Meet the Team: ensuring vital school meals reach Côte d’Ivoire’s classrooms

7Q’s with Michaël Bogui, Storekeeper for WFP in Côte d’Ivoire

For more than two decades, Michaël Bogui has been part of WFP’s operations in Côte d’Ivoire — first ensuring the safety of convoys as a radio operator and now managing food stocks as a storekeeper in Abidjan.

Based in Abidjan since 2013, Michaël manages two warehouses covering more than 1,500 square metres, with a combined storage capacity of 3,500 metric tons. From receiving and preserving food commodities to coordinating their dispatch for school feeding programmes across the country, Michaël ensures that every shipment is protected — and delivered where it’s needed most.

In this interview, Michaël shares his inspiring journey from being an English teacher to delivering school meals across the country’s classrooms. He talks about the challenges of managing large-scale food movements, the responsibility that comes with the job, and the deep satisfaction of knowing that every meal sent to a school canteen helps change a child’s future.

Meet Michaël Bogui through our 7 Questions.

My name is Michaël Bogui, and I’m from Côte d’Ivoire. I began my professional journey as an English teacher before joining a company involved in agriculture, agro-processing and logistics, where I worked for two years. I later joined WFP as a radio operator, a role I held for nine years. In that position, I was responsible for programming radios and coordinating communications to ensure the safe movement of WFP vehicles from Abidjan to inland areas. Given the sensitive security context, socio-political crisis and the limitations of traditional communication channels, we implemented alternative systems. We installed and programmed radios in the vehicles and conducted regular radio checks to track convoys and ensure their safe arrival at their destinations.

I transitioned from radio operations to logistics because, after nine years in that role, I felt I had learned a lot. And since I always strive to keep learning, I wanted to take the next step.

I started to get interested in logistics, and I felt I could contribute differently to WFP’s mission. This transition happened naturally, at a time when the situation in Côte d’Ivoire required the urgent delivery of humanitarian supplies across the country. I took a test and successfully transitioned into a new role as Logistics Cluster Assistant. This led me to Man, about 600 km from Abidjan, where I spent a year and a half coordinating the delivery of non-food items on behalf of other humanitarian organizations to border areas in support of displaced populations. Later, I applied for the position of storekeeper at WFP’s office in Abidjan, where I have since been managing food and non-food stocks across two warehouses for the past eleven years. Today, with 23 years of service at WFP, I continue to learn, grow, and contribute to the organization’s mission.

As a storekeeper in WFP’s Supply Chain unit, my primary responsibility is to ensure the reception, safekeeping, and dispatch of food commodities. Specifically, when containers arrive at the operations site, I supervise the unloading process in coordination with the contracted freight forwarder. Together, we organize and stack the commodities in the warehouse. I also oversee the identification and management of losses, analyzing discrepancies between the quantities shipped and those received. This is a critical part of our work, as it helps maintain accountability and ensures that resources are used efficiently.

Once the commodities are stored, I ensure their proper preservation, maintain the cleanliness of the warehouse and prepare shipments, making sure that the quantities dispatched match exactly what was received. We must minimize losses at every stage and ensure that all food dispatched meets food safety standards to prevent any risk of contamination and guarantee the quality of products delivered to those in need. This requires constant vigilance over stock conditions, strict adherence to hygiene and storage protocols, and the consistent application of good warehousing practices.

We must dispatch food that meets food safety standards to avoid any risk of contamination and ensure the quality of products intended for the population.

WFP works in close coordination with the Directorate of School Canteens (DCS) — the national partner responsible for the management of the national school feeding programme, under the Ministry of Education. While WFP manages procurement, storage, and upstream logistics, last-mile delivery from WFP warehouses to the schools is overseen by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire through the DCS, reinforcing national ownership and operational sustainability.

A typical day starts with a review of the security logbook to ensure no incidents were reported since the last entry and that the alarm system remained inactive. I then hold a briefing with the on-site staff (security guards, cleaning personnel) before deactivating the alarm and opening the warehouse. Together with the cleaning team, I inspect the stocks to verify that everything is in order, followed by a thorough cleaning of the warehouse. I then prepare and submit the weekly inspection report and the stock report to my supervisor.

On operational days, I receive the transport documents, organize the reception of containers shipped — mainly from the U.S. to Abidjan — or of trucks delivering locally-purchased food, and supervise their unloading and stacking with the support of the warehouse workers. Once the process is completed, I notify the shipping line to collect the empty containers. Later in the day, I oversee the loading of goods headed to rural areas, working in coordination with the Directorate of School Canteens to ensure timely and accurate dispatch. In Côte d’Ivoire, WFP provides daily nutritious meals to over 166,000 primary school children in seven vulnerable regions. Some of the food supplies are imported from abroad through Abidjan and dispatched across the country. WFP also promotes local sourcing and in 2025, we have launched a home-grown school feeding initiative for over 40,000 children and 100 farmers.

One of the main challenges I face is managing two critical operations simultaneously: the reception of food commodities in containers and their dispatch to the interior of the country, particularly for school feeding programmes. These two activities often overlap, especially around October, and require meticulous planning.

In over ten years of doing this job, we’ve never received feedback indicating a discrepancy between the quantities shipped and those received.

During these peak periods, I must oversee the unloading of containers, ensure quality control, supervise the stacking of commodities, and simutaneously prepare shipments that align precisely with the distribution plans. This demands a high level of concentration, precision, and constant vigilance. Despite the complexity, I take great pride in the rigour and discipline we apply. In over ten years, we’ve never had a report of discrepancies between what was shipped and what was received. That consistency reflects the dedication and professionalism of the entire team, and it’s something I’m truly proud of.

The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that the food we dispatch actually reaches the children in school canteens and that they’ve received and consumed it. That confirmation brings me a deep sense of satisfaction. It means I’ve fulfilled my mission, and I’ve done it well. There’s a profound joy in knowing that my work helps ensure every resource invested reaches its intended destination and contributes to changing and saving lives.

If there’s one piece of advice I would give, it’s to love a job well done. That’s a fundamental value that has guided me throughout my career. It’s also important to accept criticism — not as a personal attack, but as an opportunity to grow. Constructive feedback helps us improve, challenge ourselves, and go further. Above all, perseverance is key. Don’t complain, stay focused on the quality of your work. Because in the end, it’s the work that speaks for us.

One of the most powerful memories I have comes from a mission in the Bondoukou region, in northeastern Côte d’Ivoire. It was noon. The rice we had delivered as part of the school feeding programme had just been cooked. Suddenly, I saw children running — even rushing — toward the canteen with such energy. They could barely form a line; they were so hungry and eager to eat.

These children sometimes walked one or two kilometres to get to school, and thanks to that meal, they stayed, they ate, and they studied — sometimes even under trees.

That moment deeply moved me, because I saw with my own eyes the tangible impact of WFP’s work. It made me realize that our work goes far beyond logistics or food distribution. We are contributing to education, to the fight against poverty and hunger, and most importantly, we are planting seeds for the future.