United States Helping to Address Global Hunger and Malnutrition

This morning, Administrator Power delivered a speech on the global food crisis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), co-hosted by the Eleanor Crook Foundation. The speech followed the Administrator's trips to Zambia and Malawi where she met with local farmers, agri business leaders and government officials to discuss the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on food security and nutrition in the region. The Administrator will also continue her focus on the food crisis with upcoming travel where she will meet with those most affected by global food insecurity amidst the Horn of Africa’s precipice of a historic drought. 

In her address, Administrator Power outlined steps the United States is taking to address global hunger and malnutrition. 

Life-Saving Aid Comes as Historic Drought, Fear of Famine Grips the Region Amid Global Food Security Crisis

An unprecedented drought in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia is pushing millions of people to the brink of starvation. More than 18 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance, primarily as a result of the drought. In response, the USAID is providing nearly $1.2 billion in additional critical humanitarian aid to help stave off mass starvation and deaths. Many families have yet to fully recover from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last regional drought in 2017, or the last Famine in Somalia in 2011. Please find more information here. 

Mitigating the Global Food Security Crisis

Ahead of the Administrator’s trip to sub-Saharan Africa, USAID is also announcing an additional $90 million, subject to Congressional approval, in development assistance for the region, particularly for Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. This funding is part of the $760 million in ESF supplemental funds announced by President Biden to combat the effects of high food, fuel, and fertilizer prices – now being driven by Putin’s war – in those countries that need it most. With this additional funding, USAID will invest in activities such as scaling drought-tolerant crops, mitigating post-harvest loss and waste and supporting social protection and safety nets. 

Leveraging nutrition donors

The global food security crisis is having a visible and catastrophic impact on children, and is projected to increase the number of children who are experiencing wasting – the most acute, life-threatening form of malnutrition. In addition to providing increased support for wasting treatment at the individual country level, USAID is also providing an unprecedented $200 million to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to respond to the current extraordinary needs for severe malnutrition in children. This additional support will allow UNICEF to scale- up the procurement and delivery of the lifesaving products needed for treatment in the countries experiencing the most severe levels of food insecurity. This support includes Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), one of the most effective treatments for severe wasting, which USAID funds as a part of a comprehensive package to support the patient, their family, and their community in an effort to save the child’s life and ensure that they do not slip back into wasting after they have recovered. The significant support USAID is providing at this time is also allowing us to bring in other philanthropic donors to begin matching our commitment, increasing the impact, and thinking about how we can improve our ability to respond to and prevent child wasting not only now but in a longer-term, more sustainable way.

Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships

USAID has partnered with GoFundMe.org to direct both individual and corporate funds to organizations that are helping to address the global food security crisis. All donations raised will be distributed to verified nonprofit organizations providing humanitarian relief to respond to the food security crisis around the world. Visit GlobalFoodFund.org to learn more.

In an additional public-private partnership, Yara International, one of the world’s largest fertilizer companies has offered to provide $20 million of free fertilizer that USAID will then help distribute – enough to support 100,000 farmers.