The Food Assistance Convention is an international treaty that ensures a minimum level of quality food assistance is available on a regular basis to help meet the food needs of the most vulnerable populations. Canada has pledged to provide a minimum annual commitment of $250 million in food assistance promising to help make delivery of food more efficient.
The new Convention, resulting from recent international negotiations led by Canada, has a number of important features that include new forms of food assistance to protect and improve access to food for those most in need. The new Convention includes the use of cash and vouchers to allow people to purchase what they need in local markets, as well as the provision of seeds and tools to help restart livelihoods following emergencies. It also captures nutritional interventions, which help particularly vulnerable groups, such as children and mothers, get the right food they need at the right time.
Canada was one of the first Parties to ratify the treaty, joining Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, the United States, and the European Union as founding members of the new Convention.
As of November 30, 2012, six Parties had deposited their instruments of ratification (Canada, the European Union, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States). This allowed the Food Assistance Convention to come into force on January 1, 2013. The first session of the Food Assistance Committee will be held in February 2013. The Committee, consisting of all the Parties to the Convention, will perform the functions that are required to carry out the provisions of the new Food Assistance Convention.
