At Peace Partners, we believe that the road to personal peace begins with clean water and nutritious food. One of our main initiatives is to fund raise and support the Food for People programme. 

According to research by the World Food Programme, more than 820 million people are suffering from food scarcity and malnutrition around the globe.
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The Prem Rawat Foundation’s Food for People programme continues to serve as a beacon of hope in the fight against world hunger. This innovative programme aims to provide daily nutritious meals to vulnerable communities and regions where malnutrition is rife. Since 2006, the Food for People programme has brought clean water and nutritious meals to more than three million people in need worldwide.

As a dedicated supporter of the Food for People programme, Peace Partners has raised an estimated total of £20,000 (equivalent to 40,000 healthy meals) for sponsored projects in India, Nepal and Ghana.

The idea for the programme came when Prem Rawat visited Jharkhand, India, a remote area in one of India’s poorest states. He saw the children in the area were underfed and destitute. He was saddened to learn that in Jharkhand the mortality rate of children under five was double that of children under five in the general Indian population and resolved to help. 

Food For People facility in India

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Prem Rawat’s vision for the programme is to:

• Provide daily nutritious, hot meals in the local cuisine for people in need
• Include hygiene education to help stem the spread of disease
• Hire local villagers to help run the facility
• Grow and/or purchase food locally to support the economy
• Provide education in more productive agricultural methods
• Consult community leaders in the design of the programme
• Adjust the programme to changing needs.

The Food For People programme has achieved fantastic results so far. The local employment opportunities provided by the programme has given these communities the support needed to rebuild, crime rates have reduced as people no longer need to steal to survive. The education provided around hygiene and disease prevention has taken the strain off local hospitals and as a result of the programme, previously ill adults are now strong enough to return to work and children are able and well enough to go to school.

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The Food for People Story
The first Food for People facility opened in 2006 in the village of Bantoli, Jharkhand, India. It proved so successful that TPRF went on to open another two facilities — with one in Tasarpu, Dhading, Nepal (2009) and another in Otinibi, Accra, Ghana (2012). Together, these three facilities have provided more than three million nutritious meals to those in need.

Tasarpu, Dhading, Nepal:
In Tasarpu, the facility has enabled more children to attend school. In this mountainous terrain, near Kathmandu, subsistence farming rarely provides enough food for nine months of the year and most children have to work with their parents to support their families. However, within three years of the Food for People facility being opened, the local school had to expand to accommodate an increased demand for education. Because the children in Tasarpu are now having healthy daily meals, they are more able to attend school. Furthermore, they are thriving at school; passing scores now exceed the national average. Also, the Social Welfare Council (SWC), which regulates non-profit organisations in Nepal, has recognised Food for People as an “innovative intervention” and an “exemplary model” in literacy programmes.
​As well as delivering meals, the facility has also been used as an emergency response centre to provide emergency relief when the area was devastated by intense earthquakes. In fact, TPRF distributed more than $200,000 in crucial supplies throughout the region.

Otinibi, Accra, Ghana:
The Food for People facility, in partnership with the local Prembaf Ghana Foundation, now serves an average of almost 13,000 meals per month, including delivering meals to the homes of up to 50 older or disabled people. It, like the facility in Tasarpu, has also led to more children attending school; enrolment at the Otinibi Basic School has doubled since the facility opened. Additionally, the nutritious meals at the facility have helped students to compete in sports, such as football and volleyball, at a national level for the first time.
However, the facility has not only led to more children to attending school but also has seen them go on to university. Kenneth, for example, was the first person from his area to attend the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School in Ghana and has now gone on to study at university. The nutritious food he received at the Food for People facility helped make this journey possible.

Before the FFP feeding programme, I was afraid as each school day approached because sometimes there was no money to take to school to buy food during break time. Now, I am not afraid of school days because FFP always gives us good food.”
​ - Joseph Nartey, age 10