After decades of progress, hunger - both acute and chronic - is on the rise again. In 2017, a massive humanitarian effort helped to contain famine in South Sudan and avert famine in northeastern Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen. Despite this, the number of people on the brink of severe hunger continues to rise. Recognizing that humanitarian assistance alone cannot sufficiently address the growing number of people on the verge of catastrophe, FAO's humanitarian interventions are embedded in resilience building efforts that seek to tackle the root causes of vulnerabilities while meeting the immediate needs of affected communities. In 2017, DFID released a new Humanitarian Reform Policy, outlining how DFID plans to "build a more secure and prosperous world" through its humanitarian work.
This FAO-DFID partnership document has been developed in response to this in order to guide and strengthen the partnership between FAO and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development to address acute hunger and build the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods in the face of crisis. It is envisaged that this document will be updated regularly based on the outcomes of the annual FAO-DFID strategic dialogue.