Elon Musk gets reply from WFP on how $6 billion from his fortune can solve world hunger

World’s richest person and tech mogul Elon Musk has received a reply from the World Food Programme (WFP) a few days after he challenged the organisation to prove how his wealth can solve world hunger. Director of the WFP, David Beasley, tagged Musk in a tweet on Tuesday and called out the latter's demand for a plan to eradicate hunger. This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented, AND avoidable. @elonmusk, you asked for a clear plan & open books. Here it is! We're ready to talk with you- and anyone else - who is serious about saving lives. The ask is $6.6B to avert famine in 2022 (sic)", Beasley wrote in his tweet.

What is the uproar about?

Earlier this month, Beasley, in an interview with CNN, called out the ultra-rich billionaires, including Musk, to contribute $6 billion, nearly 2% of their wealth to ease the global hunger crisis. When the latter came across Beasley's statement, he challenged the WFP to explain on Twitter how $6 billion could solve the crisis. 

Although Beasley replied to the headline of CNN's news piece saying "Headline not accurate", he added that "$6B will not solve world hunger, but it WILL prevent geopolitical instability, mass migration and save 42 million people on the brink of starvation. An unprecedented crisis and a perfect storm due to Covid/conflict/climate crises". 

"Here it is": WFP to Musk

Beasley has called out Musk again, but this time with a proper plan that requires $6.6 billion to assist 42 million people facing famine. The plan shared on Twitter is titled  "A one-time appeal to billionaires" and is a breakdown of how this sum will be used. Out of the total, $3.5 billion will be spent on food and its delivery, $2 billion for cash and food vouchers and $700 million for country-specific costs to design, scale-up and manage the implementation of efficient and effective food-related programmes. Besides, $400 million has been kept aside for global and regional operations management, administration and accountability says the WFP plan. Now that the plan has been made public, it remains to be seen how Musk will retaliate this time. 

Image: Twitter/@ElonMuskNewsOrg