  as  well  as  the  very  tight  implementation  period  for  the  projects 
and  programmes,  requiring  all  implementing  partners  to  strictly  keep  to  the  required 
completion dates of activities, foreseen for the second half of 2011.  

In line with the Regulation, a final report will be presented by the Commission before the end 
of 2012. 

EN 

10 

   EN