Cuts in humanitarian funding are pushing millions of people into acute hunger

WFP’s efforts in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan are already facing significant disruptions, which are expected to get worse.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the program, said: “Every cut in rations means a child goes to bed hungry, a mother skips a meal, or a family loses the support they need to survive.”

Unprecedented hunger and a reduced budget

This crisis comes at a time when the level of hunger in the world is reaching record levels, with 319 million people facing severe food insecurity, including 44 million in emergency situations. Famine has also been documented in areas of Sudan and the Gaza Strip.

The World Food Program expects its funding to decline by 40% this year, bringing the projected budget down to $6.4 billion, compared to $10 billion in 2024.

McCain warned of the risk of losing decades of progress in the fight against hunger.

“Even the hard-won gains in the Sahel region (in Africa), where 500,000 people have been lifted out of aid dependence – through integrated food assistance and resilience-building programmes – may soon be erased if support is not continued,” she said.

Vital processes are at risk

In a new report, the World Food Program said that reducing funding could push the 13.7 million people receiving food aid from the program from crisis level to emergency level in terms of hunger.

In Afghanistan, significant cuts in humanitarian funding mean food aid reaches less than 10% of those in need, despite high rates of malnutrition.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing unprecedented levels of hunger, and nearly a quarter of the population, 28 million people, suffer from food insecurity.

The World Food Program was planning to feed 2.3 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this month, but this number has been reduced to 600,000, and a “complete disruption of supply lines” may occur by February.

In Haiti, hot meal programs have already stopped, and families receive half of the monthly rations from the program. Support in Somalia was reduced several times, from 2.2 million people last year to only 350,000 people in November.

All WFP food recipients in South Sudan now receive a reduced ration, and some food items will stop being provided as of this month as stocks run out.

The World Food Program currently supports four million people a month in war-torn Sudan, but 25 million people, half the population, face severe food insecurity.

Commitment to continue working

The World Food Program said its preparedness efforts have been negatively affected, and for the first time in nearly 10 years, it has no emergency stocks for hurricane season in Haiti, or any pre-positioning of food in Afghanistan as winter approaches.

Despite all these challenges, the program affirmed its commitment to continuing to provide food aid in the regions of the world that suffer most from hunger.

Mrs. Cindy McCain said: “The devastating damage caused by food aid cuts not only threatens lives, but also threatens to undermine stability, fuel displacement and broader social and economic unrest.”

She said that providing rapid and effective food aid is a bulwark against chaos.