Palmetto State News

David Beasley, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) executive director and former governor of South Carolina, shared a plan for billionaires to save 42 million people worldwide from starvation. 

The plan was publicized in response to a tweet by billionaire electric carmaker Elon Musk, who said he would give up the money if someone told him how it would help.

Beasley tweeted Nov. 15, sharing a link to the WFP’s “one-time appeal to billionaires” asking for an investment of $6.6 billion dollars to avert famine in 2022.

“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,” Beasley wrote in his tweet.

WFP has a presence in about 80 countries. Its goal is to provide options for the millions of people on the brink of starvation.

In an 1,000-word executive summary, Beasley outlined how the money could buy $6.6 billion worth of meals and vouchers for more than 40 million people in 43 countries on the brink of  famine. 

In a tweet calling on Musk’s support, Beasley said Afghanistan, Madagascar, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen alone would account for 20 million people on the frontlines of hunger.

Musk had tweeted that he would sell $6 billion in Tesla stock if the WFP could describe exactly how it would be used and would provide a detailed outline of the current and proposed spending. The money, he said, must be part of an open-source accounting plan so the public can see exactly how it is being spent. 

According to the plan, the WFP would use $3.5 billion for the purchase and direct delivery of food, $2 billion for vouchers, $700 million for the management of new food programs to reach the most vulnerable citizens across the globe and an additional $400 million for management and supply chain coordination.