The United States will destroy close to 500 metric tons of emergency food assistance, out of a total of 60,000 tons stuck in warehouses around the globe. The action is in contrast to a severe increase in global hunger, with an estimated 343 million people suffering acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme.
The commodities, including high-energy fortified wheat biscuits that were meant for malnourished children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, are near expiry. Previously worth approximately USD 800,000, the biscuits were in a USAID warehouse in Dubai. About 496 tons of them are currently ruined and will be destroyed by burning at a cost of USD 130,000.
This comes after USAID was dismantled earlier this year by the Trump administration, where aid funds were frozen and logistics contracts cancelled. The shutdown has resulted in unused emergency food stocks such as fortified cereals and vegetable oil worth more than USD 98 million sitting idle in warehousing facilities like Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai, and Houston.
USAID had bought more than one million metric tons of food during FY 2023. Authorities claim only a minimal amount is being destroyed. Nevertheless, aid agencies threaten that the losses may have devastating implications. One tonne of food can be used to feed more than 1,600 individuals for one day. The warehouse alone could have nourished more than one million people for three months or supplied Gaza’s total population for six weeks.
After lobbying for weeks, 622 tons of food stored in Dubai were saved and delivered to the World Food Programme. But the rest, already rotten, is being thrown away. UNICEF and Action Against Hunger have cautioned that reductions in aid are depriving millions, particularly children, of vital treatment or nutrition.
A US State Department official indicated attempts are being made to distribute the items prior to expiration. Lawmakers and aid organisations, however, still call for transparency as well as immediate action.
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