The George Washington University Global Food Institute published in October 2025 a report titled "Surveying the Food Aid Ecosystem: Six Months Post-USAID."
The Trump administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development soon after Donald Trump assumed the presidency. This triggered the most significant humanitarian funding shift in decades. Billions of dollars in cuts, abrupt stop-work orders, and inconsistent exemptions affected programs across more than 70 countries. To learn the results of this development, a team from GWU interviewed more than 20 stakeholders across the food aid and assistance ecosystem.
They concluded that local non-governmental organizations, abandoned mid-project without resources, may be reluctant to partner again under U.S. government funding. Formal forums like the Food Aid Consultative Group ceased functioning, leaving organizations to rely on ad hoc back channels and personal networks. Agricultural development support has been broadly curtailed, leaving in place short-term in-kind food aid and some humanitarian assistance. Organizations that once worked through formal networks convened by USAID, the United Nations, and others are increasingly sharing information and advocacy strategies through informal channels.
The pathways of funding, information, and cooperation that defined the aid sector for decades are giving way to a thinner, more fragmented system. The hope going forward is to shape a more resilient, equitable, and evidence-driven aid system.
