Jim Morris, United Nations World Food Programme Director, asks, Are We Losing the Battle Against Hunger? The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food aid arm of the United Nations systems. WFP works to put hunger at the center of the international agenda, promoting policies, strategies and operations that directly benefit the poor and hungry. WFP uses its resources to meet emergency needs, as well as to support economic and social development. The Agency also provides the logistics support necessary to get food aid to people in a timely manner.
Bio
James T. Morris
James T. Morris became the tenth Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme at the beginning of April 2002. As head of WFP, Mr. Morris oversees the world's largest food aid organization, which last year fed 104 million people in 81 countries with new contributions totalling US$2.6 billion. In July 2002, Mr. Morris was appointed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa, a region which continues to be gripped by a major food emergency
After serving in Indianapolis, Indiana as chief of staff for mayor Richard Lugar, Morris moved to the Lilly Endowment, Inc. in 1973. He began as director of community development and eventually served as president, until 1989.
Extreme and protracted shortage of food, resulting in widespread hunger and a substantial increase in the death rate. General famines affect all classes or groups in the region of food shortage; class famines affect some classes or groups much more severely than others; regional famines affect only a particular region of a country. Causes may be natural or human. Natural causes include drought, flooding, unfavourable weather conditions, plant disease, and insect infestation. Human causes include war, overpopulation, faulty distribution systems, and high food prices. Several severe famines occurred in the 20th century, including those in China (192829, at least 3 million dead; 195961, 1530 million), the U.S.S.R. (1921, more than 5 million; 193233, 68 million), India (194344, 1.5 million), Cambodia (197579, 1 million), and North Korea (199599, 2.5 million), and continued into the 21st century, as in sub-Saharan Africa.