US farm agency cancels Food for Progress food aid grants

The US department of agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday cancelled existing grants under its Food for Progress food aid programme, according to an e0mail seen by Reuters and two sources familiar with the situation.

The Food for Progress programme sends US commodities abroad for agricultural and economic development projects, providing an important foreign market for farmers and enhancing food security in poorer countries.

The programme had been briefly paused in February under a review of federal spending by the administration of President Donald Trump, but quickly resumed.

Food for Progress grantees were notified by the USDA on Wednesday that their awards were terminated and that staff would work with them on the "security, integrity, and disposition of any commodities" associated with the awards, according to an e-mail seen by Reuters.

The cancellations appeared to affect all existing awards, including some dating back to 2018, said one of the sources. Reuters could not independently confirm how many awards were cancelled.

Some of the commodities for projects funded in 2024 are still being shipped to their destinations, the source said.

The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump's budget had proposed eliminating Food for Progress and other foreign food aid programmes, including the McGovern-Dole Food for Education programme run by USDA and the Food for Peace programme administered by USAID.

The USDA issued more than $218m (R3.97bn) in Food for Progress grants in 2024 to send crops like milled rice, soybean meal, wheat and yellow soybeans to countries, including Tanzania, Tunisia and Sri Lanka.