UN Food Agency Shuts Southern Africa Hub Amid Trump Aid Cuts

The WFP has been instrumental in raising funds for countries across Africa as they contend with the impact of the worst drought in at least four decades. — The WFP has been instrumental in raising funds for countries across Africa as they contend with the impact of the worst drought in at least four decades.
Photographer: Stuart Price/AFP/Getty Images

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By Antony Sguazzin

March 3, 2025 at 10:59 AM UTC

Updated on

March 3, 2025 at 3:37 PM UTC

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The United Nations’ World Food Programme is closing its southern African bureau that’s been leading a response to the worst drought in the region in four decades as it expects funding from donors such as the US to slump by two fifths.

The decision, which was communicated to employees around the world in an email on Friday from Global Executive Director Cindy McCain, comes as 26 million people across seven countries in the region run short of food ahead of this year’s harvest in May. President Donald Trump has been dismantling US foreign aid affecting everything from health care to food supplies — Washington provided nearly half of the $9.7 billion the agency received last year.