"Going Green" : WFP's Railway Initiative

Through the Humanitarian logistics base (HUB), WFP Djibouti coordinates the following core activities: corridor services (including vessel discharge, storage, transit and re-forwarding services); silo services; bilateral service provision (specialized services to humanitarian partners on request for all stages of supply chain, on a cost recovery basis); as well as capacity building, contributing to logistics development in the region through the Supply Chain Center of Excellence.

On 17 April 2023 the first-of-its kind initiative of transport of food via railway got moving to reach the furthest behind and the most vulnerable people of Djibouti and Ethiopia.

1 train, 37 wagons, carrying each 70 metric tons of wheat, efficiently and effectively delivered a total of 2,590 metric tons of wheat, in 7 hours’ time to reach Dire Dawa, in Ethiopia.

This is one of the first initiatives of “going green” reducing the carbon emissions footprints and allowing more food to be transported in less time, from one place to another, in the Horn of Africa.

Normally trucks operate the transport of grain, and WFP uses a total of 74 trucks to carry a total of 2,590 MT. The time delay to reach Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, is of two days. One truck normally contains from 35 to 40 metric tons of grain.

Through this new initiative, it takes 1 train against 74 trucks, to deliver the same amount of food, in less time. This initiative came to live, thanks to the fruitful partnership with the Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port (DMP) of Djibouti, and the Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway company.

The ceremony saw the presence of the Chief Executive Officer of Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port (DMP) of Djibouti, Mr. Djama Ibrahim Darar, the Chief Operation officer/Director of Marketing of the Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway company and the Chinese company in charge of managing the trains.

In the words of Mister Ievgen Verkhovtsev, Head of Supply Chain of the WFP Humanitarian Logistics Hub, this milestone is remarkable, as "WFP is going greener, and faster, serving people with humanitarian food assistance".