US food aid disruption confirmed in WFP email to USAID

The U.S. foreign aid funding pause has disrupted over 507,000 metric tons of food aid, valued at more than $340 million — despite the existence of a waiver for emergency food assistance, according to an email from the World Food Programme to the U.S. Agency for International Development seen by Devex. The correspondence does not specify how much of this aid is WFP’s, but the figures align with those previously reported by Devex, which noted that the food could have fed at least 36 million people. The story reported by Devex highlighted the scale of the disruption, with food aid stranded at ports or stalled in supply chains while hunger crises accelerate worldwide. The funding pause affects critical humanitarian operations in countries facing acute food insecurity, including Ethiopia, Sudan, and Afghanistan. Without these shipments, millions of people in conflict zones, drought-stricken regions, and refugee camps may see severe disruptions to critical food assistance programs they rely on for survival. WFP had not responded to Devex’s request for comment. The email acknowledges that WFP has received a stop-work order and confirms that all projects under a USAID award have been suspended. The pause in Title II and Commodity Credit Corporation, or CCC, awards has affected food supplies across multiple stages of the supply chain: 104,306 metric tons worth $59.6 million are currently en route by sea, 349,655 metric tons are stored in 23 countries valued at $242.7 million, and 53,752 metric tons are in overland transport worth $37.7 million. Additionally, 180,126 metric tons of planned purchases have been halted entirely. The disruption extends beyond these figures, with additional food being loaded at ports such as Houston and across the U.S. supply chain, though WFP is still consolidating the full impact. “The scale of this disruption underscores the far-reaching consequences of the funding pause on global food assistance efforts. WFP is in the process of analyzing the impact this has on the extremely vulnerable beneficiaries in severe humanitarian contexts that receive lifesaving assistance,” the email states. “This is food that’s already been paid for. It’s food that’s surplus,” a USAID official said under condition of anonymity. “It is food that is just rotting away, incurring fees daily in warehouses all over the world. And they talk about government efficiency,” the official said.