   
  
G/AG/N/CAN/155  
 
25 January 2023  
(23-0608) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Agriculture  Original: English/French  
 
NOTIFICATION  
The following submission, dated 9 November 2022, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Canada . The notification concerns actions taken within the framework of the Decision 
on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least Developed 
and Net Food -Importing Developing Countries ( Table NF:1 ) during the Calendar Year 2020 . 
 
_______________  
 
 
Note that with the entering into force of the Food Assistance Convention on 1 Ja nuary 2013, Canada 
reports Food Assistance Operations relevant to the NFIDC decision based on a calendar year basis. 
Data from the IDRC are reported on a fiscal -year basis.  
 
 G/AG/N/CAN/155  
 
- 2 - 
 
  Table NF:1  
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 16.2 OF THE AGREEMENT: MONITORING OF THE  
FOLLOW -UP TO THE DECISION ON MEASURES CONCERNING THE POSSIBLE  
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE REFORM PROGRAMME ON LEAST -DEVELOPED  
AND NET FOOD -IMPORTING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:  
CANADA  
REPORTING PERIOD: CALENDAR YEAR 2020  
______________________________________________________________________________  
 
1  QUANTITY OF FOOD AID PROVIDED TO LEAST -DEVELOPED AND NET FOOD -IMPORTING 
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES  
As a signatory to the 2013 Food Assistance Convention (FAC), Canada established a m inimum annual 
food assistance level of CAD 250 million. Total food assistance reported under the FAC exceeded 
that target, with more than CAD 443.3 million disbursed. Approximately CAD 303 million went 
to LDCs and NFIDCs.  
 
Food assistance incorporates a m ix of tools, including provision of eligible products, cash, vouchers, 
nutritional interventions, and livelihood protection in emergency and early recovery situations. 
Consistent with FAC Requirements, all of Canada 's food assistance is expressed in value terms.  
Table A - Canadian Food Assistance to LDCs and NFIDCs 20201 
Country  Value 
Disbursed CAD  Food Assistance Partner(s)  
Africa LDCs    
Burkina Faso  9,821,409  FAO, ICRC and WFP  
Burundi  58,824  ICRC 
Central African Republic  5,133,415  ICRC and WFP  
Chad 5,942,127  CARE Canada, ICRC and WFP  
Democratic Republic of Congo  17,607,869  ICRC and WFP  
Djibouti  66,000  WFP 
Ethiopia  17,911,238  CARE Canada, Concern, Canadian Lutheran 
World  Relief  (CLWR),  CLWR,  ICRC,  UNICEF  and WFP 
Lesotho  500,000  WFP 
Liberia  206,610  WFP 
Mali 7,467,241  ICRC and WFP  
Mozambique  5,750,000  WFP 
Niger 9,667,618  ICRC, IRC and WFP  
Rwanda  41,372  WFP 
Somalia  16,551,841  ACF, CAR, ICRC, WFP and World Vision  
South Sudan  24,929,176  ICRC, WFP and World Vision  
Sudan  9,214,756  CARE, ICRC and WFP  
Tanzania  5,748,641  WFP 
Uganda  5,407,074  WFP 
Zambia  1,000,000  WFP 
Total Africa LDCs  143,025,211   
Africa NFIDCs    
Kenya  1,875,796  Effect Hope (The Leprosy Mission Canada) and WFP  
Côte d'Ivoire  66,668  ICRC 
Total Africa NFIDCs  1,942,464   
Total Africa LDCs and NFIDCs  144,967,675   
Americas LDCs    
Haiti 11,150,000  WFP 
Total Americas LDCs  11,150,000   G/AG/N/CAN/155  
 
- 3 - 
 
  Country  Value 
Disbursed CAD  Food Assistance Partner(s)  
Americas NFIDCs    
El Salvador  1,825,000  WFP 
Honduras  1,825,000  WFP 
Peru 113,751  ICRC 
Venezuela , Bolivarian  Republic  of2 19,433  - 
Total Americas NFIDCs  3,783,184   
Total Americas LDCs 
and NFIDCs  14,933,184   
Asia and Pacific LDCs    
Afghanistan  8,994,314  Danish Refugee Council, ICRC, MCC and WFP  
Bangladesh  6,842,780  ICRC and WFP  
Myanmar  2,602,292  WFP and ICRC  
Total Asia and Pacific LDCs  18,439,386   
Asia and Pacific NFIDCs    
Pakistan  2,441,135  ICRC and WFP  
Total Asia and Pacific NFIDCs  2,441,135   
Total Asia and Pacific LDCs 
and NFIDCs  20,880,521   
Europe, Middle East 
and Maghreb LDCs    
Mauritania  1,000,000  WFP 
Yemen  19,856,668  ADRA, CARE Canada, ICRC and WFP  
Total Europe, Middle East and 
Maghreb LDCs  20,856,668   
Europe, Middle East and 
Maghreb NFIDCs    
Jordan  9,429,215  ICRC and WFP  
Total  Europe,  Middle  East and 
Maghreb NFIDCs  9,429,215   
Total Europe, Middle East and 
Maghreb LDCs and  NFIDCs  30,285,883   
Global Support3 92,289,262  Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Global Alliance for 
Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Nutrition International 
and WFP  
Total  303,356,525    
1 Data for the purposes of this notification were gathered for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as 
recognised by the United Nations and published by the United Nations Office of the High 
Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing  Countries and Small 
Island Developing States ( https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wp -
content/uploads/sites/45/publication/ldc_list.pdf ) and the Development Assistance Committee of the 
OECD plus the Net Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs outlined in G/AG/5/Rev.11 
(available at: http://docsonline.wto.org ) .  
2 Partners in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are undisclosed.  
3 This value represents the unearmarked long -term institutional support provided to WFP, the 
Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Nutrient 
International for ac tivities including voucher transfers, cash transfers and provision of in -kind food 
assistance. Regional and country specific recipient information is not available.  
2  INDICATION OF THE PROPORTION IN FULLY GRANT FORM OR APPROPRIATE 
CONCESSIONAL TERMS  
All Cana dian food assistance is provided in fully grant form. In 2008, Canada fully untied its food 
assistance budget, opening up 100% of its food assistance budget to international procurement and 
supporting the purchase of food in developing countries.  
3  TECHNICAL  AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER PARAGRAPH 3(III) OF THE DECISION  
In 2020, Canada provided humanitarian assistance funding to 50 implementing partners to help 
meet the needs of communities affected by natural disasters, conflict and complex emergencies 
in 67 countries.  In addition to its support to shelter, WASH, education, protection and health 
initiatives, Canada supported humanitarian food and nutrition assistance through 21 implementing 
partners to benefit populations in 56 countries and regions. Through out the year, the vast majority G/AG/N/CAN/155  
 
- 4 - 
 
  of food -security crises to which Canada responded were caused by conflicts and forced displacement. 
Indeed, key responses to conflict areas include: the Democratic Republic of Congo  (DRC) 
(CAD 17.6 M), Ethiopia ( CAD 17.9 M), Myanmar and Bangladesh ( CAD 9.4 M), Yemen 
(CAD 19.8 M), South Sudan ( CAD 24.9 M), Somalia ( CAD 16.5 M) and the regional responses to the 
Lake Chad basin ( CAD 27 M) and the Syria and Iraq crises ( CAD 46.2 M) and Lebanon ( CAD 20.7 M) 
and Haiti ( CAD 11.1 M). 
 
As part of its work on gender responsive humanitarian action under its Feminist International 
Assistance Policy, Canada partnered with WFP, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Children 's 
Fund (UNICEF) in 2019 to implement the project 'Breaking Barriers  to Girls ' Education ' in Niger and 
Chad, which continued in 2020. This initiative not only provides nutritious and fortified school meals 
to children in emergency contexts, but also integrates school health packages that include education 
services about nu trition and health, as well as sexual and reproductive health and gender -based 
violence. To maintain key access to nutritious food for vulnerable children – particularly girls – the 
initiative provided Take -Home Rations (THR) in lieu of school feeding duri ng the COVID -related 
school closures. THR served as a safety net for crisis -affected households, and mitigated risks of 
school dropout, child labour and child forced marriage.  
 
The COVID -19 pandemic was a multiplier of vulnerability, compounding threats to  food insecurity 
and hindering the ability of affected communities to cope. To respond to the increased food 
assistance needs of vulnerable populations following the outbreak of the pandemic, Canada provided 
an additional CAD 50.5 million in humanitarian f unding in -year to the WFP and FAO. These 
multi-country allocations provided much needed food assistance, supplementary feeding for children 
under the age of five, as well as pregnant and lactating women, and livelihood support to populations 
in emergency c ontexts such as in Burkina Faso, Colombia, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen.  
 
While Canada continues to respond to emergency food needs, addressing the root causes of food 
insecurity requires longer term investment. Canada continues to support more sustainable  solutions. 
For example, Canada provides multi -year funding to the World Bank 's International Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to improve food security and to support household 
resilience to shocks. IBRD collaborated with the government of Et hiopia through the Productive 
Safety Net Program (PSNP) to deliver a complementary set of activities, which included cash for 
work, land rehabilitation and irrigation, livelihood support, and direct cash transfers for the most 
vulnerable. PSNP remains key to support the needs exacerbated by COVID -19 and recent violence 
in Tigray. Canada re -aligned CAD 10 M of its PSNP 's contribution to support COVID -related activities, 
and targeted CAD 18M of its commitment to PSNP to provide emergency food and supplies in Tigray 
as a part of an integrated humanitarian and development response to the evolving needs in the 
region.  
 
Canada also contributed to narrowing the gap between humanitarian and development activities by 
supporting projects such as the Resilience Initia tive, by WFP, FAO, and IFAD, which invests in 
vulnerable communities over a five -year period through context -specific, gender -transformative and 
nutrition -sensitive assistance interventions addressing both immediate food needs and the root 
causes of hunger . Strengthening partnerships with local partners to continue implementation in line 
with COVID -19 health measures has proved key for the Rome -based Agencies to tackle COVID -19 
access restrictions. Building upon lessons learned from the Resilience Initiativ e, Canada is working 
with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to address COVID -related acute food insecurity, and to restore 
and strengthen the livelihoods of vulnerable populations in six crisis -affected countries in 
sub-Saharan Africa.  
 
In terms of chronologica l trends and geographical distribution of the food assistance for 2020, 44.8% 
of Canada 's food assistance went to sub -Saharan Africa, almost 21% went to the Middle -East and 
Northern Africa (MENA), 4.9% went to Asia, 5.3% went to the Americas and 0.1% went to Europe. 
There was an increase in allocation to Sub -Saharan Africa over 2019 (when the allocation was 
at 41.2%) but lower from 2015 and 2016 levels (at 58%). With a significant portion of multi -year 
food assistance funding, the MENA region slightly decre ased (24% in 2018) which still represents a 
significant increase from 2016 (19.6%). Asia 's share of Canadian food assistance diminished from 
the 11.7% average between 2015 -2017. Funding to the Americas increased compared to 3.5% 
in 2018.4 
 G/AG/N/CAN/155  
 
- 5 - 
 
  THE INTERNATIONA L DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE (IDRC) - FY 2019/2020  
 
Part of Canada 's foreign affairs and development efforts, the International Development Research 
Centre (IDRC) invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve lives of people in the 
developin g world.  Bringing together the right partners around opportunities for impact, 
IDRC supports leaders for today and tomorrow and helps drive change for those who need it most.   
 
In FY2019/2020 its total budget (including administrative costs) was CAD 166.4 million. 
In FY2019/2020, IDRC undertook disbursements in the agriculture sector (including agriculture, 
fishery and forestry) totaling CAD 13.58 million, which represented about 8.2% of its total allocation.  
 
A review for FY2019/2020 of IDRC identified some 25 projects in agriculture and related sectors, 
in LDCs and NFIDCs with a value of CAD 7.88 million (about 58% of all disbursements in agriculture); 
See Table B.  
Table B - IDRC Bilateral Programming Disbursements (by Region and Country), fo r 
Agriculture and Related Sectors (including agriculture, fishery and forestry), to LDCs 
and NFIDCs, FY2019/2020  
Country  Value Disbursed CAD '000  
AFRICA LDCs   
Benin 20 
Burkina Faso  385 
Democratic Republic of the Congo  55 
Ethiopia  608 
Madagascar  1 
Malawi  458 
Mali 182 
Mozambique  465 
Niger 121 
Rwanda  2 
Senegal  78 
Uganda  750 
Zambia  117 
  
Total Africa LDCs  3,242  
Africa NFDICs   
Côte d'Ivoire  271 
Kenya  2,836 
Total Africa NFDICs  3,107 
Total Africa LDCs and NFDICs*  6,349 
  
MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA   
Morocco  188 
Jordan  17 
Tunisia  285 
Middle East & North Africa NFIDCs  490 
Total Middle East & North Africa LDCs 
and NFIDCs  490 
  
AMERICAS   
Cuba 342 
Americas LDCs  342 
Total Americas LDCs and NFDICs  342 
   
ASIA  
Bhutan  147 
Cambodia  132 
Lao People's Democratic Republic  132 
Myanmar  236 
Nepal 0.5 G/AG/N/CAN/155  
 
- 6 - 
 
  Country  Value Disbursed CAD '000  
Total Asia LDCs  647.5  
   
Pakistan  394 
Total Asia NFDICs  394 
Total Asia LDCs and NFDICs  1,041.5  
   
IDRC  
Total IDRC to LDCs  3,888  
Total IDRC to NFIDCs  3,992  
GRAND TOTAL IDRC TO LDCs / NFIDCs  7,880  
 
4 More information available in the consolidate Narrative report on Food Assistance by members of the 
Food Assistance Convention – 2020 ( https://www.foodassistanceconvention.org/en/reports.aspx ).  
* Total project counts are "distinct" counts as one project may be active in more than one country.  
4  OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO ACTIONS TAKEN WITHIN THE 
FRAMEWORK OF THE DECISION  
Canada provided its food assistance in 2020 through 21 UN agencies and NGOs.5 The WFP continued 
to receive the majority of Canada 's food assistance funding, amounting to 67% of Canada 's total 
food assistance allocations in 2020. Nutrition International, Micronutrient Initiative and the Canadian 
Foodgrains Bank respectively received 9%, 5.7% and 5.6% of Canada 's contribution. The remainder 
was provided to the ICRC and other Canadi an and international NGOs.  
5 Action Against Hunger, The Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) Canada,  The Canadian 
Foodgrains, CARE Canada, The Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR), Concern Worldwide, Danis 
Refugee Council, Effect Hope, The Food and  Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), World Food 
Program (WFP), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), The International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), The MA 'AN Development Center, 
The Mennoni te Central Committee Canada (MCCC), Micronutrient Initiative, Oxfam -Quebec, Save the 
Children Canada, The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World 
Vision Canada.  
 
 
__________  