As the world grapples with escalating crises fueled by intensifying conflicts, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) has found a steadfast partner in Türkiye.
Türkiye serves as a critical hub for global food aid distribution, playing a vital role in the WFP's mission to alleviate hunger in some of the most vulnerable regions.
The country is the largest supplier of food for the program globally. Its strategic location has made it a vital conduit for aid delivery to conflict zones, including in Gaza and Ukraine.
Over the past two years, the WFP has spent about $500 million to purchase food in Türkiye to feed people worldwide, according to Stephen Cahill, the WFP's country director for Türkiye.
"We buy more food from Türkiye than any other country in the world," Cahill told Daily Sabah.
Türkiye's centrality is not merely logistical. It has acted as an intermediary facilitating the flow of aid across volatile borders.
"Türkiye has played a hugely important role, not only in Gaza but also in Ukraine, that brokerage, that middle man that they're able to move between one side of the other, trying really to look at what is the humanitarian crisis and how to avoid it," Cahill said.
Most of aid earmarked for the Palestinian enclave has to go through Israel itself, "because it's the only way you can get into northern Gaza," he noted. About 70% of the food sent to Gaza originates from Türkiye, Cahill explained.
Türkiye has imposed embargoes and announced a suspension of all trade with Israel over its relentless attacks on Gaza. But it ensured that humanitarian aid is exempted, which, Cahill says, has been crucial in preventing further loss of life.
"If that changed for us today, literally, people would be dying because we could not get food to them," he noted.
Enough food but no access
But the global monitor still faces severe restrictions on aid flows and has warned that the whole of the Palestinian enclave remained at risk of famine, with Israeli military operations adding to concerns and hampering humanitarian access.
The WFP recently said it had approximately 94,000 tons of food standing by in Egypt and Jordan that could feed 1 million people for four months, but that could not bring it into Gaza because too few entry points were open and others were not safe enough.
Since Israel seized the Rafah crossing with Egypt in May – months after it began its offensive in Gaza – all routes into Gaza have been controlled by Israel.
"We know we have enough food; we just cannot get access," said Cahill.
"It's our biggest issue. It's not food. Food is there. We have it. We have lines of trucks ready to go in. It's just access."
Wrong place at wrong time
The humanitarian crisis in Palestine and Gaza exemplifies the complexities of delivering aid in conflict zones.
"Extremely difficult situation for us. Probably the most difficult on multiple levels," the director stressed. Unlike natural disasters, conflicts are entangled with political agendas and security concerns, complicating relief efforts.
"Dealing in a conflict is the most difficult. If you're in an emergency, an earthquake emergency, you're not dealing with an enemy. You're dealing with a natural event, and you're trying to help people. And you get that collectiveness around it. Everyone stops their differences, and they start to do something.
"That's not the case in a conflict. You have political agendas, you have political dynamics," Cahill noted.
He said he's sorry for the people who have nothing to do and are just civilians.
"They're kids. They're women. They're the elderly who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that's the tragedy of it."
Donor appetite shrinks while crises multiply
The WFP's operations face another challenge: dwindling donor support.
Despite reducing its funding appeal for 2024 to $46 billion from $56 billion the previous year, the U.N. has only secured 43% of its goal, one of the worst rates in history.
Earlier this month, it said it sought $47 billion in aid for 2025 to help around 190 million people fleeing conflict and battling starvation, including those in war-torn Sudan, Syria, Gaza and Ukraine.
The challenges remain daunting as contributions are increasingly in doubt as funds are more shifted to defense. Cahill expressed concern about how these shifts affect the world's poorest and hungriest populations.
"We feel that pressure as well. The people affected by that are the poorest, hungriest people in the world, the people who need that out most," he said.
"What we're also seeing, quite honestly, is a ramp-up in defense. So, the money that should go to these kinds of aids is being forwarded to the defense," he added.
"So, we see it in Ukraine. We see it in what's happening in Palestine, in Gaza."
The WFP's work in Türkiye intensified after the devastating earthquakes that struck its southeastern provinces last year in one of the region's deadliest disasters in 100 years.
The scale of devastation was overwhelming, claiming over 50,000 lives across 11 provinces and destroying hundreds of thousands of buildings. A total of 13.5 million people were affected, including 2 million refugees.
"We were up and running within 48 hours," Cahill recounted. "In the end, we fed about 1.6 million people."
The emergency response activities were followed by early-recovery efforts that reached an additional 600,000 people with cash assistance.
"We injected over $65 million within six months," Cahill added.
However, recovery extends beyond the initial relief.
"That's not something you recover from in less than two years, that's for sure. This is about long-term how you do it. We see ourselves as a catalyst," the director explained.
Support for farmers
The focus has shifted to sustaining livelihoods, particularly for farmers, as the region has formed the backbone of Türkiye's agricultural sector.
"What we're doing now is we help recovery, especially for farmers," Cahill said.
Most of the money the WFP has spent to purchase food from Türkiye over the last two years has been directed to farmers in the earthquake-affected areas, he added.
The specter of climate change looms large over global food production.
"We're really worried about how climate change would affect food production, not only in Türkiye, but around the world," the director stated.
Rising food prices could exacerbate poverty, forcing more people into hunger and increasing the demand for WFP's assistance.
"If food prices go up, more people will fall into poverty, can't afford the same food, and then WFP will need more money to feed more people," Cahill said.
According to Cahill, ensuring high productivity and supporting small farmers are critical to mitigating these risks.
"It's important that we're able to ensure productivity in Türkiye remains high, especially helping those small farmers not only produce more but also produce better."
"We want to work on reducing food prices but still giving farmers a fair price for their products."
Emergency preparedness
Looking ahead, the WFP is focused on enhancing emergency preparedness to help governments better respond to future disasters, according to Cahill.
"For every dollar you spend on preparedness in an emergency, you save seven," he highlighted.
"Because you're able, you have the contacts, you're able to get access to food and medicines. You've done all your preparedness work. Your speed of reaction is much quicker because you know what to do. So there's an economic advantage in doing this," he added.
And central to this strategy could be Türkiye's role as a regional hub, as the global monitor plans to establish physical stockpiles in the country.
"We want to start putting physical stocks in Türkiye itself because it's such a strategic part for us to help feed the region, said Cahill.
"We're currently in discussions with the government now to set up stocks for about 40 000 tons of a variety of commodities," he added, saying this would faster response times to emergencies across the Middle East, North Africa and beyond.