Helping families access food quickly & efficiently

Our food assistance policy work is an important complement to our emergency food assistance. Canadian Foodgrains Bank works in partnership with Global Affairs Canada, Canadian aid organizations, other donor countries and our coalition members to learn from and contribute to effective food assistance policies in Canada and internationally.

What are we trying to do?

Food aid was historically motivated as a means of disposing of agricultural surpluses. While feeding people, it also damaged the local markets for local food producers. We are working to ensure that food assistance is provided in ways that strengthen long-term food security and nutritional needs of girls, boys, women and men in crisis-affected countries. At the global level, we work to monitor the implementation of the Food Assistance Convention and other donor food assistance policies. We are also working to influence the government to integrate and better collaborate across humanitarian-development-peace programming to better address situations in crisis-affected countries.

What have we accomplished at the national level?

With the support of Canadian farm groups and our supporters, the Foodgrains Bank successfully persuaded the Canadian government to fully “untie” Canadian food aid in April 2008. This was to ensure that Canadian-funded food aid was purchased in developing countries from sources that are closer to the need. Canadian food aid is now largely purchased in developing countries, ensuring that the food we provide is more suited to the local diet and that nearby small-scale farmers benefit from the increased demand. We have drawn lessons from our own programs in crisis-affected countries to inform policy dialogue with the Canadian government on better integration of humanitarian, peace and development work.

What have we accomplished at the international level?

At the global level, we led the Trans-Atlantic Food Assistance Dialogue (TAFAD), an international coalition, to push for the renegotiation of the Food Assistance Convention (FAC). The convention, which came into force in 2012, is an international agreement among 16 donor countries including the EU who pledge to provide a ‘floor level’ of food assistance each year in response to acute food crises around the world.

In 2022, the signatories to the FAC together contributed US$ 10 billion to address the food security and nutritional needs of vulnerable populations. Canada commits at least Cdn$250 million/ year, and has exceeded this for several years running. Canada’s food assistance is channeled through the World Food Programme, Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Nutrition International.

Articles

Implications of COVID-19 on food assistance
The triple nexus (Peace and Justice Notebook)
International development goals remain unmet (Winnipeg Free Press)
What do humanitarians see when we look back over 2023?
Reckoning with the reality of an unprecedented hunger crisis
Canadian Aid Sector Welcomes Budget Boost for Humanitarian Needs

Featured Resources

Conflict and Hunger: Context Analysis and Policy Response
Gender in Food Assistance: A Policy Perspective