Following the basic principle of help towards self-help, it works with local partner organisations to support the efforts of people in developing countries to free themselves from hunger and poverty [2] and to provide for themselves on a sustainable basis.

It formed the German section of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, which was launched in 1961 by Binay Ranjan Sen, the Director-General of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The largest institutional donor organisations are the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the EU Commission and the German Federal Foreign Office (AA).

In Germany and Europe, Welthungerhilfe is working together with other organisations to scrutinize current development policies and to campaign the relevant government bodies.

It also promotes the appropriate debate of development politics topics in school lessons by providing teaching material, and offers a range of participative campaigns.

Since 2006, Welthungerhilfe, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and – since 2007 – Concern Worldwide have been publishing the annual Global Hunger Index every October.