USAID Administrator and Feed the Future Global Coordinator Samantha Power announced on Thursday an additional USD 260 million to surge support for the US government response to the global food security crisis.
This comes at a critical time as new interlocking and compounding shocks exacerbate existing food needs, with an estimated 768 million people already facing chronic hunger.
This new funding will be provided through Feed the Future, the U.S. government's global hunger initiative.
To overcome the immediate food insecurity challenges and strengthen food systems to withstand new shocks, Feed the Future is expanding efforts to transform what is grown, how it's grown, and who benefits.
As part of this effort, the United States will make investments to bolster its regional and bilateral programs as well as its agricultural and nutrition efforts in countries across Africa and Asia that have been hardest hit by the crisis.
USAID has now committed more than USD 14 billion in humanitarian and development assistance since June 2022 in more than 47 countries to address the global food security crisis exacerbated by Putin's brutal and unprovoked war on Ukraine.
This includes today's announcement and the USD 2.76 billion that President Biden announced during the G7 Leaders' Summit in June 2022 to respond to immediate needs as well as sustainable, near-term food assistance.
This funding is critical to advance the US government's response to the global food security crisis by mitigating the ongoing fertilizer shortage, increasing investments in agricultural capacity and resilience, and cushioning the impact of macroeconomic shocks.
Source: Kuwait News Agency