Story by Kelly Stablein

COVID-19 has disrupted the lives of everyone around the world and small businesses are no exception. Lekoane Busa, a small grocery retailer and farmer in Lesotho, would know. He has been running Tsau-Tsau General Dealer since 1963 — the shop enabled him to send his eight children to school. But this year is different.

“Business has not been the same since the pandemic began,” says Busa. “Many of our customers have lost their jobs so they are spending less, and as a result, we are making less too.”

Lesotho, a country landlocked by South Africa, was…

By Vanessa Jones
Mozambique is affected by climate events more than any other country in the world. Each year, almost half the population is exposed to floods or drought, and much of the country is at risk of cyclones. With 80 percent of people relying on agriculture to survive, lack of food and malnutrition are a constant threat.

Since 2017, the UK has been funding WFP Mozambique to save lives when disaster strikes. Thanks to generous support of its Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), we are able to reach emergency-struck communities with specialized nutritious foods (SNF) to treat children…

On 10 December 2020, United Nations World Food Programme will receive the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize medal for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.

Pathmarajani Pathmanathan, Project Lead, WFP Sri Lanka

Peace to me is being able to go to bed with a clear mind and waking up the next morning with the same peace of mind — knowing that there will be nutritious food on the table.

My responsibilities while working at WFP during…

On 10 December 2020, the World Food Programme will receive the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize medal for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.

On 1 December, the World Food Programme (WFP)’s fundraising app, ShareTheMeal , was recognized by both Google and Apple as one of the best apps of 2020, winning Google’s “Best apps of 2020” in the category “App for Good” and Apple’s “Best of 2020” in the category “Trend of the Year: Making a Difference”.

COVID-19 has impacted transport systems like never before. The global connectedness we’ve come to rely on to move people and goods around the world ground to a halt as governments raced to stop its spread.

WFP stepped up to help. With thousands of tons of health and humanitarian cargo and over 25,000 passengers now transported, below four WFP staff recall how they dealt with the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

By Alessandro Valori

“Each day, I share a meal with my students to foster a sense of community, and seeing them smile makes me very happy,” says Paul Jorge, the Director of the school of Batep’a, in São Tomé and Príncipe, Africa’s second smallest country — an island nation inhabited by just over 215,000 people.

“I tell them how the food arrived on their plates, and how the kitchen helpers have prepared their meal with the best ingredients available. Like education, nutrition is a social process. It’s development. It’s our life.”

The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe sit in…

By Nomhle Kangootui

Memory Nchihindo, a mother of three, has been living with HIV for the past ten years.

“I was in a very dark place when I was first diagnosed and thought my life was over,” she says. “I was stressed and confused because I didn’t understand what HIV was back then. I was discriminated against, alienated and stigmatized.”

Family and friends’ “negative talk” had left Memory feeling like a failure — it drove her into a deep depression and made her want to give up on life, she tells me.

It’s a typical winter’s morning when I visit…