How creative solutions are making WFP’s supply chain more efficient

Marking World Creativity and Innovation Day with innovations that make a real difference in the fight against hunger.

On World Creativity and Innovation Day, we shine a light on some of the most impactful solutions from the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Supply Chain and Delivery function—innovations that are helping us respond faster, reach further, and support vulnerable communities more effectively.

Technology and innovation play a vital role in helping WFP deliver on its mission. They allow us to scale up emergency response, offer greater flexibility and choice to vulnerable populations, and improve efficiency—saving both time and resources so we can reach more people, more quickly.

The WFP Supply Chain and Delivery function constantly seeks smarter ways to improve its operations. We collaborate closely with private sector partners, academic institutions, think tanks, and NGOs to tap into cutting-edge knowledge and expertise. From planning and procurement to transport, storage, and last-mile delivery, we’re integrating innovative solutions across every step of our supply chain.

Here are some of the innovations helping us deliver better, faster, and more sustainably.

Making risk-informed, data-driven decisions in a complex supply chain requires analyzing vast amounts of information from multiple systems and sources. That’s where Prisma comes in—WFP’s supply chain “control tower,” powered by big data and advanced analytics.

Prisma improves the efficiency of our operations by enabling faster, smarter planning decisions that help prevent common disruptions, such as pipeline breaks, inefficient sourcing or transport, and food losses due to expiry.

In Nigeria, Prisma helped prevent the loss of 159 metric tons of food due to expire. By reducing unnecessary transits, it also helped cut transport costs and saved up to USD $700,000 in logistics contracts thanks to its ability to plan supply arrivals six months in advance and prevent warehouse overcrowding.

Over the past decade, the value of WFP’s procurement has tripled, driven by the growing scale and complexity of our operations. To keep pace, WFP has introduced Smart Sourcing—a new, end-to-end digital procurement platform designed to simplify and improve how we source food and services.

By integrating data from multiple systems, Smart Sourcing provides full visibility across the entire procurement process—from planning to payment. It strengthens supplier relationships, enhances transparency, and helps ensure WFP consistently secures the best value for money across all operations.

Bag marking is a simple but powerful innovation that brings greater visibility and traceability to food deliveries. Each commodity bag is digitally stamped with a customized code identifying its type, dispatch date, and destination—helping track it from our warehouses all the way to the final delivery point.

This system ensures that the right food reaches the right people and helps monitor the supply chain, improving efficiency and accountability.

WFP delivers food assistance in over 80 countries, and food safety is a top priority. That’s where FOSTER—a digital system that standardizes food specifications and supports end-to-end quality management—makes a difference.

With unique codes for each commodity, automated visual inspections, and real-time dashboards, FOSTER enables faster, more accurate tracking of food quality and safety across the supply chain. It helps us spot trends and take early action to maintain the highest standards.

In some of the world’s most remote regions, communities often wait weeks—or even months—for assistance, with food supplies sometimes dropped far away, forcing people to carry their rations over long distances. Now, with the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), WFP is able to deliver high-priority items directly to hard-to-reach areas. In a groundbreaking first operation, UAS recently delivered specialized nutritious food to isolated communities in southeastern Madagascar.

Developed in collaboration with private sector partners and donors, this advanced system can transport up to 160 kg of relief supplies per trip, covering hundreds of kilometers. It leverages cutting-edge technology to overcome access challenges caused by insecurity, difficult terrain, and extreme weather conditions.

UAS could play a critical role in delivering lifesaving aid within the crucial first 72 hours of a crisis—when roads are often blocked by floods or damaged infrastructure—ensuring that even the most inaccessible communities receive the support they need.

To help reduce the environmental impact of its global operations, WFP is developing ECODASH—a digital tool that estimates the carbon emissions across supply chain activities and identifies hotspots and operational areas suitable for decarbonization.

ECODASH brings together data from WFP activities—like buying goods, moving food by air, land and sea or managing waste—to calculate the carbon impact of each step in the supply chain. By measuring emissions across all operations, ECODASH will help WFP create a plan to reduce its carbon footprint, following international best practices.

WFP works with a network of nearly 1,000 local partners to deliver assistance and ensure that food reaches vulnerable communities safely. In fact, 75% of WFP’s assistance is delivered through partnerships with local NGOs.

To strengthen this collaboration, WFP has introduced Partner Connect—a digital platform designed to streamline work with local partners on the ground. By replacing paper-based reporting with a reliable digital system, Partner Connect improves data accuracy and closes critical information gaps.

This leads to stronger accountability, better coordination, and faster, more efficient delivery of aid to those who need it most.

Innovation is how we deliver. Whether through high-tech data platforms or simple bag codes, innovation is the engine behind WFP’s ability to reach millions in need. On this World Creativity and Innovation Day, we celebrate the impact and potential of bold ideas and smart solutions to create a world without hunger.