The World Food Programme at 30: fighting hunger, feeding hope.

• Position: Includes statistics - United Nations developments

Truck convoys negotiate narrow roads and hostile, hidden snipers to deliver supplies to besieged enclaves in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Roaring C-130 cargo planes unload on a dusty Somalian airstrip, bringing manna from the sky to victims of a cruel famine.

The world is familiar with these images on television screens, perhaps less so with the day-to-day work of the World Food Programme (WFP) of the UN, which helps bring food into those and other hot-spots of human suffering. Since 1963, WFP has grown from a small experimental programme to the world's largest donator and distributor of food, aiming both to bring quick relief to disaster-areas and foster long-term development and self-sufficiency.

On the occasion of WFP's thirtieth anniversary, the UN Chronicle spoke with Executive Director Catherine Ann Bertini.

Is the role of WFP different now from its original mandate 30 years ago?

Yes, it has changed. When we began operations in 1963, our mandate was to combat hunger and promote economic and social development. The developmental portfolio has expanded and we have assisted about 1,600 projects around the world. The Programme had less than $100 million to spend in its first year, but today WFP's annual budget is around $1.7 billion and our services reach 42 million people.

Also, our emergency relief operations have grown dramatically and occupy about 60 per cent of our total resources. The development and emergency operations are complemental; we have a network of staff and cargo ships in place, which can be called upon to respond quickly to disaster-spots anywhere in the world.

Where is the WFP most active?

We have a global reach and are active in more than 90 countries of the world. Correctively, our major commitments are in Africa, but the largest single undertaking for emergency food relief now is in the former Yugoslavia. Last year, responding to the drought in southern Africa was our biggest operation.

WFP handled a record amount of food in 1991 and 1992; is the demand still growing?

Yes, it is. We have our development commitments, which will remain substantial for the foreseeable future, and then there has been a huge increase...