By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The United States says it’s providing more than $1 billion in humanitarian intervention, aiming to tackle food insecurity and other urgent needs especially among refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and communities affected by disaster in 31 African countries.
The funding, announced during U.S. President, Joe Biden’s visit to Angola, includes nearly $823 million through USAID, of which more than $202 million is from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation.
Also, almost $186 million is coming through the United States Department of State.
The African continent houses the largest percentage of the population facing hunger, arising from factors including extreme weather conditions, loss of farmlands to climate conditions and insecurity that has displaced farmers from their original habitats.
United Nations had warned that millions of people across Southern Africa are going hungry due to a historic drought, a situation that could lead to full-scale humanitarian catastrophe.
Countries like Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have all declared a state of national disaster in the past months as the drought has destroyed crops and livestock. Angola and Mozambique are also severely affected, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.
At the United States-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2022, President Biden reaffirmed America’s commitment to its African partners to accelerate progress toward achieving food security, including addressing the immediate and acute food insecurity crisis through humanitarian assistance.
According to the UN, one in five Africans, almost 300 million people, faced hunger in 2023, and the number of people facing acute food insecurity and malnutrition continues to rise.
With this additional assistance, including funding from the bipartisan National Security Supplemental, America humanitarian partners are providing life-saving assistance and vital programmes for people at risk of exploitation and abuse, including refugees, IDPs, and affected communities.
Additionally, implementing partners are providing emergency health care and water, sanitation, and hygiene services to help prevent the transmission of infectious diseases among the most vulnerable people affected by acute food insecurity and malnutrition.
This funding will also assist affected populations to meet other essential needs, such as protection, mental health, education, and shelter.
