In the river valleys of eastern Afghanistan, the signs of deepening desperation are everywhere: Children crowd into trucks bound for Jalalabad to look for work, parents barter whatever they have left, and families live on the edge of survival.
This is life after foreign aid cuts by Western donors — with those from the United States, long the world’s biggest donor, striking the hardest. The unprecedented crisis in humanitarian and development assistance has forced aid organizations to slash lifesaving assistance, with the World Food Programme alone facing a 40% reduction in its funding this year, bringing its projected budget down to $6.4 billion compared to $9.8 billion in 2024.
The cuts are already undermining global food security, particularly in fragile economies such as Afghanistan that are heavily dependent on external aid.
About the author
Ayenat Mersie
Ayenat Mersie is a Global Development Reporter for Devex. Previously, she worked as a freelance journalist for publications such as National Geographic and Foreign Policy and as an East Africa correspondent for Reuters.
