The global community continues to confront overlapping economic shocks: uneven recovery from COVID-19, reductions in official development assistance (ODA), U.S. tariffs, inflation and rising food costs — all layered atop ongoing conflict and political instability.
Food banks are already experiencing the immediate consequences of these trends, while they are also playing an even more critical role in addressing food security in a world that has changed dramatically.
The closure of USAID in particular represents one of the most consequential shifts in humanitarian financing in decades, reshaping how food and relief systems are funded and delivered. Prior to 2025, the U.S. was the largest contributor to global aid, contributing approximately 35% to 40% of all humanitarian assistance. The E.U. and several member states, including the U.K., France and Germany, reduced their ODA by 9% in 2024 and a further 9% to 17% in 2025. Seventy countries were impacted by stop-work orders, canceled contracts and inconsistent exemptions. According to Atul Gawande, head of USAID’s global health efforts during the Biden Administration, this led to more than 600,000 deaths, two-thirds of which were children.
According to George Washington University’s Global Food Institute, “this moment represents not only a funding challenge but a structural transformation of how aid is organized, delivered and sustained,” and the urgent question is “how humanitarian organizations will operate with each other and with communities going forward.”
The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) remains in close contact with its members, tracking donation flows, demand trends and preparedness, while seeking opportunities to provide targeted resources and guidance to support the resilience and creativity of community-led food banks.
The following is a summary of the challenges currently facing GFN members and how they are responding.
Africa is on the front line of a worsening global hunger crisis. According to the 2025 Global Report on Food Crises, Africa is one of the hardest hit regions, with southern, eastern and parts of West Africa facing severe hunger due to conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks. Projections show that while the prevalence of undernourishment will decrease between 2025 and 2030, 60% of people affected will be in Africa. USAID cuts are especially felt: In 2023, 40% of USAID’s budget was directed to sub-Saharan Africa for programs like Feed the Future and PEPFAR.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), severe levels of acute food insecurity are expected to continue, driven by escalating conflict in the eastern region and accelerated by ODA cuts. The violence has forced widespread displacement, affecting nearly 5.8 million people and has disrupted agricultural production and restricted access to humanitarian assistance. The U.S. was the largest donor to the DRC, providing over $1 billion in humanitarian aid annually. Funds were used for health, education, and agricultural and economic development. One of the youngest food banks on the continent, Mapendo Banque Alimentaire in the DRC, distributed 7,380 kilograms of food and grocery product to 852 individuals in 2024.
South Africa’s operating environment remains challenging, despite some signs of improvement. Economic growth is projected at 1.2% in 2025 — well below the threshold needed to meaningfully reduce unemployment. Although the unemployment rate has eased slightly to 31.9%, it remains unsustainably high. South Africa’s weak economy and struggling businesses have made fundraising extremely challenging, compounded by significant USAID funding cuts. FoodForward África do Sul (FFSA) states that this has intensified competition among nonprofits for a shrinking pool of resources.
FFSA staff, through their partners, have seen a significant drop in the number of people screened and tested for HIV with the closure of testing centers, which will likely increase the incidence of HIV/AIDS. Tuberculosis centers have closed as well, which will start to increase the incidence of the disease. FFSA is launching a pilot with a local community health center to provide food to at-risk tuberculosis patients in Masiphumelele.
Likewise, Banco de Alimentos Quênia staff have also seen consequences of the ODA cuts. “Calls and emails requesting food support have increased nearly threefold since the beginning of the year,” said Food Banking Kenya CEO John Gathungu. “Referrals to Food Banking Kenya, including those coming through the Kenya Red Cross, have also risen sharply as more households and community organizations fall into food insecurity.”
Demand from schools previously funded by USAID has increased substantially as families struggle to meet basic needs. For many children, these meals remain their most reliable source of daily nutrition.
In response, Food Banking Kenya has reallocated food supplies to partners that lost USAID support, prioritizing nutrition sensitive food assistance for women and children, supporting schools and community programs, and strengthening local food recovery and sourcing efforts.
“Development work around hunger and nutrition is changing,” Gathungu said. “There is a growing need for resilient, locally driven models that can absorb shocks from funding disruptions and climate variability. Food Banking Kenya is well positioned to do this work: We are embedded in communities, respond quickly in emergencies, and play a dual role in reducing hunger while addressing food loss and waste.”
Asia continues to be home to more than half of the population facing hunger. Cuts to ODA will impact the region, particularly in southeast Asia, including GFN countries Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, as the U.S. and the U.K. collectively cut more than $1.2 billion in aid. Overall economic growth is projected to slow in 2026 as Asian economies have had to adapt to new trade realities.
Experts warn that without USAID funding, Indonesia may face setbacks in healthcare, governance reforms and disaster response capabilities, threatening progress in public sector accountability and its ability to respond effectively to crises. Food banks FoodCycle Indonésia (FCI) and Estudiosos do Sustento (SOS) are planning to seek alternative channels to build their own financial and operational resilience. FCI is expanding their operations into new regions to unlock recurring food loss at the farm and early supply-chain level, working directly with small-scale farmers to recover surplus fresh produce before it goes to waste. Their successful pivot to agricultural recovery in 2024 has resulted in a significant increase in kilograms distributed, and they are actively expanding that program with GFN’s support.
The 2025 Global Report on Food Crises identified six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean facing food crises, including five GFN member countries: Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Twenty percent of the population — 19.7 million people — in the six countries faced high levels of acute food insecurity, including large numbers of refugees and migrants in Colombia and Ecuador. In total,11.8 million people in the six countries with food crises are displaced.
USAID’s closure has severely impacted the region: In FY25, more than $2.2 billion dollars in USAID funds were slated for Latin America and the Caribbean for programs that would address education and skills training, employment, gender-based violence, migration, and humanitarian aid.
Banco de Alimentos El Salvador distributes 657,000 kilograms of food and grocery product to more than 45,000 people annually. Today, 35% of the food banks’ partner agencies are affected by funding cuts from the United States, making it difficult for them to cover their solidarity contribution, known as “shared maintenance” in the United States, which is a small fee that is used for food recovery, transportation and storage. As a result, the food bank has been covering the transportation costs of the products distributed to two of the most affected organizations.
Banco de Alimentos Honduras (BAH) and its network serve nearly 28,000 people annually with 1.2 million kilograms of food and grocery product. Twenty percent of member agencies have not been able to afford their solidarity contribution. In response, BAH is distributing fruits and vegetables free of charge to organizations that face funding cuts to prevent them from closing their operations. BAH’s director, Vanessa Caballero, has said that the funding environment is more challenging than ever, particularly in applying for and obtaining capital from foundations and international organizations.
GFN will continue to monitor and help address the challenges food banks are facing. To learn more about how you can support this work, contact Vicki Clarke at vclarke@foodbanking.org.
