US Offers Additional $260m to Tackle Worsening Food Crisis

By Adedapo Adesanya 

The United States government has announced $260 million in additional funding to address the global food crisis, with an estimated 768 million people already facing chronic hunger.

This new funding will be provided through Feed the Future, the US government’s global hunger initiative, according to USAID Administrator and Feed the Future Global Coordinator, Ms Samantha Power, in Tanzania on Thursday.

This comes at a critical time as new interlocking and compounding shocks exacerbate existing food needs.

As part of this effort, the US will make investments to bolster its regional and bilateral programmes as well as its agricultural and nutrition efforts in countries across Africa and Asia that the crisis has hardest hit.

It was disclosed that the new assistance would include programmes to leverage the private sector, boost local fertilizer production and improves soil health – including through the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils; increase food yields by helping farmers adopt climate-smart practices; increase water access for farming communities; reduce food loss and strengthen food market systems; and fight and prevent malnutrition.

USAID has committed more than $14 billion in humanitarian and development assistance since June 2022 in more than 47 countries to address the global food security crisis exacerbated by Putin’s brutal and unprovoked war on Ukraine.

This includes the announcement and the $2.76 billion that President Biden announced during the G7 Leaders’ Summit in June 2022 to respond to immediate needs and sustainable, near-term food assistance.

“This funding is critical to advance the US government’s response to the global food security crisis by mitigating the ongoing fertilizer shortage, increasing investments in agricultural capacity and resilience, and cushioning the impact of macroeconomic shocks.

“These strategic investments have allowed USAID, in collaboration with local partners and governments, to make a difference on the ground during the crisis: equipping farmers with fertilizer so they can continue to grow crops, enabling small and medium businesses to stay open, and ensuring businesses can continue to produce safe, nutritious foods at affordable prices,” USAID said in a statement.

As the lead for the whole-of-government Feed the Future initiative, USAID added that it is committed to addressing this historic food crisis, but we cannot do this alone.

“Fighting global hunger is a collective effort, and we urge other donors to step up. Together, we can cultivate a more prosperous and resilient future for all,” it added.