The director of the United Nations World Food Program has outlined a plan to spend $6.6 billion on fighting world hunger — a direct response to the comings and goings of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said he would sell shares in the Tesla to fund a plan if the WFP could describe “exactly how” it would work.
David Beasley, director of the UN food program and former Republican governor of South Carolina, tweeted a link on Monday to a 1,000-word “executive summary”. It maps out how the UN would deploy $6.6 billion in meals and vouchers to feed more than 40 million people in 43 countries that are “on the brink of hunger” — thus preventing what the WFP is calling an impending “catastrophe” .
In the document posted by Beasley, WFP proposes to devote $3.5 billion to buy and deliver food directly, $2 billion “in cash and food stamps (including transaction fees) where markets can function” and spend another $700 million to manage new food programs that are “adapted to country conditions” and ensure “that assistance reaches the most vulnerable”.
Another $400 million would be used for “operations management, administration and accountability” and supply chain coordination.
“The world is on fire,” wrote Beasley. “I’ve been warning of the perfect storm brewing due to Covid-19, conflict, weather shocks and now, rising supply chain costs. THIS ONE.”
“This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented AND preventable,” Beasley wrote in a separate tweet, marking Musk, who is the richest person in the world with a net worth of approximately $288 billion. “You asked for a clear plan and open books. Here it is! We’re ready to talk to you — and anyone else — who’s serious about saving lives.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Musk had not responded.
The comings and goings between Musk and Beasley began with an interview with CNN last month, in which Beasley urged billionaires to “step up now, on a single basis” to help fight world hunger, specifically citing the two richest men in the world: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Beasley said donating $6 billion, or 2% of Musk’s net worth, could help solve world hunger.
Musk responded on Twitter, writing: “If WFP can describe in this Twitter thread exactly how $6 billion will solve world hunger, I’ll sell Tesla stock now and do it.”
“But it must be open source accounting so that the public can see precisely how the money is spent,” added Musk.
Beasley has previously responded to Musk’s tweets, assuring him that open source systems for transparency and accounting exist.
“For him, at least joining this conversation is a game changer because we can simply answer his questions, we can come up with a plan that is clear,” Beasley told CNN in another interview earlier this month. “Anything and everything he asks, we’ll be happy to answer. I look forward to having this discussion with him because lives are at stake.”
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the world hunger crisis was already exacerbated by climate change and conflict. The pandemic has aggravated existing problems, leaving “42 million people literally knocking on the doorstep of hunger,” Beasley said. “This is the worst possible scenario.”
It is unclear whether Musk or Bezos caught on to the plan and will ultimately decide to lend their support. Spokespersons for Musk’s companies did not respond to requests for comment. A representative of Bezos, Angela Landers, declined to comment on the WFP proposal, but pointed to other philanthropic donations Bezos has made to fight hunger.
Musk had already made bold pledges on Twitter, allocating funds to charitable initiatives. In 2018, for example, he promised to “finance water repairs to any home in Flint (Michigan) that has water contamination above FDA levels.” Musk ended up donating about half a million dollars to install water filters in the city’s schools, according to an August article by a local news agency.
Musk made more sizable donations to certain projects. This year, he pledged to donate $30 million to Brownsville, Texas, the closest city to a major rocket center run by his SpaceX company and local schools.
He also created the Musk Foundation, which he claims to contribute to efforts related to the expansion of renewable energy, human space exploration and the safe use of artificial intelligence. He also signed The Giving Pledge, a pledge to donate at least half of his fortune to charitable initiatives during his lifetime, something Bezos did not.
With collaboration from: Adam Pourahmadi Eoin McSweeney, Moira Ritter e Walé Azeez
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Reference: CNN Brasil
I am Sophia william, author of World Stock Market. I have a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and I have worked as a reporter for several news websites. I have a passion for writing and informing people about the latest news and events happening in the world. I strive to be accurate and unbiased in my reporting, and I hope to provide readers with valuable information that they can use to make informed decisions.
