Our aim is to improve food security within poor households through National Programmes for Food Security (NPFS) and Regional Programmes for Food Security (RFSP). The countries that the SPFS assists are mostly Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDC). All programmes are developed by the governments that participate. FAO's role is: - facilitating the formulation and implementation of the programmes;
- acting as a catalyst for strengthened political commitment;
- identifying synergies with donors and other partners; and
- drawing on FAO's broad technical expertise and experience.
Agriculture has a central role as the economic and social backbone of most poor countries. FAO raises awareness amongst donors and other key decision-makers on issues related to agriculture, food and nutrition. Agriculture is often overlooked in discussions about poverty, despite the fact that over 70% of the world's poor live in rural areas. SPFS History FAO launched the SPFS in 1994 as a flagship programme to boost food production in order to decrease rates of hunger and malnutrition. Initially, the programme focused on helping countries promote and disseminate simple, low-cost technologies to improve the yields and income of poor farming households. However, with 1 in 7 people deprived of the food they need for an active, healthy life, the scale of effort needed to be increased – to reach not thousands, but millions of people. Current Programme After the 2002 World Food Summit: five years later, the programme’s focus shifted from small pilot projects, to helping countries establish national programmes to reach the entire food-insecure population. Efforts to reach more farmers are complemented by policies and investments, to open up markets and provide direct access to food for those too poor to produce or acquire it themselves. By mid-2007, 106 countries had engaged in the SPFS and nearly half had begun moving to National Programmes (NPFS), and more are preparing to do so. | 
