6 billion to solve world hunger?

[paxmao]

...
What do you think,
Does it really only take 2% of musk's wealth to solve world hunger?
...

No, it takes much less. Enough to buy a few billion condoms. It does not matter how much you invest in agriculture, clean water, means of production or infrastructure - in the end, there is a limit to the number of people any system may support and the reason for hunger is not as much too little food as it is too much people.

It is a cultural issue I think, many people associate having many children to wealth and prosperity or they are used to loosing quite a few before they are old and, on top, do not have the means or the education to plan their family size. Once that happens, we can start talking about giving aid in the form of food.

. Teach a man to fish, rather than give fish.

Teach a man to wear a condom and he will not need to fish that much.

[Silberman]

Have you read the latest news?
"Elon Musk is ready to sell his Tesla shares to donate $6 billion".(source).

This comes in response to a tweet made by David Beasley, director of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).

In his tweet, Beasley had mentioned the $36 billion increase in Musk’s net worth after Hertz ordered 100,000 Teslas. He added that one-sixth of this increase, which is $6 billion, could help save 42 million people who are suffering from famine.

If interpreted based on google data, that number is only about 2% of the total value of Musk's wealth.

What do you think,
Does it really only take 2% of musk's wealth to solve world hunger?
How do we assess this phenomenon based on its purpose, from a humanity or economic perspective?

Most likely they are talking about momentarily solving the issue, after all while 6 billion is a lot of money for I think all of us, when it comes to feeding so much people those funds are going to get depleted fast, if Elon actually goes through this he will gain the respect he lost from me when he began to try to manipulate this market, but we must understand that a world problem like famine is not something that easy to solve that you can just throw money at it and solve it, because if that was the case then the issue would have been solved long time ago as governments have been throwing money at it for a long time and the problem is still there.

[dbc23]

Based on this article [1] there're 811 million people worldwide still lack of food, so 6 billion/811 million is $7,39. I don't think with such amount will solve world hunger or even Musk give more money, still it doesn't resolve the cause of world hunger. Lack of skills, poor money management, bad income distribution or lazy are the cause of world hunger. Teach a man to fish, rather than give fish.

[1] https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics

True the fraction might not solve the world's hungry population but a single man (musk) donating $6 billion from selling his Tesla shares indicates a heart for humanity. Only if we can afford more selfless individuals like him we might end up conquering more and feeding even greater population but trust me this would go a long way to reducing the population from 811 billion

[Shasha80]

Based on this article [1] there're 811 million people worldwide still lack of food, so 6 billion/811 million is $7,39. I don't think with such amount will solve world hunger or even Musk give more money, still it doesn't resolve the cause of world hunger. Lack of skills, poor money management, bad income distribution or lazy are the cause of world hunger. Teach a man to fish, rather than give fish.

[1] https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics

True the fraction might not solve the world's hungry population but a single man (musk) donating $6 billion from selling his Tesla shares indicates a heart for humanity. Only if we can afford more selfless individuals like him we might end up conquering more and feeding even greater population but trust me this would go a long way to reducing the population from 811 billion

What Elon Musk did by donating $6 billion should be appreciated, although I admit it does not solve the problem of the world's hungry population.
But what Elon Musk is doing might help alleviate the problem of a population that is experiencing hunger, and also don't underestimate the effect
that occurs, there could be other rich people who donate money because they see what Elon Musk has done. It is not as easy as turning the palm of
the hand to solve the problem of hunger in the world. But at least Elon Musk is moving to help than other people who can only comment without
doing anything. Even though I don't like Elon Musk, I have to commend what Elon Musk has done. It's true that helping hungry people is not enough
to give them money, but giving them the skills and motivation to make money is much more helpful. Therefore, the problem of hunger in the world is
quite complicated, many parties must be involved to solve it.

[tippytoes]

Based on this article [1] there're 811 million people worldwide still lack of food, so 6 billion/811 million is $7,39. I don't think with such amount will solve world hunger or even Musk give more money, still it doesn't resolve the cause of world hunger. Lack of skills, poor money management, bad income distribution or lazy are the cause of world hunger. Teach a man to fish, rather than give fish.

[1] https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics

True the fraction might not solve the world's hungry population but a single man (musk) donating $6 billion from selling his Tesla shares indicates a heart for humanity. Only if we can afford more selfless individuals like him we might end up conquering more and feeding even greater population but trust me this would go a long way to reducing the population from 811 billion

What Elon Musk did by donating $6 billion should be appreciated, although I admit it does not solve the problem of the world's hungry population.
But what Elon Musk is doing might help alleviate the problem of a population that is experiencing hunger, and also don't underestimate the effect
that occurs, there could be other rich people who donate money because they see what Elon Musk has done. It is not as easy as turning the palm of
the hand to solve the problem of hunger in the world. But at least Elon Musk is moving to help than other people who can only comment without
doing anything. Even though I don't like Elon Musk, I have to commend what Elon Musk has done. It's true that helping hungry people is not enough
to give them money, but giving them the skills and motivation to make money is much more helpful. Therefore, the problem of hunger in the world is
quite complicated, many parties must be involved to solve it.

But Elon has not given the money yet. He is still asking if they can show how $6B can resolve world hunger problem and he is more than willing to share some of the Tesla shares. We know that amount can't totally eradicate world hunger problem but at least he is willing to shell some of his wealth to address this problem. If more wealthy people will contribute their shares, I believe, a lot will benefit from it. And maybe, create jobs for these people rather than hand out those few bucks to each of them. Think of long-term solution not a band-aid solution.

[blockman]

It won't solve world hunger, it will only solve a few days of hunger and that's just a band-aid and temporary solution. This UN food official is just taking the attention of Elon.
What's with Elon's responsibility for doing that? They're the ones on the ground and they've been doing all sort of these donations for so many years and yet hasn't solved the world hunger. Well, Elon took the challenge but with a condition, I doubt that UN will take that condition then.

What Elon Musk did by donating $6 billion should be appreciated

He didn't give any money, he has accepted the challenge and will give the amount if there's an accounting and liquidity record for that money.

[stompix]

Teach a man to fish, rather than give fish.

While in most cases I agree with this, there are still many cases where you can teach them fish all day long with no use, 'cause they're in the middle of the desert.
There are many who are too old to learn, there are many who live in areas they can't leave and where they can't "fish" (or they can, but won't catch anything). Those need simply food. Their kids need education though.

Then instead of giving them fish give them a fishing pole.
If they are in the middle of the desert instead of giving them food each year making them depend on help invest that money in irrigation and agricultural gear.
The Netherlands has 1/10 of the arable land Niger has with almost the same population but they are one of the largest exporters of food!

And all this thing about poeple in poor regions not having enough food brings the one really interesting question, how have these poeple survived till date without food wand how is that there are still millions of them and still multiplying at insane levels, for example in Mali with a  fertility rate of 5.6 or Niger at 6.8? What have these poeple done before the UN was even created?

What Elon Musk did by donating $6 billion should be appreciated

He didn't give any money, he has accepted the challenge and will give the amount if there's an accounting and liquidity record for that money.

This brings up something very interesting!
He went to the interview on CNN , made this claim on how billions would help the poor yet when asked how he would do so and he came with this:
https://www.wfp.org/stories/assisting-42-million-people-edge-famine

Sorry but if this is the result for which the WFP pays 180 million a year , from which 40$ millions are on "consultants" the problems is somewhere else

[Darker45]

Helping to save 42 million people who are suffering from famine is not the same as solving world hunger. Famine is more or less a severe phenomenon and it could perhaps be solved with that huge amount of money from Elon, but will it be enough to completely address world hunger? I don't think so. World hunger could only be addressed by exterminating poverty, which I believe is impossible.

$6 billion could feed 42 million people suffering from famine but only for some time. Will it be sustainable? I don't think so. Will it transform these people into productive, self-sustaining, and resilient communities? I don't think so. Famine is recurring. While there should be an immediate response to it, the long-term solution should be given more priority.

[noorman0]

You mean Elon Musk using 2% of his net worth for marketing? You know you can donate anonymously.

Somehow I thought of this and I asked the last question.
Because I believe from the way he looks enthusiastic about answering the WFP challenge, Musk personally will not be satisfied with his current achievements. Important people will always have an economic or social "importance" wherever they speak. They will never be anonymous if they do goodness.

Trust me. Even if all the billionaires donate their entire wealth to fight hunger, there will still be hungry people.
I am not trying to be pessimistic. However, understand that those in the helms of affairs will never allow the entire funds to trickle down to those who truly are in need.
The funds will again find itself in the hands of those who are already overfed.

Yep, I believe it. Begging and slavery are a never ending cycle as long as people still care about their egos and ambitions. And public media like Forbes will keep them ambitious.

[davis196]

I'm sick of all the "save third world countries from hunger and poverty" type of foundations,who are only begging and asking for money,but nobody can measure their effectiveness and control how the money are actually spent.
Musk can donate them 6 billion dollars,but:
1.A portion of the money will sink into some pockets,without any positive impact for the poor.
2.They will feed the hungry people for a while,but when the money runs out,the people will become hungry again.
The solution is better education system,increased birth control and more investments in the industry and agriculture sectors of the third world countries.

[Reid]

Does it really only take 2% of musk's wealth to solve world hunger?

No, but it's still a great help for those who are living in hunger now especially children in the street or those in rural places that cannot afford 3 meals per day or worse not even 2.
2 billion dollars is a lot of money and he doesn't really need to do it, it's all because of his hard work but if this news is true then I commend him for offering the said amount and a helping hand.

How do we assess this phenomenon based on its purpose, from a humanity or economic perspective?

Economic. Some people even believe it is the balance of nature, there should be rich and poor or else no one will work their ass to make money.
I am not a fan of that belief though. There could always be balance without stepping down to anyone or the need for hierarchy.

[NeuroticFish]

Then instead of giving them fish give them a fishing pole.
If they are in the middle of the desert instead of giving them food each year making them depend on help invest that money in irrigation and agricultural gear.
The Netherlands has 1/10 of the arable land Niger has with almost the same population but they are one of the largest exporters of food!

And all this thing about poeple in poor regions not having enough food brings the one really interesting question, how have these poeple survived till date without food wand how is that there are still millions of them and still multiplying at insane levels, for example in Mali with a  fertility rate of 5.6 or Niger at 6.8? What have these poeple done before the UN was even created?

Unfortunately the reality is that if you just give them land and tools, they won't do better. Nowadays agriculture works really good only if the same entity has large lands, hence affording all the tools/machines needed, from tractors to fertilizing gears and all that's needed for irrigation too. The smarter ones even do some processing of their harvest before selling, meaning animal farms and/or processing factories...
And on top of this, I would not be surprised if Netherlands also imports food (which they process and then sell).

Also, about fertility rate: usually religion and, even more, the lack of education leads to that. Just look at the numbers in Europe, for example. The more developed the country is, the lower the rate. Is that good? I wouldn't be so sure. Maybe large scale migration fixes that somewhat, but that usually means war which I don't wish to anyone.

Now back on topic: the problem is that all that population is not in one place, hence multiple investments would be needed, exceeding greatly those 6bn.
Maybe then something like what @Mauser said before: investment in some large farms and also a distribution network. Of course, this is clearly not "learning to fish".

And I also agree with some other posts here: is this really about world hunger, or it's about advertising UN and Elon? I guess that's somewhere in between...

[crwth]

It's up to the world food program to get the solution and find a way how 6 billion could alleviate all the problems. It's amazing how much social media could do and how it is announced and shared throughout the world. I think the opportunity that they need to take advantage of is how they are going to implement the transparency thing by spending so much money and how it can be controlled and monitored.

With the articles that I read, the WFP chief said

$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.

I do hope that it happens, at least, millions of people would be saved and I hope it can be maintained with the efforts of the program. I hope they would be transparent with everyone like an open ledger type thing like in cryptocurrencies.

[Hippocrypto]

It's up to the world food program to get the solution and find a way how 6 billion could alleviate all the problems. It's amazing how much social media could do and how it is announced and shared throughout the world. I think the opportunity that they need to take advantage of is how they are going to implement the transparency thing by spending so much money and how it can be controlled and monitored.

With the articles that I read, the WFP chief said

$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.

I do hope that it happens, at least, millions of people would be saved and I hope it can be maintained with the efforts of the program. I hope they would be transparent with everyone like an open ledger type thing like in cryptocurrencies.

Definitely. If all of that happens then it will make all of the people happy because as you said it saves at least millions of people. And as like you, I also hope that it can be maintained with efforts of the program. Maybe those money they are going to donate might even reduce the hunger of some people but charity might be better instead of waiting. If we have something that might help other people to relieve their hunger then why not give them open arms. Let's help not wait.

[FloridaKid]

People will be happy of course but I don't believe that 6 billion is enough to cover every part of the world it won't reach everyone but will actually make things more better, half bread is always better than none they say.

[Kakmakr]

I believe in the principle of ...." Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.." So why should Elon Musk give people money to feed people, when he can create jobs in 3rd world countries and teach the people to make money for themselves?

The rich people should not give money away.... let that money work for them to be able to create more jobs ..to feed more people.  

[Erumo]

I believe in the principle of ...." Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.." So why should Elon Musk give people money to feed people, when he can create jobs in 3rd world countries and teach the people to make money for themselves?

The rich people should not give money away.... let that money work for them to be able to create more jobs ..to feed more people.  

Sorry but no, we have plenty of bounty hunters already

[bakasabo]

Will 6 billion really solve that issue ? I think this will only improve a bit current world hunger situation. This will solve the situation for a couple of months, and then situation return to when it was. To be able to solve completely, or in a greater extent, he should make such donations on regular basis. And even then some people will still find it better to be fed through donations, instead of doing something to earn and buy food.

[blockman]

What Elon Musk did by donating $6 billion should be appreciated

He didn't give any money, he has accepted the challenge and will give the amount if there's an accounting and liquidity record for that money.

This brings up something very interesting!
He went to the interview on CNN , made this claim on how billions would help the poor yet when asked how he would do so and he came with this:
https://www.wfp.org/stories/assisting-42-million-people-edge-famine

Sorry but if this is the result for which the WFP pays 180 million a year , from which 40$ millions are on "consultants" the problems is somewhere else

Damn, that's too much pay for the consultants. I'm sure that it's not only me that got thinking that these organizations are receiving funds from almost everywhere in the world, not only from the countries that are pledging funds, to private organizations and as well as rich individuals.
Whilst them, they're putting a huge fund for these consultants, and yet they have the audacity to talk about solving world hunger through putting that burden on the richest person in the world. I'm not defending Elon but it's a thing from the past and we're pretty sure that even Elon donates the said amount, it won't end hunger.

[Wexnident]

Isn't it simply a temporary solution? I'd honestly agree with the teach them to fish instead of giving them fish ideas instead. Run a scholarship program of sorts where you sponsor a community for a year or two of learning and then have them come work under a company for a set amount of time. It may take a longer time, but it's honestly better than just having a short-term project to help those in need. Though I guess if we take into account the matter of actually turning malnourished people into people that could actually learn, study and work, it might take a bit more time, and probably money.