Rap artist Curtis “50 cent” Jackson visits WFP programmes in Somalia and Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya, February 9, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been hosting rap music star Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, on a field visit to Somalia and Kenya to see at first hand the fight against hunger in the Horn of Africa.

Jackson flew yesterday to Dolow in Somalia's southern border region, where thousands of women and children have taken refuge at Kabasa camp for displaced people fleeing from drought and conflict. He saw women and children being screened for malnutrition, and visited a nearby school.

"What I am seeing is devastating -- these women and children have risked everything to come to this Somalia camp, just to get food,” he said. “They need our help.”

Jackson today visited a school in a Nairobi slum where he met children, many of them orphans.

“To meet those kids was so inspiring, they have nothing, yet they are so positive and optimistic. I want to do my part so they get food and an education. I hope more people will join me to help end this devastating situation," he said.

In September, Jackson made a public commitment to provide one billion meals for the hungry. As part of his fundraising drive, he is donating to WFP money from the sales of a new energy drink, called Street King. For every unit sold, he has pledged to donate 10 U.S. cents, which covers the typical cost of food in a WFP meal.

WFP provides nourishing meals and snacks to improve concentration in the classroom and to encourage families to enrol and keep their children in school.