Funding Cuts Threaten Food Assistance for South Sudanese Refugees in Ethiopia

A severe funding shortfall is forcing the World Food Programme (WFP) to significantly reduce food and other assistance to hundreds of thousands of refugees in Ethiopia, mostly from South Sudan. The cuts are affecting predictable, longer-term food assistance, with tens of thousands of people at risk of losing access to essential food needs.

Nyibol, a South Sudanese refugee, and her four children fled to Ethiopia in April, escaping unrest in their homeland. However, they now face new hardships in the western Gambella Region, where they found shelter. “My children are small; the journey was difficult for them,” Nyibol recalls, describing the struggles they faced during the two-week-long journey.

The WFP was the first humanitarian agency to respond to the influx of South Sudanese asylum seekers, providing nutritious, ready-to-eat, high-energy biscuits to people who walked days without food. However, the funding cuts are now impacting the organization’s ability to provide essential food assistance. “Without immediate funding for the acute food needs, tens of thousands of people arriving from South Sudan risk losing access to the immediate food needs and support that keeps them alive,” says Zlatan Milisic, WFP Ethiopia Representative and Country Director.

The cuts also threaten WFP’s programs promoting livelihood opportunities and resilience among both refugee and host communities. The organization is calling for urgent resources to cover critical food needs and prevent an already fragile situation from sliding into deeper crisis. Refugees like Nyibol and her family, who are among the 70,000 South Sudanese who have arrived in Gambella since February, are at risk.

The region now hosts approximately 440,000 South Sudanese refugees, spread across seven settlements. Most have fled South Sudan’s Upper Nile State in search of safety, as renewed violence continues to claim lives and destroy livelihoods. The funding cuts have forced WFP to sharply reduce food rations to longstanding refugees, with many receiving food assistance equivalent to just 1,000 calories a day, or 40 percent of the minimum recommended daily intake.

The cuts are part of global aid reductions that are deepening hunger and malnutrition. A WFP report found that the drop in assistance to its operations alone risks pushing 13.7 million more people into emergency food insecurity. In Ethiopia, shrinking rations are driving up malnutrition rates in refugee camps, with many refugees resorting to harmful practices, such as skipping meals, selling precious possessions, and working in exploitative jobs.

The Ethiopian Government and humanitarian partners are coordinating efforts to set up new camps and register new arrivals. However, without a massive and rapid influx of contributions, support for all refugees in Ethiopia will run out by the end of December, leaving many with few options. The WFP is calling for urgent funding to support its refugee operations in Ethiopia, which are currently supported by several countries and private donors.