Hacking Hunger

In the early 1990s, Abdi Nor Iftin was a child. Just like other children across the globe, he loved playing outdoors, bickered with his brother and dreamed of being a Hollywood star. Unlike most other children, however, Abdi was starving – simply because he was living in Somalia during a time of drought and civil war.

Abdi lived through the unthinkable, but he was one of the fortunate ones; he survived. Rescued from the brink by perseverance, luck and humanitarian aid, he's now a successful author living in the U.S. with a story he's eager to tell.

"I want the world to know both what I went through and how I was helped," Abdi says. "Maybe then, we can prevent these tragedies from happening again.

In the last few years, Mohammed Ghanim has become all too familiar with the struggles of war. A program officer for WFP, Mohammed lives and works in Yemen, site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. He is also from Yemen, born and raised – and like every other Yemeni, he has not been immune to the consequences of conflict. Yet, despite the tremendous hardship he continues to face, Mohammed remains dedicated to helping his neighbors in urgent need.

Inspired his commitment, we asked Mohammed about the reality of living in Yemen during difficult time, how WFP is working to help, and how he finds hope for his country's future, even in the middle of war.

ShareTheMeal is a WFP app that enables people to donate food with just a tap of their fingers. In episode 38 of Hacking Hunger, we sat down with Max Costa, head of ShareTheMeal, and Nishkam Mehta, a super user, to learn the impact the app has had, and what's in store for its future.

When Ebola spread through Western Africa in 2014, it killed more than 11,000 people. Now it's back – and the Democratic Republic of Congo is at its epicenter in a critical phase. We spoke to Jacques David, WFP communications officer, at how WFP is helping fight ebola with food.

The tale of the Dry Corridor is one that's becoming all too familiar. It's one of extreme weather and desperation, hunger, drought and rain.

The Dry Corridor is the nickname given to a region in Central America that's been suffering from erratic weather patterns fueled by climate change. For the past five years, it's been devastating crops, and driving migration and hunger.

In this podcast, we spoke with Elio Rujano, a WFP communications officer based in Panama. He has witnessed firsthand the impact climate change is having on families in the Dry Corridor who are already struggling to survive.

For the fourth year in a row, hunger is on the rise globally. And one of the main reasons is climate change. The number of extreme climate-related disasters has doubled since the early 1990s, with an average of 213 of these events occurring every year.

One of the places where you can see the effects of climate change very clearly is Mongolia – a country new to WFP's work. We sat down with Darko Petrovich and Amit Wadhwa, who are spearheading WFP's efforts in the country - one of the coldest and most polluted places in the world.

On March 14, 2019, Cyclone Idai slammed into central Mozambique near the city of Beira. Its torrential winds and rains destroyed everything in its path, and left millions of people without the food, shelter and water they needed to survive. We spoke with one aid worker who was one of the first responders to this "apocalyptic" scene.

Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh is home to the world's largest refugee camp. One million refugees live there – 80 percent are women and children. The camp is plagued by poor water, unsanitary conditions, and limited access to health services and food. We spoke with Tracy Dube, a WFP nutritionist in the camp, about the challenges that pregnant mothers, new moms and young children face in this pop-up city.

Homegrown school feeding is not only transforming the lives of students, but entire communities. We sat down with Carmen Burbano de Lara, WFP director of school feeding, and Amy Blauman, who manages WFP's homegrown school feeding program in Rwanda, to learn more.

Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. WFP cameraman Marco Frattini recently traveled to the country to document the human impact of its four-year civil war. What he saw is something he'll never forget. On our latest episode of Hacking Hunger, Marco shares his experience visiting the children and families who have become innocent victims of Yemen's war.