from the air the dub is invisible and
then it slowly comes into focus and the
wide expanse of red dust looks like a
terracotta platter dotted with black
pepper but as we draw closer the specks
glow the color changes and the bare
platter fills as we begin our descent it
becomes clear that the vast array of
white blue and brown is actually a vast
array of tents
row upon row an area designated for
ninety thousand people is now home to
nearly half a million people we're
talking about a city and areas the size
of a city like Miami but this is not a
city in the conventional sense this is
the dab the dab is the largest refugee
camp in the world and images from the
develop lasted in the news outlets
during the Horn of Africa drought in
2011 and 2012 with these images of
children suffering from acute
malnutrition see that's the image many
people have when we talk about global
hunger but hunger isn't just in refugee
camps hunger is a global epidemic
affecting communities in sub-saharan
Africa in Asia and even in the developed
world it's estimated that there over 800
million hungry people in the world and
18 million of those people live in
cities in North America Europe in
Australia see when most people talk
about global hunger they think that the
problem is that there isn't enough food
in the world but the problem isn't the
lack of food because the absurd thing is
that there actually is enough food in
the world to feed the entire population
see the problem isn't the lack of food
hunger is a logistics problem it is a
problem of getting the available food to
the people that need it most
it is a problem that affects all aspects
of the supply chain it includes the
elements such as storage transportation
pack
International shipping customs things
such as the road networks and tracking
and visibility capabilities it's
estimated that about a third of the food
produced in the world is wasted some of
it rots in warehouses awaiting
transportation to the market while some
of it rots at ports and border crossings
awaiting customs clearance and then some
of it just rots in the field because the
farmers do not think it's economically
worth it for them to harvest it in India
for example 30 percent of the fruits and
vegetables that are harvested rot before
they get the people that need the most
because they lack proper cold storage
facilities and every year farmers in
sub-saharan Africa lose 30 to 40 percent
of their crops after harvesting -
insects rodents rain and mold in Africa
it's estimated that about the the food
that goes to waste could feed up to 49
million people which i think is a shame
but you see to me this is not just about
statistics
oz born and raised in Kenya a country
where agriculture is the backbone of a
very diverse and bustling economy but
people still go hungry there and food
rots in the farms because farmers just
don't have access to a proper supply
chain to get their surpluses to the
market and I got to see this firsthand
growing up on my uncle's farm where you
know they would end up feeding the
cabbages to the cows or let it rot in
the field because they weren't able to
sell it or to get it to the market and
the sad thing was they actually needed
that additional income to supplement the
dietary needs and also meet all the
other householder it'll cover the other
household expenses fortunately there are
some solutions that are being worked on
and implemented to solve some of these
problems I happen to work for a very
good organization ups
and my job at UPS a global logistics
company I have the opportunity to work
with non-governmental organizations to
strengthen their supply chains we find
different supply chain initiatives and
also offer our expertise as a leading
logistics provider and we also support
these organizations during disasters to
get much-needed supplies out to the
disaster zones and I believe that the
opportunity for us to be able to make a
difference through logistics is as
numerous as a number of hungry people in
the world see the key areas that we
focus on are getting food to the market
coming up with better storage facilities
and using our influence of the leading
logistics company to encourage trade in
emerging countries both on a local in a
in on a regional level and last but not
least using technology to address what
we call the last mile problem so for
example this year we've been working
with the World Food Programme on a
project in Uganda to provide farmers
with better storage facilities
historically the farmers used to use
traditional granaries that is a what
would be considered a traditional
warehouse in a village in Uganda but
they are and then they would also use
gunnysacks
similar to that but then that meant that
their grains were exposed to insects
rain and all other weather elements
through our fonts the World Food Program
we've been able to provide the farmers
with more durable silos such as the ones
on the screen made up of metal and
plastic the results from this project
have been amazing the farmers have been
able to decrease their loss by about 98
percent which I think is phenomenal
there's another project I'd like to talk
to you about which I think addresses or
provides a solution to a very simple
transportation problem purchase for
progress which is an another wall food
program initiative provide small-scale
farmers with access to markets for them
to sell their surplus produce farmers in
the Democratic Republic of Congo
received bicycles
we like to call them cargo bites in the
past the women had to carry sacks
weighing over a hundred pounds on their
bare backs to get the produce to the
market today with cargo bikes the women
are able to carry more to the markets
get there faster and also access further
markets to I'm sure some of the folks in
IE would have something to do about the
utilization of that bicycle but but
nonetheless through the cargo bikes
these farmers are now able to take their
surplus produce to the market sell it
and with the money buy additional food
to supplement their dietary needs
for example Marian here is able to sell
her surplus corn or maize and with the
money can be able to buy tomatoes
carrots bananas fruits fruits to feed
her children and in addition to that the
bicycle also gives these farmers access
to markets that would never have been
able to get to before and the trickle
effect of that is tremendous because
when cistern farmers have access to
markets to sell their surplus local
trade increases in addition to that the
farmers are also able to break the
poverty cycle see cash is not the only
act only thing that the private sector
has access to we also have access to
innovation and technology that gives us
our competitive edge and I believe that
we can use that same technology in the
fight against hunger now I welcome you
to come with me to Mauritania where
we're implementing a solution the relief
link a last mile tracking solution and
I'd like to introduce you to Davis Davis
is a registration officer in the bear
camp in Mauritania the bear camp is host
to about forty thousand refugees from
Mali Davis was very excited to implement
the relief link solution because he was
convinced that there just had to be an
innovative solution to help in the
distribution of aid in the camp and even
though the bear camp is owned only hosts
40,000 people the challenges of
distribution
food distribution here just as daunting
as the challenges faced by those that
work in the dub
historically when the refugee canoe the
refugees showed up in Barrow they would
be given a paper punch card which would
be utilized during the food distribution
it was a very long and manual process
for both the refugees and also the UNHCR
or UN High Commission refugees staff
members working in the camp in addition
to that it was very easy for the cards
to get lost and damaged and it was
difficult to track who got what or
whether there's an equitable
distribution of the food to the actual
refugees in this camp today when the
refugees register in the camp they all
receive a smart card with a barcode and
the barcode contains all their
information and I'm not just talking
about names no it's the names and all
vital information that's associated with
that family and also the facial
recognition and today Davis and his crew
are able to actually go through the food
distribution using a simple handheld
device like this and the results have
been tremendous so not only are they
able to finish the food distribution
faster and it's more efficient and
accurate but it makes a big difference
from you know the staff members
perspective relief link was born from a
proprietary software that ups owns that
was used during the Haiti earthquake
Davis today likes to say that after
relief lengths my life has changed we
used to have to carry 25 laptops to the
field carry a whole bunch of folders and
papers that we had to keep track of
during the distribution the change is
amazing because today not only are we
able to create reports but we're also
able to finish the distribution faster
which gives us time to do other things
in the camp which i think is a great
testimony from a user relief link has
also been tested in the dollar camp in
Ethiopia and I hope that is that it will
be used in camps large camps like the
dub and also to support larger
emergencies in the world
see I think if we focus on solutions
similar to these that I've just gone
over today we can be able to get food to
those that need it most
and I think the best way for us to be
able to do this is by forging
public/private partnerships between
governments nongovernmental
organizations the private sector and
investing in supply chains and if we do
so I think we can achieve zero hunger in
our lifetime thank you