H.32 Total quantity of cargo handled (stored, moved, and/or sourced) by WFP on behalf of government and partner organizations

H.32 Total quantity of cargo handled (stored, moved, and/or sourced) by WFP on behalf of government and partner organizations

VERSION

V1.0 - 2026.03 — NEW

INDICATOR CODE

H.32

TECHNICAL OWNER

SCD

INDICATOR TYPE

Country Level Output Indicator

INDICATOR CLASSIFICATION

Mandatory

INDICATOR SCOPE

Programme specific

APPLICABILITY

The selection of this indicator is mandatory against the following sub-activities in CSP logframes. Selection of the below sub-activities will trigger in COMET the mandatory selection of this indicator:

1. United Nations humanitarian air services (CATS)

2. On-demand bilateral air transport services (BATS)

3. Freight transport, storage and handling services (LSP)

4. Goods procurement services (NFI)

5. Fuel supply services (FLS)

6. Food supply services (FSP)

The selection of this indicator is also recommended against the following sub-activities in CSP logframes. Selection of the below sub-activities will NOT trigger in COMET the mandatory selection of this indicator:

1. Other service provision (OSP)

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT & ANALYSIS

Metric Tonnes (MT) and Cubic Meters (m³)

DEFINITION

This indicator measures the total weight (measured in metric tonnes - MT) and volume (measured in cubic meters - m³) of government and partner goods passing through supply chain support services administered and/or provided by WFP.

Below are some terminologies related to the indicator:

Supply Chain Support Services: is work done by WFP to source, transport, store or otherwise handle goods on behalf of a government or partner organization, for example: WFP procuring tents to the specifications set by, at the request of, and to be used by another UN entity in their own programme; WFP contracting or operating trucks, that are used by governments and/or partners to move their goods; WFP contracting or operating a warehouse, that is used by governments and/or partners to store their goods.

Administered/Provided by: describes all services where WFP is the accountable party vis-à-vis the service user (i.e. the government and/or partner organization); in these cases WFP has either leased facilities and infrastructure, and hired personnel to directly provide the services, or has sub-contracted a service provider that will be tasked by WFP to deliver the service to a government and/or partner organization.

Government and Partner Goods: all materials that are the property of a government or partner, and are intended to support the programmes and/or operations of a government and/or partner; this does not include any material – food, non-food, support equipment, etcetera – that is the property of, or that will be used in support of WFP programmes or operations (i.e. all material inputs to WFP CSP Activities are excluded from this category).

RATIONALE

This indicator is a ‘snapshot’ for the scale of supply chain service(s) provided by WFP to governments and partners, in the reporting period; in line with both Article II section d (i.e. providing services to bilateral donors, UN agencies and NGOs) and Article III (i.e. consulting with, seeking advice from and cooperating with the UN, FAO and other relevant organizations) of the General Regulations approved by the EB in 2025.

DATA SOURCE

Data for this indicator is extracted from corporate business support software systems that track freight transport and/or storage, as well as goods procurement, operations. In the case of:

Mandated Logistics Services (LCS) activity category

1. For the “Freight transport, storage and handling services (LSP)” sub-activity, the source is the Relief Item Tracking Application (RITA).

Aviation Services (HAS) activity category

2. For the “United Nations humanitarian air services (CATS)” sub-activity, the source is the Flight Management Application (Takeflite) and can be extracted through the Performance Management Tool (PMT).

3. For the “On-demand bilateral air transport services (BATS)” sub-activity, the source is he Flight Management Application (Takeflite) and can be extracted through the Performance Management Tool (PMT).

4. For the “Freight transport, storage and handling services (LSP)” sub-activity, the source is the Flight Management Application (Takeflite) and can be extracted through the Performance Management Tool (PMT).

On-demand Service (ODS) activity category.

5. For the “Freight transport, storage and handling services (LSP)” sub-activity, the source is the Relief Item Tracking Application (RITA).

6. For the “Goods procurement services (NFI)” sub-activity, the source is. WINGS.

7. For the “Food supply services (FSP)” sub-activity, the source is WINGS.

NOTE: Where business support software systems capture only metric tonnes (MT) the cubic meters (m³) value is calculated using a stowage factor for the cargo type in question.

INDICATOR CALCULATION FOR REPORTING

This indicator is calculated as follows:

Σ₁ + Σ₂ + Σ₃ + Σ₄

where

Σ₁ = Σ (cargo “collected from service users” in the reporting period)

Σ₂ = Σ (cargo “collected from suppliers/vendors” in the reporting period)

Σ₃ = Σ (cargo “delivered by service users” in the reporting period)

Σ₄ = Σ (cargo “delivered by suppliers/vendors” in the reporting period)

In all cases where WFP is providing cargo handling services to governments and partners the “cargo handled” by WFP is counted, for the purposes of this indicator, only once per service requested, either:

1. When the goods enter the custody of WFP or a WFP sub-contracted service provider, in all cases where some WFP-managed transport and/or storage is required;

2. When the goods are collected from the vendor/supplier directly by the service user, or when the vendor/supplier delivers the goods directly to the service user, in cases where only procurement services are being managed by WFP.

This approach to accounting for cargo – i.e. counting once when the goods undergo a unique transaction type – is done to ensure that goods subject to more complicated routing while in WFP custody (i.e. they are subject to multiple transport and/or storage transactions in order to fulfill the support request) are not counted multiple times towards the total “cargo handled” figure.

1. In all cases where some WFP-managed transport and/or storage is required (i.e. where cargo will enter into WFP custody), the unique transactions are:

1. WFP (or a WFP sub-contractor) collecting the goods from the service user, or their supplier/vendor;

2. Goods are delivered by the service user, or their supplier/vendor, to WFP (or a WFP sub-contractor).

These transactions are elements of the below calculations:

Σ₁ = Σ (cargo “collected from service users” in the reporting period)

Σ₂ = Σ (cargo “collected from suppliers/vendors” in the reporting period)

Σ₃ = Σ (cargo “delivered by service users” in the reporting period)

Σ₄ = Σ (cargo “delivered by suppliers/vendors” in the reporting period)

NOTE: in all these cases goods are being collected by/delivered to WFP (or a WFP sub-contractor).

2. In all cases where only procurement services are being managed by WFP (i.e. where cargo will not enter WFP custody) the unique transactions are:

1. The service user (or their sub-contractor) collecting the goods from the supplier/vendor;

2. The supplier/vendor (or their sub-contractor) delivering the goods to the service user.

These transactions are elements of the below calculations:

Σ₂ = Σ (cargo “collected from suppliers/vendors” in the reporting period)

Σ₄ = Σ (cargo “delivered by suppliers/vendors” in the reporting period)

NOTE: in this case goods are being collected by/delivered to the service users (or their sub-contractors).

DATA ENTRY AND DISAGGREGATION IN CORPORATE SYSTEMS

This output indicator includes three detailed indicators that may be used to highlight a particular feature of the service(s) being provided by WFP to governments and partners, depending on CSP design and operational context. It is requested that at the CO also select at least one of these detailed indicators to be reported.

Planned and actual values will be entered in the system against each detailed indicator:

• H.32.1 Quantity of cargo received for storage

• H.32.2 Quantity of cargo dispatched or transported

• H.32.3 Quantity of food procured

It is expected that values for both quantity and volume are entered for each indicator. Please refer to the tables below:

H.32.1:

H.32.2:

H.32.3:

In addition to this, each detailed indicator can be disaggregated in COMET by:

• Geographical location

• Sub-activity

NOTE: the output indicator is NOT the sum of the further disaggregated detailed indicators; the disaggregated detailed indicators each represent a different way to slice the data, but they will each include any quantity of cargo that meets multiple criteria for the disaggregation (e.g. one detailed indicator looks at “cargo dispatched for transport” as distinct from cargo stored and/or food procured; however it is possible that some food was procured, and then transported, and then put into storage, and then transported again in the course of answering a single service request – in this case it will be counted under each relevant detailed indicator but should only be counted once for the overall output indicator value).

PLANNED FIGURES

Any projected or planned values for this indicator will likely have a low degree of confidence, as the actual quantity of cargo handled in any given reporting period will depend on factors that are both difficult to quantify, and are several steps removed from WFP (i.e. the real support requirement from any government and/or partner programme in a given reporting period is highly contingent, including on environmental conditions, economic and financial realities, as well as the social and political context); WFP can make support available, but the degree to which that support is utilized depends entirely on governments and partners availing themselves of that support (something they may choose to do, or not, for a variety of reasons that may not always be readily apparent or possible to anticipate).

WFP COs should, when developing the relevant CSP activities (i.e. of the Mandated Logistics Services, Aviation Services, and/or On-demand Services categories), consider these and other factors when estimating the quantity of cargo to be handled as an input for the estimated CSP activity budget; data available for previous years, as well as projections for humanitarian and development financing can help calibrate these estimates, but in every case this will represent a ‘best guess’ for cargo to be handled.

The estimated annual values should be planned in the COMET Other Output Plan (OOP) and must be established during the first quarter of the first year of CSP/ICSP implementation (or in the first 3 months following the approval of a CSP revision, where a new relevant activity is being added).

In cases where the CO is not confident in projecting demand beyond the end of the first calendar year of implementation, estimates for subsequent years can be marked as ‘no data’.

Estimated annual values should be reviewed and updated during the first quarter of subsequent CSP/ICSP years, or in the first 3 months following the approval of a CSP revision that impacts the relevant activity.

For the On-demand Services activity category, estimated values may only be confirmed once a formal request has been received. Results are recorded in COMET through completion reports linked to partnership records, and the total target reflects the sum of all relevant partnership targets planned in the OOP.

FREQUENCY OF DATA COLLECTION

This indicator is more useful, in terms of providing feedback on support operations, if it is calculated and reported monthly; but at minimum, if selected, it should be calculated and reported quarterly.

INTERPRETATION

This indicator is a ‘snapshot’ for the scale of supply chain support provided by WFP to governments and partners, in the reporting period (i.e. measuring the quantity of inter-agency freight WFP has taken custody of, and the quantity of goods WFP has procured, in the course of answering support requests from governments and partners).

The overall value indicates both how often WFP is being asked for support (each quantity of cargo is counted once per request (e.g. WFP receives two separate requests, each asking WFP to move 50 boxes from A to B; 'total quantity cargo handled' is 100 boxes) and how much support is provided overall (e.g. WFP receives on request to move 100 boxes from A to B; 'total quantity cargo handled' is also 100 boxes).

An increasing value may be a consequence of either more requests being made (i.e. a more complex cargo handling operation, with implications for operations management) or of larger quantities of cargo are being included in the same number requests (i.e. less complex, but with implications for required capacity); country offices should be sure to also consider the number of requests when interpreting this indicator to inform operations.

A decreasing value is always indicative of reduced usage of WFP support; and should provoke a review of the services offered by WFP to evaluate their continued relevance to governments and partners.

Frequent, and/or sudden changes in this value can indicate high degrees of uncertainty and/or instability in the relevant activity categories; and should inform CO planning accordingly.

REPORTING EXAMPLE(S)

In 2025 the WFP Country Office (CO) supported the government and 20 partner organizations (incl 8 UN entities and 12 NGOs) with transport, storage and goods procurement services. The CO handled 10,200 MT/29,300 m³ of cargo overall on behalf of these organizations, including: 5,000 MT dispatched by road, 20,000 m³ received for storage across 5 warehouse locations, and 7,000 MT of goods procured and delivered.

INDICATORS COLLECTED & ANALYSED AT THE SAME TIME

The following indicators may be reported along with this indicator:

• H.29 Total value of cash (USD) transferred to people by WFP, as a service to a government or non-government partner organization

• H.31 Number of government and partner organizations supported by WFP coordination and/or services

  
  

VISUALIZATION

N/A

LIMITATIONS

As noted above, there are strong limitation in the ability to set accurate planned/projected figures for this indicator; similarly, the interpretation of this indicator and what it can say about the underlying support operations is contingent on multiple external factors. For these reasons, other mandatory and detailed indicators should accompany this indicator and support a more holistic analysis wherever possible.

FURTHER INFORMATION

N/A