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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Hunger SOS to a billion

One billion hungry people, the largest such cluster in history, are depending on another one billion to donate small amounts of cash to find food.

The World Food Programme, facing a funding shortfall with donor governments hit by the financial crisis, has issued its first direct appeal to one billion individuals to stump up what they can to help others beat hunger.

Josette Sheeran, head of the UN food aid body, said the aim of the Internet appeal launched today was to get people in wealthy nations to give just 1 euro ($1.50 or Rs 69) a week, which would be enough to end hunger for another billion people in the developing world.

An official at the WFP’s Delhi office said anyone, including Indians, could contribute. The website payment field does not have a rupee option but the amount can be entered in dollars, the equivalent of which will be deducted in the Indian currency from the credit card. A cross-border fee may apply, depending on the policy of the credit card company or bank.

The WFP, the world’s largest food aid organisation, runs projects in 10 states in India and has spent around $1 billion in the country.

“We now have hunger galloping ahead — over a billion people now for the first time in history — and because of the financial pressure on governments we think it’s really important now to call on the citizens of the world to help solve this problem directly,” Sheeran said.

It is the first time the WFP, which is mainly funded by national governments, has launched such an appeal.

“We are cutting rations, but we would rather send a message to the citizens of the world to help us fill this food cup,” said Sheeran, holding a red food cup taken from a WFP programme in Rwanda. “Because it’s just not an acceptable choice to not stand with those hungry right now.”

If even a fraction of the number of people targeted donates, it will provide a massive boost to the organisation’s revenues, which are entirely funded by donations — unlike some other UN agencies that draw revenues from the world body’s budget.

Speaking ahead of a World Food Summit that starts on Monday in Rome, Sheeran said the WFP was on track to raise only around half the $6.7 billion it had targeted for this year, with most of it coming from national governments.

While this year’s forecast $3.7 billion in donations would be the WFP’s second highest ever, it was still not enough to tackle the humanitarian crises around the globe, she said.

Sheeran said the WFP faced “a year of tough choices” as drought in the Horn of Africa, floods in the Philippines and conflict in northern Pakistan stretched its ability to cope with emergencies.

This came against a backdrop of tens of millions more people being forced into hunger by stubbornly high food prices in the developing world after the 2007-2008 food crisis.

“The problem at the moment is that the WFP probably has 10 or 12 acute emergencies on its hands, each one complex, each one with its own compelling situation and none that can really afford to be neglected,” Sheeran said.

The WFP expects to feed around 100 million people this year in 72 different countries, providing an estimated 28 billion meals. Only 7 per cent of funds are spent on paying overheads, with the rest going to food aid, Sheeran said.

“We are saying to people... if they contribute, it will go to the intended purpose,” said the former US trade official. “Of the 25 cents it costs to get a cup of food to a child, 93 per cent is for food and logistics.”