Devex Dish: WFP's 'priority' in Sudan is getting staff out

The World Food Programme has begun evacuating its employees from Sudan, spokesperson Steve Taravella tells me, a move the agency was forced to take as fighting remains elevated across the country. Due to security concerns, Taravella wouldn’t provide any additional information about how they were being removed from the country or where to — or who was being included in the evacuation. (In other such recent cases, foreign nationals have been prioritized over local national staff of international organizations and their families.) WFP suspended operations after three staffers were killed in the unrest that erupted two weeks ago, and the situation has continued to devolve. “Our operations are still suspended. We haven’t been able to resume. And obviously we hope to,” Taravella tells me. “Right now our priority is this evacuation.” Joyce Msuya, U.N. assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, told the United Nations Security Council in a briefing Tuesday that even before April 15, “humanitarian needs in Sudan were at a record high.” She said one-third of the population needed aid, and 4 million children and pregnant and lactating women were malnourished. Now, the fighting threatens to push the situation into a “catastrophe.” The cuts to power supply and shortages of fuel risk damaging vaccine stocks and the water supply, which could help disease spread — an additional blow to a malnourished population. But Msuya said a humanitarian leadership team will remain in Sudan, based in Port Sudan, to lead U.N. operations. Meanwhile, they are activating a hub in Nairobi, Kenya, to provide support, and looking for ways to replenish looted stockpiles so aid delivery can resume when it’s safe. ICYMI: Aid groups suspend operations amid violence in Sudan Musk find more money U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to set up a global food security fund — and he wants billionaire Elon Musk to put up the cash to start it. In a hearing with USAID Administrator Samantha Power, Graham said there needs to be a new public-private partnership modeled after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that would fund research and programs aimed at increasing food production in “unstable regions.” Power wasn’t having it, though. She said a fund wouldn’t fully account for the difference between global health and global food security funding — the U.S. government has spent billions more on global health than it has on global food security. “If we would wish to increase our investments, I assure you even bilaterally we could bring about far more substantial results,” Power said. Read: Lindsey Graham wants Elon Musk to bankroll a global food security fund Don’t bet the farm You’d be forgiven for letting it slip your mind — there hasn’t been much in the way of news on the international assistance portion of the farm bill, which authorizes flagship U.S. global food security programs such as McGovern-Dole Food for Education program, Food for Peace, and Food for Progress. But U.S. Sen. John Boozman, Republican from Arkansas and ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, tells me that even though partisan fights over the domestic nutrition benefits are sucking up all the farm bill oxygen, he isn’t worried. “I have no reason to believe we’re going to have any problems,” Boozman told me on Capitol Hill Tuesday about reauthorizing the foreign assistance parts of the bill. “There’s a lot of support on both sides of the aisle for those programs.” I noted how little airtime the foreign assistance provisions get in his committee’s hearings, and he told me it would be a good idea to have a hearing specifically examining the foreign assistance. Stay tuned! Related: USAID asks for food aid flexibility in farm bill Number munching $2,000 --— That’s how much Leonard Mideyo, a farmer in rural central Malawi, can make each year selling five harvests of Irish potatoes. He’s worked with the International Potato Center, or CIP, to grow new varieties which are more climate resilient. CIP is helping farmers introduce new high-yielding varieties which are resistant to diseases such as the late blight disease and common potato viruses. Potatoes are one of the world’s most important food crops consumed by billions of people across the globe, with production set to double in the next 10 years as Asia and Africa become the fastest-growing regions cultivating the crop. Read: Can potatoes help to counter climate-fueled hunger in Africa? A mouthful “The current failure rate to treat malnutrition … is an absolute indictment of the global system.” --— David Miliband, president, International Rescue Committee Miliband has some harsh words for the world’s response to the food crisis, telling Devex contributor Rebecca Root that it has been “weak” and displayed a lack of effective management of global resources. “Wake up, wake up,” he says. “There's no excuse when there's a big solution to a big problem for not implementing it.” Miliband: Why the world needs to 'wake up' to the malnutrition crisis + Devex Pro members can read on how IRC is responding to the food crisis with their work in East Africa. And if you aren’t a Pro member yet, start your 15-day free trial now to read the article. Chew on this Conflict has contributed to Syria’s declining food security, with at least 699 conflict incidents occurring in which violent actions affected Syrian agricultural land and crops between 2017 and 2022. [Insecurity Insight] The Central African Republic has one of the highest proportions of critically food-insecure people in the world. [Devex] Plant-based foods can’t easily substitute for the nutrients provided in meat, eggs and milk, according to a new report. [FAO]