John Deere Foundation Awards $1 Million to World Food Program USA

The grant will provide urgent food assistance and fund high-impact innovations to achieve zero hunger.

MOLINE, Ill. , May 18, 2022 /CNW/ -- Today, the John Deere Foundation announced a $1 million donation to World Food Program USA to combat global food insecurity and address the staggering rise of acute hunger exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine.

Half of the grant will support the global humanitarian work of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), with the other half going to the organization's Innovation Accelerator, which sources, supports, and scales high-impact innovations to achieve zero hunger. 

"At John Deere, we are committed to helping feed the world and understand the important role of innovative technologies and business models in achieving that goal," said John C. May, chairman and CEO of Deere & Company and chairman of the John Deere Foundation. "This investment in the World Food Program, and in its Innovation Accelerator, holds the promise of helping end hunger today and in the future."

"We are grateful to the John Deere Foundation for their generous support at a time when the world faces a hunger catastrophe on an unprecedented scale," said Barron Segar, president and CEO of World Food Program USA. "Private sector partners are vital to helping us feed families in need today and advancing innovation that can save lives in the future." 

This award builds on recent grants from the John Deere Foundation to World Food Program USA, including a $250,000 gift earlier in 2022 to support humanitarian relief in Ukraine and the surrounding region, and a $500,000 investment in 2021 to support the WFP Innovation Accelerator.  

"Together with John Deere's support, the WFP Innovation Accelerator positively impacted the lives of 9 million people — including 2.2 million smallholder farmers — in 2021," said Hila Cohen, Head of Business Development and Chief of Staff at the UN World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator. "We will continue to build this unique, SDG-focused partnership by investing in innovations aimed at disrupting hunger and bringing projects to scale for maximum impact."

John Deere employees have also supported WFP through its "ShareTheMeal" crowdfunding app. With the support of the John Deere Foundation's employee giving programs, John Deere employees have helped donate more than 88,600 meals to fight global hunger in 2022.

About Deere & Company (NYSE: DE)
Deere & Company (www.JohnDeere.com) is a world leader in providing advanced products, technology and services for customers whose work is revolutionizing agriculture and construction — those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world's increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. For more information on Deere & Company, visit us at www.deere.com/en/news

About the John Deere Foundation
The John Deere Foundation helps bring to life John Deere's higher purpose – we run so life can leap forward – through investments that allow the people we serve to overcome the challenges they face today and create for themselves paths to a more prosperous tomorrow. The Foundation has committed at least $200 million from 2021 to 2030 to unlock economic, social, and environmental value for smallholder and resource-constrained farmers, marginalized families and youth in John Deere home communities, and our workforce. Learn more at https://www.deere.com/en/our-company/sustainability/citizenship/

About World Food Program USA
World Food Program USA, a 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, DC, proudly supports the mission of the United Nations World Food Programme by mobilizing American policymakers, businesses and individuals to advance the global movement to end hunger. Our leadership and support help to bolster an enduring American legacy of feeding families in need around the world. To learn more about World Food Program USA's mission, please visit wfpusa.org/mission-history

About the World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator
The WFP Innovation Accelerator was launched in 2015 to source new ideas, sprint pilot projects, and scale high-impact innovations by connecting them with WFP's global network of 20,600 staff and field operations in 88 countries. From its base in Munich, Germany, the Accelerator has supported over 100 projects, with 16 innovations scaling-up globally to achieve significant impact. In 2021 alone, these projects reached more than 9 million people across 67 countries through WFP's humanitarian field operations. Innovations supported by the Accelerator have raised more than US $180 million in co-funding. To learn more, please visit https://innovation.wfp.org/media

SOURCE Deere & Company

Jen Hartmann, Director, Public Relations, [email protected]