United States Revokes Suspension Of Donations For The World Food Program

Workers prepare ready-to-eat food delivery near Alexandria, Egypt to be sent to Gaza. (Source: WFP/Mira Moussa)

JAKARTA - The United States has lifted the suspension of food donations, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said, ending a suspension that, according to a relief watchdog warning on Monday, had left 500,000 metric tons of food currently at sea or ready to be delivered in uncertainty.

"We can confirm the recent suspension of food aid in the form of goods for WFPs - purchased from US farmers with Title II funds - has been canceled," the WFP said in an X post.

"This allows the resumption of purchases and food deliveries under the existing USAID agreement," he continued.

The US also asked the WFP to stop working on dozens of US-funded grants, an order received five days after Foreign Minister Marco Rubio issued food relief.

Some of the suspended grants are under the Food program for Peace Title II, which spends about $2 billion annually on US commodity donations.

The program, which is the largest part of US international food aid, is jointly managed by the US Department of Agriculture and the US Agency for International Development.

The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

USAID grants ordered to be discontinued by WFP are worth tens of millions of dollars and provide food aid in poor countries including Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Haiti and Mali.

The lack of details in the Trump Administration's efforts to cut and reshape US foreign aid has created chaos and confusion, said humanitarian officials, who have been left to find out whether to take financial risks to continue the program without guarantees, the program is covered by relief.

The Office of Inspector General for USAID said in a report released on Monday, "uncertainty puts more than $489 million in food aid at ports, on the way, and in warehouses at risk of decay, unexpected storage needs, and diversion."

The report by the auditor said USAID staff had identified more than 500,000 metric tons of food currently in the sea or ready to be sent sourced under the Title II program.

"Because this funding source is not included in the Minister's relief of emergency food assistance, this commodity is stuck in uncertainty, which causes it to decay, unexpected storage needs, and potential diversion," the report said.