How WFP is cutting delivery times to tackle hunger in Northeast Nigeria
‘We were able to deliver food in only 23 days on average to our hubs in the northeast, as opposed to the three months usually needed’
Early positioning of food is crucial as a strategy to tackle hunger. With a target to reach 1.8 million people in the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe with life-saving food assistance during the lean season (June to September), the World Food Programme in Nigeria uses a proactive approach to financing in order to deliver food as fast as possible.
When faced with a funding shortfall and increasing requirements, the humanitarian community needs to be proactive to ensure urgent needs are met. This includes WFP.
The Global Commodity Management Facility (GCMF), formerly known as the Forward Purchase Facility, is an internal financing platform that enables the advanced positioning of food and thereby significantly cuts delivery times.
“This enables us to reach those in need as fast as possible’’.
With the expansion of the West Africa GCMF supply line to include Nigeria, a strategic hub was opened in Kano, in the north of the country, in March 2017.
The country office lifts food from the corporate inventory as soon as a contribution is confirmed, and delivers from Kano to local hubs in Maiduguri and Damaturu, at a reduced lead-time.
“Thanks to the hub in Kano, we were able to deliver food to our local hubs in Maiduguri and Damaturu, located in the northeast, in only 23 days on average, as opposed to the three months usually needed under the conventional procurement process,” explains Gerard Rebello, Head of Supply Chain. ‘’This enables us to reach those in need as fast as possible’’.
In less than six months, the hub in Kano has helped the country office in Nigeria to consistently assist over one million people, despite funding volatility.
“Accessibility, availability and cost efficiency are the most important ingredients in making a response more efficient,” says Gerard. “This is why setting up a GCMF hub in Kano was so crucial for the Nigeria Country Office.
“The food can be procured and positioned earlier, thus avoiding the lengthy sourcing process that normally happens once a contribution is confirmed. The activation of a GCMF supply line towards Nigeria has allowed reducing lead-times for the delivery of food by more than 70 percent.”
“Setting up a hub in Kano was so crucial.”
Since its creation in 2011, the GCMF has accounted for a growing share of the total amount of food distributed globally by WFP. In 2016, 36 percent of the food delivered by WFP across the world, and 52 percent of all cash-funded purchases, were sourced through GCMF.
In 2016, it allowed WFP to deliver 1.4 million metric tons of food in an average of 45 days, a 63 percent reduction compared to the time needed under the ‘conventional’ procurement process.
Behind the scenes
WFP logisticians Ibrahima Dosso and Koronan Yeo worked with the GCMF team to get the logistics hub up and running in Kano.
Ibrahima and Koronan were deployed, from Maiduguri and Abuja respectively, to Kano in mid-March and opened the hub in two weeks.
Koronan sums up the project: ‘’Today, six months since the hub opened, we have built a network of six local suppliers, two transport companies, 200 labourers ready to load or discharge 50 to 60 trucks daily at two warehouses of 3,100 sq m each. We are busy in Kano — on average, we handle 14,000 to 30,000 bags of sorghum or beans per day.”
Passing on the logistics expertise
eHealth Africa, a partnering organization based in Kano, supports the day-to-day management of the hub. With ongoing training and guidance from WFP, eHealth Africa will take on its full management in the coming months.
For Ibrahima, this partnership is one of the most interesting elements of the project: ‘’I like the fact that we can transfer our skills and expertise to our partner,” Ibrahima says. ‘’The training we give to the eHealth staff will serve them in future”.
“Through the partnership with WFP, we can help to save lives.”
eHealth Africa (eHA) is a health social enterprise focused on improving health systems in West Africa. There are 11 staff from eHA dedicated to the hub’s daily operations, including a project coordinator and tally assistants.
“eHA has experience in storage and packaging, but joining the Kano hub project was a great opportunity to develop our warehouse management skills in a more holistic manner,” says Mohammed Sani Giwa, the Operations Manager at eHealth Africa. “Through the partnership with WFP, we can help to save lives, which gives us a great sense of satisfaction.”
The World Food Programme would like to thank the following donors for their support (in alphabetical order): Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Monaco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, OPEC, Private Donors, Sweden, Switzerland, UN CERF, United Kingdom, and United States of America.
See also: How the World Food Programme has cut its delivery times by more than 60 percent
