SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
hunger
'Children Are Dying': Trump-Musk Gutting of USAID Helps Push Somalia to Brink of Famine
"Without urgent action now, Somalia risks becoming one of the clearest examples of what happens when early warnings are ignored and humanitarian systems are allowed to erode."
May 15, 2026
A report released Thursday showing that Somalia is rapidly descending into famine underscored the harms done by the illegal dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, a department that President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk targeted as part of a broader assault on the federal government.
New data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) showed that more than six million people—around a third of Somalia's population—are facing acute hunger as drought and conflict combine with humanitarian aid cuts to create a devastating humanitarian emergency. Around 1.9 million children in Somalia "are now expected to require treatment for acute malnutrition in 2026," according to IPC, and regions of the country are at severe risk of famine.
"Humanitarian assistance remains a lifeline but is far from sufficient, reaching only 12% of people in Phase 3 or above," said IPC, a partnership of aid organizations and United Nations agencies. "A rapid and sustained scale‑up of multisectoral assistance—particularly in hotspot areas such as Burhakaba—is urgently needed to prevent further deterioration and loss of life."
Reuters noted that "global cuts to foreign aid, including by the United States, have substantially reduced support to Somalia." The outlet added that "impacts of the US-Israeli war on Iran are complicating efforts to respond to food shortages caused by multiple failed rain seasons and ongoing insecurity."
Mohamed Mohamud Hassan, Save the Children's Somalia director, said in a statement Thursday that the country is "in the grip of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe" and the "window to prevent famine... is closing fast."
"Children are dying from preventable causes—malnutrition, disease, displacement—while funding falls far short of what is urgently needed," said Hassan. "We call on the international community to act now, scale up lifesaving assistance, and ensure that no child dies because the world looked away."
"Somalia is once again standing at the edge of catastrophe. This is a crisis of access, affordability, and global political failure."
The US has historically been the largest contributor of humanitarian aid to Somalia, but the Trump administration's shuttering of USAID cut off much of the American food and medical aid that was flowing to the East African nation. The Trump administration's dismantling of USAID has also severely harmed Somalia's economy.
"Somalia is once again standing at the edge of catastrophe," Richard Crothers, Somalia country director at the International Rescue Committee, said Friday. "This is a crisis of access, affordability, and global political failure. Without urgent action now, Somalia risks becoming one of the clearest examples of what happens when early warnings are ignored and humanitarian systems are allowed to erode."
Experts say the closure of USAID last year is already responsible for hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths, and researchers have warned that millions more could die by 2030 if the aid is not restored.
In addition to sounding the alarm about Somalia, IPC released reports this week detailing increasingly dire hunger in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan—countries that were also devastated by the gutting of USAID.
"USAID was the leading donor in the country and most aid agencies relied on its funding to help people survive and rebuild their lives," said Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam International's DRC country director. "Without it, agencies have been forced to make terrible triage decisions including who gets to live and who might needlessly die."
"The world cannot continue to look the other way—the situation is dire," Mangundu added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
As Trump Slashes Food Aid, Sanders and Omar Lead Bill to ‘End Child Hunger in the United States’
"It is outrageous that, while the billionaire class has never had it so good, one in five children will go hungry in America this year," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
May 14, 2026
As federal food aid cuts enacted by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans wreak havoc across the US, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday led the reintroduction of legislation that would make free school meals available to every student in the country—regardless of family income.
The Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026 would offer free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack to every student—including during the summer months—without forcing parents to fill out burdensome applications proving their income level.
The legislation would also reimburse schools for unpaid school meal debt, ending "the harassment of parents and students," according to a fact sheet released by Sanders' (I-Vt.) office. Supporters say the bill, if enacted, would "end child hunger in the United States."
“It is outrageous that, while the billionaire class has never had it so good, one in five children will go hungry in America this year,” the Vermont senator said in a statement Wednesday. “The United States is the richest country in the history of the world. Nobody should be going hungry. And what we learned during the pandemic is that a universal approach to school meals works and helps kids do better in school. States across the country continue to prove this every day. It is time for Congress to reinstate universal school meals at the national level to finally ensure no student goes hungry."
Omar (D-Minn.), a leading congressional champion of universal free school meals, said that "no child should have to sit in a classroom hungry or worried about where their next meal will come from."
"As a former nutrition educator and someone who experienced hunger firsthand, this fight is deeply personal to me," said Omar. "I have always believed you must feed kids’ bellies before you can feed their brains. That is why I am proud to partner again with Bernie Sanders to introduce the Universal School Meals Program Act, which would provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to students year-round. Universal school meals are not a luxury—they are a necessity.”
The updated legislation, which is backed by more than 100 lawmakers in the House and Senate, comes as Trump and the GOP's unprecedented cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) take hold nationwide, sending food bank demand surging as tens of thousands of families lose benefits. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has estimated that the SNAP cuts enacted as part of the 2025 Trump-GOP budget law would slash nutrition benefits for around a million children.
The School Nutrition Association said following passage of the Trump-GOP budget package that the law's SNAP cuts would mean that "fewer children are automatically eligible for free school meals as families lose SNAP and Medicaid benefits."
"As this bill is implemented and families lose access to food assistance through SNAP benefits, their children will also lose automatic eligibility for school meals, making access to nutrition more difficult or out of reach completely," SNA warned last summer. "Meanwhile, schools facing staff shortages and budget constraints will struggle to manage increased paperwork and application processing requirements."
Trump and Republicans are also pursuing additional food aid cuts by moving to slash funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in the coming fiscal year. A recent CBPP analysis found that congressional Republicans' proposed WIC cuts would strip "fruit and vegetable benefits from nearly 5.4 million toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant and postpartum WIC participants."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Number of People Who Don't Have Enough to Eat' Surging Due to Trump-GOP Aid Cuts
"It cannot be said enough that people aren't being 'lifted' or 'moved off' SNAP—struggling families are losing the help they need to afford groceries because of HR 1's cuts," said one expert.
May 12, 2026
Food banks across the United States are experiencing increased demand not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic as higher consumer prices and food aid cuts enacted by congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump cause pain for millions of vulnerable families.
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA, or HR 1) passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by Trump last July 4 contains the biggest cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, in the nation's history.
According to US Department of Agriculture data, participation in SNAP dropped by 8% nationwide in the six months following the law's signing. A recent analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found that around 2.5 million people have lost food aid since the legislation took effect.
Laura Lester, CEO of Feeding Alabama, told Al.com that the state is "on track to lose up to 100,000 people off of SNAP benefits by the end of this year."
“We are already hearing from those impacted who no longer have access to food,” said Lester. “Homeless children and seniors are the ones who are suffering. We have absolutely seen an increase in the number of people who don’t have enough to eat coming to our pantries.”
The OBBBA contains new qualification requirements for people experiencing homelessness, veterans, former foster youth, and older adults. The Trump administration says the new rules are meant to ensure that only the truly needy receive benefits. However, the more stringent requirements are harming some of the most vulnerable people.
“To see seniors and young women with children lose their benefits, it’s heartbreaking,” Dan Saltzman, president of Dave’s Markets, a Cleveland-area grocery store chain, told Signal Cleveland. Saltzman said his business' revenue from SNAP has declined by about 10% over the past year.
Compliance procedures are proving an exclusionary barrier to qualified aid applicants.
“Tens of thousands of SNAP participants are facing new hurdles just to maintain assistance,” New Jersey Human Services Commissioner Stephen Cha said last week. “Many residents who remain eligible for assistance could still lose coverage or food support because complex paperwork or missed deadlines prevent them from completing required steps."
Kristin Warzocha, CEO of Greater Cleveland Food Bank—which served more than 400,000 people last year—said that she has "talked to quite a number of people lately who are seniors who are struggling to get by with rising prices."
“They’re worried about the cost of groceries. They’re worried because their rent has gone up. And they just can’t make ends meet anymore," she added. "They just can’t do it. So they’re coming here for food.”
Jennie Jean Davidson, executive director at Neighborhood House, a Louisville food bank, told Spectrum News 1 that "honestly, demand for what we do is up in every area."
"We have waiting lists in our child development center and in our youth programming," she explained. "Demand in our food pantry has been going up month-over-month for about three years now and it’s just continuing to climb. We’re seeing a lot of need in the community.”
Trump's tariffs, war of choice on Iran, and attacks on the social safety net are driving up inflation, and household debt, exacerbating the struggles of millions of Americans. While he campaigned on promises to lower prices on "day one," Trump admitted Tuesday that Americans' financial struggles aren't on his mind, "not even a little bit," as he tries to negotiate an end to the war he started with Israel against Iran.
"We're seeing a lot of uneasiness amongst people in general," Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona president and CEO Natalie Jayroe told KGUN on Tuesday. "So many things are changing. Nobody knows when this inflation is going to stop. They don't know when the price of gas is going to start to go down again. We've had cuts in some of the funding that families normally depend on."
“Right now, we're reaching about 6,200 children and we do that primarily through our summer feeding programs that take place in schools and other camps," she added. “So many of our children depend on school breakfast and lunch during the year. In our case here in Southern Arizona and the five counties that we serve, that's 88,000 children."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular