WFP News Release

17 August 2016

WFP Country Representative Presents Credentials to

Government of Tanzania
DAR ES SALAAM Michael Dunford, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
newly arrived Country Representative for Tanzania, has officially presented his credentials to
the Government of Tanzania at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Receiving the credentials was
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Dr. Augustine Mahiga.
I am very pleased to have arrived and taken up my position at a time when WFP is defining
its new five year strategy, which will align with the Governments national plans and the UN
Development Action Plan, said Mr. Dunford. These are exciting times for Tanzania with the
new government showing strong leadership and Tanzania moving toward becoming a
middle-income country.
Mr. Dunford, a qualified lawyer from Australia, has worked for WFP for 15 years. Before
assuming his post in Tanzania, he was Deputy Country Representative and Acting Country
Representative in Uganda for four years overseeing WFPs response to the dramatic refugee
influxes from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Extensive work was
also done on programmes related to nutrition, resilience building and linking smallholder
farmers to markets. As a result, WFP Uganda trained almost 100,000 farmers on strategies
to reduce post-harvest loses, which in turn improved farmers profits.
Prior to being posted in Africa, Mr. Dunford was Deputy Country Director for WFP in
Bangladesh from 2009 to 2012 and in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea from 20062008.
In Tanzania, WFP implements programmes to fight hunger by providing improved nutrition,
empowering farmers to adapt to climate change and strengthening market access for small
holder farmers. In 2016, WFP aims to reach more than half a million Tanzanians in

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chronically food insecure areas and provides food for more than 200,000 refugees in northwestern Tanzania.
I am looking forward to using WFPs expertise in supporting the Governments efforts
toward reducing poverty and hunger in Tanzania, said Mr. Dunford.
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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food
assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build
resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.
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For more information please contact:
Fizza.Moloo@wfp.org, WFP/Tanzania, Mob. +255 784720022