In a notable move, the United States has released $32.5 million in aid to Nigeria to tackle hunger, marking a rare shift in U.S. foreign policy since President Donald Trump halted most support through the U.S. Agency for International Development.
According to a statement from the U.S. mission to Nigeria on Wednesday, the funds will be used to provide food aid and nutritional support for internally displaced people in areas affected by conflict.
Years of insecurity coupled with drastic funding cuts have pushed northern Nigeria into what has been described as “an unprecedented hunger crisis.” Over 1.3 million people risk being left without food, while 150 nutrition clinics in Borno State face possible closure, warned Margot van der Velden, the World Food Program’s regional director for West Africa, back in July.
That same month, the WFP suspended food distribution across crisis stricken parts of West and Central Africa due to U.S. and global funding shortfalls, which are crippling its humanitarian operations.
With food stocks expected to run out by September in many of the affected countries, millions of vulnerable people now face the grim prospect of being left without life saving emergency aid, the WFP cautioned.
