Food Security

Improving Access to Food and Fostering Resilience

ACDI/VOCA recognizes that in order to succeed in its mission to promote economic opportunities worldwide, we must first ensure that beneficiaries can meet their basic food needs and that vulnerability to future crises is reduced. Through activities targeted to the most vulnerable, ACDI/VOCA increases the availability and quality of food in local and regional markets and improves consumer access to and utilization of nutritious food. ACDI/VOCA also works to strengthen the resiliency of vulnerable populations and enhance their ability to respond to future shocks through the development of contingency plans, training in and facilitation of risk-mitigation strategies, and promotion of sustainable practices. Our programs also address immediate needs in times of crisis to prevent bad situations from further deteriorating. ACDI/VOCA addresses the key elements of food security through the following integrated approaches:

• Trainings and technical assistance to increase beneficiaries’ knowledge of appropriate inputs as well as best agronomic, post-harvest handling, record keeping, marketing and nutrition/hygiene practices
• Commodity management, including the monetization of donated commodities in low-income, food-deficit countries as well as the promotion of entrepreneurship and development of local producers, traders and businesses
• Direct distribution of rations to vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV/AIDS as well as food-insecure mothers and children
• Association and cooperative development to help communities take collective action for increased food security
• Supplementary grant support to empower local organizations to identify and achieve their own priorities
• Income-generation activities at both on- and off-farm sites to provide vulnerable populations with increased household income
• Improved financial systems through savings and credit technical training and linkages with the financial sector
• Increased infrastructure to improve access to markets
• Promotion of improved practices to meet household consumption needs ranging from growing household gardens to making better household dietary choices
• Promotion of improved health and nutrition practices at the household level
• Early warning system development and emergency response to boost communities’ resiliency to natural and human-caused disasters

ACDI/VOCA implements food security programs through a variety of different funding mechanisms, including U.S. government-funded food aid programs, cash grants from sources such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and contracts with other private voluntary organizations. ACDI/VOCA recognizes that improved food security is just one component of overall livelihood strengthening and, wherever appropriate, links communities that have been made food secure with projects that promote sustainability with additional economic and market-based opportunities.

To read ACDI/VOCA's food crisis position paper developed by our Global Food Crisis Team, click here.