Who gets to eat when food runs out? Kinday Samba, Regional Director for West and Central Africa at the UN World Food Programme, draws on over 30 years of experience to unpack how war drives malnutrition and the trade-offs when funding falls short. As food systems collapse, women and children suffer most, and instability spreads far beyond the region, fueling displacement, trafficking, and conflict.

Michael Shaikh, New York–based writer and human rights investigator, joins us to explore food in conflict zones. His book The Last Sweet Bite reveals how war reshapes not just lives, but what and how people eat. From Myanmar to Uyghur regions, food becomes both a tool of control and an act of resistance. This conversation uncovers how culinary traditions endure under extreme pressure. A powerful look at dignity, identity, and survival, told through the lens of food, memory, and the people who refuse to let their culture disappear.