Visit to WFP warehouse

Nairobi, Kenya
22 January 2011

Mombasa is famous for it's great beaches and for it's deep water ports. Because of the port and it's strategic location near hot spots like Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda the World Food Program located it's East African Headquarters and warehouse facilities in Mombasa. Ships pull into the port and load food directly onto trucks for a long drive to their final destination in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, or Uganda or the food is stored in the port warehouse or a series of other warehouses in the area. The World Food Program in Mombasa was the transit point for over 355,000 metric tons of food in 2010.

Yesterday a ship from the United States was unloading sacks of cornmeal and hundreds of palates of cooking oil and split peas from USAID were sitting in the warehouse awaiting delivery. The warehouse also held tons of peanut paste from France and other foods donated by other countries around the world. One section was covered by a tarp and was being fumigated as the delivery to the warehouse took longer than expected.

The hard or dangerous part of the job for the World Food Program is the delivery to the final destination- often a refugee camp or some other austere location. Only certain personnel are allowed to go on delivery missions and they are often accompanied by armed escorts. About 2% of the shipments never make it to their final destination due to robbers, hijackings, or accidents. The World Food Program forbids the resale of donated food but it can often be found in stores or shacks for sale, without any penalty to the seller.