Like all the children in line beside him, Polo was eagerly awaiting his only meal of the day, a porridge-like serving called ugali. Tasteless and so stiff a spoon would stand up in it, ugali provides enough nutrients and energy so that the thousands of children being fed could learn, play and do chores around home. Polo lived in a small hut in a rural area of Malawi with his mother, father, four siblings, and a few chickens who ran about. When times were good, they also had a cow who gave them milk. They had a small piece of land on which to grow maize – but not this year.
In fact, there had been no rain for several years. That year — 2012 — approximately a third of the country would have starved were it not for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) (awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its work). The WFP facilitates similar scenes every day in over 80 countries around the world, feeding almost 100 million people every year, mainly in conflict zones. In 2020, the number being fed increased by an estimated 132 million, largely because of COVID.
The WFP grew out of a 1961 suggestion by then President Dwight Eisenhower to the United Nations to form an agency as a pilot project to feed the poor and hungry. Sadly, like Canada’s Food Banks, Eisenhower’s “pilot project” is now permanent.
My wife Pat and I first saw the WFP in action in Malawi, a small, poor country in Southeast Africa. Enroute to a rural AIDS clinic we witnessed thousands of men, women and children—many with sunken faces, and distended stomachs—wearily trudging along a road to get some rice. We were shocked. We tried to imagine days without food, and years living on one meal a day. The procession of these starving people was etched in our minds and has affected us ever since.
The WFP has programs in 83 countries, collaborates with over 1,000 other NGOs, employs 17,000 people, and operates 100 planes and over 5,000 vehicles. In addition to providing food, it trains farmers, helps develop markets, provides fertilizer and teaches good nutrition.
For funding the WFP relies on contributions from governments, corporations and individual donors, but the massive gap between the need and the response from the world is sometimes stunning. While the million or so that it received as a Nobel prize winner was a big help, David Beasley, the (then) Executive Director of the WFP, on hearing of the award appealed to the billionaires of this world to fund the WFP’s $5 billion-dollar shortfall.
Closer to home, the need to feed people because of the long-term economic repercussions of COVID has also ballooned. In the US, one in three families is malnourished; they may get food but not the right kind. Getting enough healthy food is also the biggest need of many Indigenous communities, and in Canada, food banks are stretched because of increased need. We all know good nutrition is the basis of what sustains us. Maslow put food at the base of the hierarchy of human needs. Good nutrition is responsible for improving educational outcomes, reducing conflicts and providing better short and long-term health. There is no greater challenge facing our world than the need to properly feed our people.
Not surprisingly, the WFP is not without its critics. Some argue that its aid is not very effective, and one Kenyan economist believes that it supplies too much food, leading to reduction of production by local farmers and prolonging conflicts. While these arguments may offer important long-term considerations, most seem moot when someone is starving and in need of immediate food to survive.
Chris Snyder is the author of several books and several hundred articles on personal finance, Chris’ most recent book "Creating Opportunities-A Volunteer's Memoir" describes a lifetime of volunteer experiences, much of it as an active member of the Rotary Club of Toronto and on many not-for-profit boards. Chris is past chair of the Canadian Landmine Foundation, founding chair/current chair of HIP (Honouring Indigenous Peoples) and the Trudeau Centre of Peace, Conflict and Justice as well as past board member of CUSO and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He organizes and runs hands-on school building trips to the developing world and is the recipient of many volunteer and community service awards, among them the Paul Harris Fellowship Award, the Queen's Gold and Diamond Jubilee Awards, the Rotary Service-Above-Self Award and the Governor General's Sovereign Award for Volunteering. His latest book, “Good News in A Crazy World,” will be published by Civil Sector Press in 2024.
