Question

Case 5: World Food Programme: A Quarter a Day Keeps the Hunger Away

Case Summary: Established in 1961 and headquartered in Rome, Italy, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian organization dedicated to eliminating world hunger. It costs 25 cents to feed one person in the developing world for a day. The goal of the WFP is to eliminate the need for food aid globally through poverty elimination. Not only does food aid helps reduce hunger but it also supports economic and social development of the local communities. In 2009, WFP brought 4.6 tons of food to 101.8 million people in 75 countries. Despite the efforts of the WFP, more than 1 billion people are hungry and/or starving on any given day. Women are critical for food aid, because they are more likely to distribute to the family. The WFP has 30 ships, 70 aircraft, and 5,000 trucks to facilitate emergency relief. The philosophy of the WFP is to provide “The right food to the right people at the right time.” In 2013, the WFP gave food assistance to 80.9 million people in 75 countries. The food assistance reduced or stabilized the undernutrition of 7.2 million children under the age of 5. A total of 18.6 million school children received meals in school and/or were given take-home food rations in 2013. WFP developed the Purchase for Progress (P4P) in 2008 and is focused on WFP’s buying power to stimulate production and support for small farmers. WFP has initiatives that enrich the nutritional value of food, so it has higher calories and vitamins than usual. WFP has developed micronutrient powders that can be added to food or fluid. In Egypt, a program was set up that enriches all the flour used to make the country’s basic bread with iron and folic acid. The first 1,000 days are critical in a child’s development, and undernourishment can cause permanent damage to mind and body. Mothers who were undernourished as children are 40% more likely to have children who die before the age of 5. Mothers with lower nutrition run a higher risk of death while giving birth. Terminal illnesses in developing countries are a great challenge. The lack of food and nutrition can significantly negatively affect HIV/AIDS victims. By providing food security, the WFP helps improve the general health and cuts medical expenses. WFP faces dangers everyday providing food worldwide. In 2009, more than 600 security incidents were noted, and included harassment, detention, theft, kidnapping, and murder. In October 2009, a suicide bombing in Pakistan killed 5 WFP staff. Fifteen WFP staff were killed and 35 staff were injured during other incidents that year. Also in 2009, the WFP implemented the International Public Sector Accounting Standards to ensure financial transparency. With the help of corporate sponsors, the WFP has developed the Project Laser Beam (PLB) program. PLB focuses on a specific geographic location to maximize the long-term impact of the program. Focus is on food enrichment, and the development of skills that can generate future income including providing microfinancing.

The Six Lessons Learned by the WPF are:

1. Innovation is vital for the long term effectiveness of food aid.

2. Innovation must be designed for the specific needs of the country and citizens.

3. Innovation needs champions and leaders and must have a long-term financial commitment.

4. Free market systems are a powerful ally in implementing food assistance programs, but not the only one.

5. Innovation is not a solo commitment but needs strong and progressive partners.

6. Globalization needs to be perceived as both a threat and an opportunity.

Answer the Questions (Write 150-word minimum for each question. Research outside of the case may be required to provide additional points)

1. What should the role of corporations be in helping the WFP’s mission? Explain.

2. Identify as many possible stakeholders of the WFP as you can. Comment on each group’s involvement with the WFP.

3. Does is take a village to solve problems like hunger? Explain. How effective can organizations such as the WFP be in solving world hunger without the support from other NGOs? Explain.

4. Should issues such as world hunger be on corporate agendas? Explain.

Answer 1

1. Hunger is a challenge that is dependent on a lot of external factors. There can be many reasons for a community or region to face such a challenge. In many cases, it could be due to unfavorable external conditions. The community themselves might not be in a position to support themselves and in such cases external help and support is required to feed the basic needs. Every business is set up with the sole purpose of serving the customer. But in addition to this, there is a major responsibility of corporations to ensure the community which is helping them sustain I supported back. Most firms engage in CSR activities as a way to give back to the community. One of the major issues that are facing global leaders in world hunger. Food, clothing, and shelter form the basic human needs. It is the basic necessity to survive. While firms support education and other noble causes, it is vital that each firm can support the grave and serious challenges facing certain communities. Organizations like WFP are dedicatedly working towards ensuring these challenges are not a major cause of concern. But they cannot make all the necessary arrangements on their own. For this, they would need funds and other support from major corporations. Corporations should keep a dedicated budget allocated to CSR activities and ensure there are no cutbacks on them no matter what the profitability of the firm is. Most firms tend to support NGO`s when they are financially well but as soon as the market gets challenging they stop the support. But having a dedicated budget even though a small one will go a long way to help charitable organizations meet the mission they have set to achieve.
2. Stakeholder and involvement is a vital aspect of any sustainable operation. WFP was founded under the guidance of UN general assembly and food and agriculture organization. They guide the firm in their constant struggle to meet the food requirements and eradicate the world hunger. In their work, they are supported by all major governments across the globe and major NGO`s such as SARC, Aga Khan Foundation, and Action Against Hunger – Syria, World Mission- Myanmar, Islamic Relief- Kenya, Catholic Development Mission – Malawi, Caritas Bolivia, Christian child fund –Ghana. In addition to this, they are supported by major corporations across the globe such as Bank of America, Michael Kors, UPS, Uniliver, Yu, Brands, etc. Mastercard, DSM and LDS charities also act the flag bearer for eradicating this problem. They are also supported by all the firms associated with the UN and UNICEF. Each group has different levels of involvement in each activity. The corporate provides the funding while the other logistic firms provide the required logistic support. The governments enable the activities in such a way that there are no policy-related restrictions for such external help. All the different stakeholders act together as one to reduce this problem from the global scenario.
3. Effective planning is one of the crucial aspects when it comes to managing a large scale operation. Ensuring the right people get the right food takes more dedication and support from all the involved stakeholders. If the planning is not right, the quantum of teams does not matter. Even the largest group will fail if the planning is not done properly. On the other hand, if the planning is done effectively, the teams can ensure the actions and operations are optimized to reduce the impact of problems. For solving a major problem like world hunger, it would take more than the dedicated action of a single firm like WFP. While WFP might have the optimal plans, they too depend on external partners to fund and provide the support they need to reach out to all the people. Doing such a major task all by themselves would present a big challenge and struggle for them. To reduce this, they always encourage support from local NGO`s which support and ensures in larger reach to the community. The local NGO`s will know the community better and also help in analyzing the high impact areas much better. Hence it would be ideal to enlist support from other NGO`s to reduce and eradicate the problem such as world hunger.
4. Yes. All the major corporations across the globe have a dedicated team which focuses on helping society and certain CSR activities. These activities form a part of the support they provide to the community which provides the opportunity to serve them. The major organizations have a dedicated plan and budget to support certain regions. This ensures there will never be a shortage of support to the affected. For instances, support a firm in the US wants to ensure there is enough food in a war-ridden nation. They will plan ahead in detail and ensure they coordinate with the relevant stakeholders to get all the approvals and permissions which would be needed to serve the community. In other cases too, if the firm wants to provide meals to the homeless in the US boundary, they can coordinate with the right channels and ensure they provide the funds and other support to help out the needy. Being on the corporate agenda would mean there is a dedicated team who will work towards ensuring these goals are fulfilled. This will help in ensuring the activities do not stop and reach the right people who are desperate in need.