Tue Mar 04 00:00:00 UTC 2025: ## UN World Food Programme Closes Southern Africa Office Following US Aid Cuts

**Cape Town, South Africa – March 4, 2025** – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced the closure of its southern Africa office in Johannesburg, a direct consequence of reduced funding following the Trump administration’s drastic cuts to US foreign aid. A spokesperson, Tomson Phiri, confirmed the closure, stating that the WFP is consolidating its southern and East Africa operations into a single regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. This restructuring is an acceleration of a multi-year streamlining plan initiated in 2023, necessitated by increasingly constrained donor funding.

While the WFP did not specify the exact amount of funding lost due to the cuts, the US provided $4.4 billion in aid last year— roughly half of the WFP’s annual budget. This represents over four times the contribution from the next largest donor, Germany. The Trump administration’s decision last week to terminate 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts, totaling $60 billion, significantly impacted humanitarian projects worldwide.

This move comes at a critical time for southern Africa, which experienced its worst drought in decades last year, leaving 27 million people at risk of starvation. Even before the US aid cuts, the WFP had appealed for $147 million in donations to address this crisis.

Despite the office closure, Phiri emphasized the WFP’s unwavering commitment to assisting vulnerable communities and ensuring the continued delivery of food programs. Other UN agencies have also reported negative impacts from the US aid cuts, with some experiencing job losses and operational disruptions. Many are still assessing the full extent of the consequences and exploring potential waivers that could mitigate the effects. The WFP, which serves over 150 million people across 120 countries, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.

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