The World Food Programme (WFP) has a challenge for political, tech, and business leaders gathering at the World Economic Forum: invest your knowledge, capabilities, and resources in disrupting hunger. Together we can save lives, stabilize economies, and revitalize the human spirit, the agency said.
WFP estimates that a staggering 318 million people face crisis levels of hunger or worse this year. Hundreds of thousands are already experiencing famine-like conditions. Current forecasts put WFP’s funding at just under half of its needed $13 billion budget to reach 110 million people—roughly one-third of the most vulnerable. This funding gap means meals cut, rations reduced, and a deepening hunger crisis that will cost countless lives.
“Hunger drives displacement, conflict, and instability and these not only threaten lives, but disrupt the very markets that businesses depend on,” said Rania Dagash-Kamara, WFP’s Assistant Executive Director for Partnerships and Innovation, who is attending the forum this week. “I’m here to remind everyone that the world cannot build stable markets on a foundation of 318 million hungry people.”
She emphasized that Davos has the solution to an intensifying crisis: invest in global stability by supporting WFP’s proven ability to reduce hunger.
The private sector has shown repeatedly it can be a force for good. In 2025, private sector partners were WFP’s second-largest donors to Palestine efforts and the first to support the Ukraine response in 2022. Since 2020, private sector contributions to WFP have reached just over $2 billion. At a time of dwindling public resources for humanitarian organizations, private sector funding has never mattered more.
WFP is driving a digital transformation expected to generate $92 million in annual savings. In 2025, AI-driven supply chain optimization has already delivered proven returns with savings of $25 million projected annually at scale. Machine learning now enables 60-day advance warning of food security risks across 90-plus countries. AI-powered fraud detection means every dollar donated goes where it’s meant to go, while improved prediction algorithms allow WFP to respond faster and smarter to crises.
“The question is not whether technology can address hunger at scale and bring economic benefits to local communities everywhere. We know it can,” Dagash-Kamara said. “The question is whether we will have the resources to make it happen, which is why we need the private sector’s help.”
WFP is asking business leaders at Davos to keep hunger and food security as a top-tier priority, invest in supply chain systems that bolster fragile markets, identify technologies that fortify food, boost WFP’s AI-enabled tech capabilities, and harness corporate influence to fund innovative hunger-fighting programs globally.
