World Food Programme turns to gaming to help tackle global hunger

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is turning to the global games industry to help people understand the systems driving hunger, as it, in partnership with nonprofit Games for Change, launches a new campaign encouraging the gaming community to engage with one of the world’s most complex humanitarian challenges.

In a conversation with Good Game Club podcast co-host Jude Ower, released on 16 October, WFP’s Darko Petrovic argues that games can move beyond entertainment to help people understand complex food systems, build empathy, and mobilise resources for humanitarian action. “The world needs more gamers,” he says. “Your games can be a lifesaver for someone.”

Darko discusses Game the Food System, a new campaign in partnership with Games for Change. Launched on 16 October, World Food Day, the campaign will invite students, educators, game designers, players and game-jam organisers to explore food systems through games and storytelling. He says that games are particularly powerful because game design encourages systems thinking. “If you want to understand food systems, what are the root causes of hunger, how it comes to be, and the consequences of it,” he says, “you can find all this in a game.”

The conversation comes as Darko warns that hunger is rising amid conflict, climate change and disruption to global supply chains, as over 300 million people are acutely suffering hunger. Games, he says, can make complex food systems understandable and give audiences agency, rather than relying solely on communications built around crisis and donation. “You cannot learn, play or thrive on an empty stomach,” he says.

Darko’s conviction is also deeply personal. Four years ago, while on assignment in Barbados, he was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer and underwent chemotherapy, surgery and a stem-cell transplant. During long periods in hospital and isolation, mobile games helped him cope, pass the time and stay connected with friends. It was during his recovery that Darko began thinking seriously about how games could be used by WFP. “I know from hands-on experience how important games can be for your own survival,” he says.

WFP's relationship with games stretches back more than two decades, but Darko believes the industry has more to offer humanitarian organisations than fundraising alone. Among his aspirations, is to create a talent pipeline bringing game-industry expertise into WFP, potentially through fellowships, secondments and internships. He points to transferable skills including animation, coding and graphic design as capabilities that could help strengthen humanitarian organisations.

Good Game Club is hosted by industry leaders Jude Ower MBE, Chief Strategy Officer at PlanetPlay, and Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO of SYBO. It is supported by the Dubai Films & Games Commission, Tencent and Xsolla, working together to shape a more positive future through the power of games.

Darko Petrovic | Gaming the Food System: How Play Can Change the World is released on 16 October and can be watched here. For more information, please visit Linktree or contact comms@goodgame.club.