World Food Programme

Palestinian people with empty bowls wait for food at a donation point in Rafah. A report out this week shows widespread hunger and malnutrition in Gaza but stopped short of declaring it a "famine."

There's already 'catastrophic' hunger in Gaza. Who decides when to call it a 'famine?'

6:10pm March 22, 2024

by Nurith Aizenman

A report out this week says hunger, malnutrition and even starvation are widespread in Gaza, but stopped short of declaring it a 'famine.' Here's a primer on what that means, and who gets to decide.

A student at Professor Lourdes Heredia Mello Municipal School in São Paulo enjoys an apple for dessert after lunch. Brazil's school lunch program, enshrined in its constitution, is a pillar of the country's anti-poverty efforts.

The pandemic sent hunger soaring in Brazil. They're fighting back with school lunches

2:41pm January 08, 2024

by Jill Langlois

Free school lunches, a pillar of Brazil's anti-poverty efforts, are now one of its main weapons against surging post-pandemic hunger. And that's not the only benefit.

Workers load the trucks with boxes after a planes carrying Turkish humanitarian aid for residents of the Gaza Strip landed at El Arish International Airport in Egypt, neighboring the enclave under intense Israeli blockade and bombardment on October 13, 2023.

Aid deal brings hope to hungry Gaza residents, but no food yet

3:07pm October 19, 2023

by Gabriel Spitzer

A deal struck Thursday is set to allow humanitarian aid parked in Egypt into Gaza. How much and how soon food would arrive remains uncertain.

World Food Program chief David Beasley speaks to The Associated Press in the village of Wagalla in northern Kenya Aug. 19, 2022.

World News

U.N. food chief says billions of dollars are needed to avert unrest and starvation

3:11am April 01, 2023

by The Associated Press

The world will see mass migration, destabilized countries and starving people in the next 12 to 18 months without billions of dollars more funding, the U.N. World Food Program chief warned.

Construction worker Shahzaman Mohammadi, 32, stands in line for food assistance.

World News

Afghans are bracing for a winter many fear will be even worse than the last

5:03am November 25, 2022

At World Food Programme distribution sites, "Everybody tells us, 'Last winter was difficult, but we have no idea how we will get through the coming winter,'" says a WFP spokesperson in Kabul.

Zania Muhammed comforts her malnourished son, Mazzam Brahim, in the emergency section for critical care patients at a hospital in N'djamena, Chad. The war in Ukraine has caused food prices to skyrocket, leaving many without enough to eat.

Even remote corners of Africa are feeling the costly impacts of war in Ukraine

7:13am November 17, 2022

by Willem Marx

In Chad, one of the continent's poorest countries, rising food and fuel prices — and drought — have left many hungry and unable to afford the limited food that is for sale.

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Cynthia Rosenzweig has been named the 2022 World Food Prize Laureate for her work to determine the impact of climate change on worldwide food production.

World Food Prize goes to former farmer who answers climate change question: 'So what?'

1:19pm May 05, 2022

by Julia Simon

The 2022 honoree is Cynthia Rosenzweig, whose computer modeling shows the impact on global crops. She talks about her "aha" moment, a big surprise in her findings and her plans for the $250,000 prize.

For many Afghans, winter is forcing a cruel choice of whether to eat or stay warm

4:05pm January 06, 2022

by Hannah Bloch

"It shouldn't be a lottery of life about who gets to eat, who doesn't get to eat. Do I keep my child warm or do I give my child food?" a World Food Programme Afghanistan spokesperson tells NPR.

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How $6 billion from Elon Musk could feed millions on the brink of famine

8:11pm November 11, 2021

by Joanne Lu

Elon Musk reportedly made $36 billion in a single day. What if he gave a sixth of that to the World Food Programme? We ask researchers how much of a change $6 billion could bring.

Foxtrot and Gemma Snowdon of the U.N. World Food Programme, who rescued the pooch as a 4-week-old puppy. Foxtrot's reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize: "Woweee."

Nobel Peace Prize Goes To The Dog (aka The Mascot Of WFP)

7:20pm October 09, 2020

by Jason Beaubien

The U.N. World Food Programme has a canine mascot named Foxtrot. Reports are that the pooch is rolling over with joy at the news of the prize.