Factbox: What is the World Food Programme, and what does it do?

The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP), which won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to combat hunger and promote peace, was founded in 1961 at the request of U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. * The WFP began as an experiment to see if the United Nations system could deliver food aid. * It gained permanent status in 1965 and calls itself the world's largest humanitarian organisation, dedicated to "saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change".