‘The world will feel the impact’: Former SC governor needs help to feed millions in Ukraine
David Beasley had a difficult job feeding some of the world’s most desperate people before the invasion of Ukraine.
Now the former S.C. governor and director of UN World Food Programme has an even bigger problem feeding millions of people displaced by the Russian-led war in Eastern Europe, and the potential disruption to the world food supply from fighting in a major agricultural exporter.
On Tuesday, Beasley spoke in front of the S.C. State House to raise awareness of the scale of the Ukraine crisis, and asking the public to contribute the money needed to meet the challenge.
Beasley served as the state’s Republican governor from 1995 to 1999. He took over leadership of the United Nations-run WFP in 2017 on the recommendation of Nikki Haley, then-U.N. ambassador and a fellow former S.C. governor.
“When he was named to lead the World Food Programme, people didn’t know what that was or what it could accomplish,” said former New York Gov. George Pataki, who joined Beasley in appealing for help in feeding displaced Ukrainians. “Last year, they won the Nobel Peace Prize because of David Beasley.”
Beasley and Pataki were joined by former S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges — the Democrat who defeated Beasley in the 1998 election — and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to highlight the WFP’s work in responding to the latest crisis.
“It’s good when you can combine a Democrat and a Republican,” Beasley said, “but when a Northerner and a Southerner come together, it’s a miraculous day.”
As many as 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began, according to recent figures. But Beasley said as many as 40 million people have been displaced by the war within Ukraine, “and they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”
As of this week, the WFP is responsible for feeding 1 million people in Ukraine, and that number will rise to 6 million by June, Beasley said. That will cost the program between $200 million to $300 million per month, Beasley said, at a time when the WFP is already stretched in meeting the world’s food needs.
“I don’t want to take food from a child in Ethiopia to feed a child in Ukraine,” Beasley said.
He called on those with the means to give for food relief at WFP.org.
Not only is the war a danger to those in Ukraine, but the war threatens to disrupt global food supplies, since Ukraine is also a major exporter of agricultural staples. That could not only increase food prices here at home, but also destabilize other countries where WFP is active, and reliable food sources are in short supply.
“The farmers are on the front lines when they need to be in the fields planting corn,” Beasley said. “This is a global war. Every American and everyone in the world will feel the impact if it is not brought to an end quickly.”
Hodges remembered being hosted by Pataki in New York shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks more than 20 years ago, then rallying South Carolinians to support the victims of that attack. Now they are being called upon to support others facing another grave crisis.
“We have a history of stepping up when a crisis occurs,” Hodges said. “This could be our part in ending this crisis.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 4:29 PM.
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