The U.S. Department of Agriculture has officially taken over Food for Peace — the United States’ flagship global hunger program — and entered into a $452 million agreement with the World Food Programme, according to emails obtained by Devex on Wednesday night.
The news comes after months of uncertainty over the future of Food for Peace, a program that for decades had been housed at the U.S. Agency for International Development. After the Trump administration hollowed out that agency, Food for Peace was transferred to the State Department — and now, it seems to have found a more permanent home at USDA.
“The [World Food Programme] funding will help U.S. producers move American-grown food to people in need around the world, sending nearly 211,000 tons of U.S. agricultural goods to people in need in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, and Rwanda,” states a press release attached to the email.
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
