Which USAID-funded food and agriculture programs were cut? Which remain?

The Trump administration recently shared with Congress a list of the 5,341 programs terminated from the U.S. Agency for International Development, along with 898 programs that have been retained. That represents 86% of the agency’s former programs, meaning the vast majority are being canceled. According to a letter sent to Congress on Monday by Ryan Shrum, USAID’s senior adviser for legislative and congressional affairs, the remaining programs prioritize “strategic and life-saving aid,” such as emergency food assistance and global health interventions. Devex reviewed the data to assess the implications for emergency food aid, nutrition, food systems, and agriculture programming more broadly. This piece offers a snapshot of some of the organizations most affected by the terminations, grouped into three broad categories: multilateral institutions, NGOs, and contractors. Given the inconsistencies and gaps in the leaked data, the aim here is not to provide an exhaustive accounting, but rather to offer an illustrative look at where the cuts have landed hardest. Programs linked to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, appeared on both the terminated and retained lists, making its future unclear. Feed the Future Innovation Labs — research programs based at U.S. universities and funded through USAID’s Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security, or REFS — were largely terminated. Meanwhile, Food for Peace Title II programs, which focus on U.S.-grown in-kind food donations, were mostly spared. A quick word on how to read the data: The list focuses mainly on grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements — collectively known as awards, which often comprise around half of U.S. official development assistance. But it may not reflect other types of official development assistance, such as spending on refugees, students abroad, or some direct payments to multilateral institutions. The overarching, topline figure represents the “total estimated cost,” or maximum potential value of an award — or a ceiling of how much a project could cost the U.S. government. This is not necessarily how much Congress wants USAID to spend on a project; rather, USAID will often specify a high maximum spend so it doesn’t need to go back and ask Congress for more money. And within this, funds can be obligated, meaning the U.S. government has set aside money for an award (but not necessarily paid it). Or it can be unobligated, which means the government has not yet committed to paying it (and thus can be considered gone). As for former USAID offices that handle food aid and agricultural development, REFS lost over $108 million, or 20% of its ceiling award value. Meanwhile, the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, or BHA, had one of the lowest relative impacts — with just 9.3%, or $256 million, of its terminated portfolio left unobligated. Multilaterals WFP The United Nations World Food Programme, WFP, was both among the most impacted by USAID’s terminations and among those with the most funding preserved — a reflection of its size as one of USAID’s largest implementing partners. Seven of its awards were cut, totaling $15.6 million in unobligated funding, placing it among the multilateral organizations hit hardest by the terminations, although 90% of its funding was obligated before termination. The Associated Press on Monday reported that the Trump administration had notified WFP and its partners that it would cut programs in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and other countries. According to the data Davex analyzed, terminated programs include: • Up to $95.8 million, 100% of which has been obligated, to provide emergency food assistance through cash transfers for newly displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. • Up to $8.9 million, 100% of which has been obligated, to “strengthen and diversify livelihoods among poor Zimbabweans vulnerable to recurrent crises.” WFP retained 142 active awards, with more than $5.8 billion in obligated funding and an additional $58 million in potential funding still available under the award ceilings — though not guaranteed unless future allocations are made. The U.S. has historically been WFP’s largest donor, contributing around 46% of its total budget — though not all of that funding flows through USAID. Retained programs include: • A program with a $71.2 million ceiling for emergency food and nutrition assistance to crisis-affected populations in South Sudan. • A program with a $169.8 million ceiling to deliver emergency cash-based food assistance, nutrition, and related services in Somalia. FAO The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization lost all its USAID awards — 27 in total — amounting to $114.5 million in unobligated funding. The United States is the largest contributor to FAO’s budget. In 2024, the contributions from the U.S. government reached a total of $317 million — representing about 14% of FAO’s total resources, according to an FAO spokesperson. Terminated programs include: • A project with funding of up to $80 million to support rural livelihoods in areas of Afghanistan that experience significant levels of food insecurity. About 68% of this had already been obligated. • Up to $32.9 million to support the effects of drought in the Somali region of Ethiopia, all of which had already been obligated. UNICEF UNICEF was among the multilaterals affected by terminations, with 36 awards cut short and $65.8 million in funding left unobligated. Most of the funds — 85.4% — had already been obligated, meaning less than 15% remained unspent when the contracts were terminated. The United States contributes 15.7% of UNICEF’s budget, according to a UNICEF spokesperson. Terminated programs include: • A project of up to $40.2 million to support nutrition, child protection, and sanitation in Afghanistan, all of which had been obligated. • Up to $8 million to provide acute malnutrition assistance, water, sanitation, and hygiene, or WASH, and child protection to internally displaced and vulnerable conflict-affected populations in Myanmar, all of which had been obligated. In a similar vein, UNICEF continues to deliver a wide range of nutrition-focused interventions under its active U.S.-funded portfolio, with at least $429 million in total estimated costs across more than two dozen awards. These ongoing programs span 26 countries and include targeted support for malnourished children in crisis contexts, refugee nutrition services, and broader multisectoral responses integrating WASH, health, and protection. Retained programs include: • Up to $50.6 million in Food for Peace Title II funding for nutrition assistance, including ready-to-use therapeutic food, in 11 countries. • Up to $52 million to provide vital health nutrition and other humanitarian assistance to people in the DRC. NGOs FHI 360 Although FHI 360 is likely best known for its work in health, it also has a substantial nutrition portfolio. In 2023, it was selected as the lead implementer of USAID's five-year ELEVATE Nutrition — Enhancing Local Efforts for Vital, Transformative, and Evidence-Based Nutrition — project of up to $99.5 million, which has now been terminated, according to the leaked dataset. About 29% of funds were obligated. Other terminated programs include: • A program of up to $28.7 million, 77% of which is already obligated, to improve the nutritional status of children under two and pregnant and lactating women, issued by USAID’s team in Jordan. Retained programs include: • A program of up to $8.5 million to provide nutrition, protection, WASH, and emergency health services in Ethiopia. Action Against Hunger Action Against Hunger, also known as Action Contre la Faim, faces a number of terminations. “For the past month, the American authorities have been using the lives of millions of people as a budgetary adjustment variable. We have received termination notices for nutrition projects that help nearly 1.5 million people, including more than 797,000 severely malnourished children under the age of 5. These activities are vital to their survival,” the organization’s President Aïcha Koraïchi said in a statement in February. Terminated programs include: • Up to $2.2 million to promote better nutrition outcomes worldwide through technical support. Retained programs include: • A program of up to $50 million to provide “multi-sectoral support activities” for internally displaced people in the DRC. Helen Keller Intl Helen Keller Intl works with 20 countries to help tackle malnutrition. Last month, the organization told Devex that the termination of all U.S. government-funded projects would place nearly 21 million people, including 11 million children, at immediate risk because of halted nutrition and health care support from its programs alone. Terminated programs include: • A project of up to $72 million to improve the nutrition of children, adolescents, and women in underserved communities in Nepal. About 32% of this funding was obligated. • A project of $14 million, 100% of which was obligated, to improve agriculture and increase access to nutritional food in Bangladesh. Retained programs include: • No projects from Helen Keller Intl appeared in the documents that showed retained programs. AGRA USAID also made deep cuts to its support to AGRA, the African-led organization dedicated to improving agriculture across the continent. USAID had two projects with AGRA, both of which were terminated. Terminated programs include: • Its contribution to the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa, or PIATA, a five-year initiative involving the Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation to boost smallholder farmer incomes across 11 African countries. The $90 million ceiling project was 84% obligated. Winrock International Winrock International, which focuses on social and environmental issues, also faced deep cuts. Terminated programs include: • Up to $56 million for agricultural transformation in Nepal, 36% of which was obligated. • Up to $48 million to support climate-resilient livelihoods in the Mekong Delta, 11% of which was obligated. Retained programs include: • Only one of Winrock’s contracts was retained, which was related to antihuman trafficking work. Contractors Chemonics Chemonics had 110 contracts terminated and experienced the largest financial hit of any USAID contractor, losing more than $2.3 billion in planned funding. Several of its projects focus on food security, including its prominent role as a key implementing partner for FEWS NET. Projects related to FEWS NET appeared in both the list of terminated and retained awards, so the current status of FEWS NET is not immediately apparent. Terminated programs include: • An 87% obligated project with a $56.8 million ceiling designed to support rural economies in Lebanon, agriculture, and other rural industries to increase incomes. • A project with a $40 million ceiling to strengthen market-based food and sanitation systems and promote the adoption of improved nutrition behaviors in Tanzania. This project was 67% obligated. Retained programs include: • The Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities, or AGRO, project in Ukraine, which has a $205 million ceiling. DAI DAI Global, a long-standing USAID partner known for its work across a wide range of development areas, including food security, had 99 awards terminated, with more than $1.2 billion in planned funding affected. The value of its current active portfolio now stands at just 7% of what was canceled, marking a significant downturn for one of the agency’s historically most engaged implementing firms. Terminated programs include: • An award of up to $66.6 million, nearly 100% of which was obligated, to support the Scaling Up Nutrition program in Zambia, designed to reduce stunting. • A program with a ceiling of $63 million to improve food security in northern Uganda while helping communities adapt to climate shocks and address drivers of conflict, 45% of which was obligated. Retained programs include: • Of DAI’s three retained contracts, none were related to food security. ABT Global Terminated programs include: • An award of up to $58 million to support the Feed the Future Nutrition activity in Bangladesh, 63% was obligated. • Up to $17.9 million to support the nutrition of mothers and young children in Tajikistan. Several contractors who had a small number of projects related to food security also faced terminations and did not have any food security projects retained. These include: • Tetra Tech, which had a project of up to $3.8 million, 70% of which is obligated, to support the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development’s ability to make informed recommendations to USAID on emerging issues related to food and agriculture research. • Palladium Group, which had a $51.6 million project to expand climate-smart agriculture in areas of Colombia where illicit crop production is prevalent. • ICF Macro, which had a project with a $214 million ceiling to improve the collection, analysis, and dissemination of datasets related to population, health, and nutrition. Update, April 10, 2025: This article has been updated to clarify the U.S. government’s contribution to FAO.