RM 2% of Elon Musk’s wealth could significantly address global hunger, says UN food agency chief
A small circle of the world’s richest individuals could make a major dent in global hunger by donating only a tiny share of their wealth, according to the head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
David Beasley, speaking on CNN’s Connect the World with Becky Anderson on Tuesday, urged billionaires to “step up now with a one-time contribution,” calling out Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk—currently the two wealthiest people on the planet.
Beasley explained that roughly $6 billion would be enough to support 42 million people on the brink of starvation. “This isn’t complicated,” he said, stressing the urgency of the situation.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is estimated by Bloomberg to be worth nearly $289 billion, meaning Beasley is requesting just around 2% of Musk’s total net worth. The combined net worth of America’s billionaires has almost doubled since the beginning of the pandemic, reaching $5.04 trillion in October, according to data from the Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness.
Beasley described a “perfect storm” of global crises—ranging from climate change to the Covid-19 pandemic—that has pushed many countries close to famine.
In Afghanistan alone, 22.8 million people—about half the nation—are dealing with severe food insecurity, according to a WFP report released Monday. With the economy in collapse and unemployment surging, millions are at risk, including 3.2 million children under five.
Another set of reports released by the Biden administration last week warned that climate change will have sweeping consequences across governments worldwide. One of the reports formally acknowledged, for the first time, that climate change is now a driving factor behind migration. The WFP has long issued warnings about this trend, especially in Central America’s “Dry Corridor.”
“Take the Dry Corridor in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua,” Beasley said. “We are feeding huge numbers of people there, and the changing climate—hurricanes, flash floods—has been devastating.”
In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where fighting between government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has continued since last year, the WFP estimates 5.2 million people urgently need food aid. Millions have been displaced, thousands have been killed, and humanitarian groups are struggling to deliver assistance due to fuel shortages, blocked routes, and dwindling resources.
“We don’t even know how people are getting enough food to survive,” Beasley noted. “We’re out of fuel, out of money to pay staff, and our trucks can’t get through.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the UN food agency chief said 2% of Elon Musk’s wealth could solve world hunger. He stated it could help solve the crisis.
