Key Takeaways
- US plan to fight global hunger: Devex reports the State Department has yet to release its five-year Global Food Security Strategy.
- Feed the Future funding: Devex reports Congress allocated $720 million for fiscal year 2026, and that money expires Sept. 30, 2027. Feed the Future is a program that, from 2010 to 2025, worked across 11 federal agencies to tackle hunger and malnutrition in select countries.
- Feed the Future authorization: the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports a $1.2 billion annual authorization, so the $720 million is at least 60% of it.
- FY2026 foreign aid budget: CRS reports the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs (NSRP) Appropriations Act includes $50.07 billion, net of rescissions.
The State Department has yet to release its five-year Global Food Security Strategy, which leaves $720 million for Feed the Future without a guide, Devex reported on October 22, 2026. The US plan to fight global hunger would shed light on how that money would be prioritized.
The Global Food Security Strategy is a five-year blueprint for the US response to worldwide hunger. Several sources told Devex it was first expected in July, and it had not been released by late October. The strategy will cover 2027 to 2031 and guides the government's approach to Feed the Future, which worked across 11 federal agencies from 2010 to 2025. Devex reports the Global Food Security Act requires updates every five years. The statute requires updates no less often than every five years through fiscal year 2030, according to 22 U.S.C. 9304. For the wider hunger picture, see WYDE's coverage of the UN's 2026 hunger report.
Feed the Future Funding Compared With Its Authorization
CRS reports that the Global Food Security Act authorizes $1.2 billion annually for Feed the Future through FY2028. For FY2026, CRS says Congress designated not less than $720 million for the program. That designation is at least 60% of the authorized annual level. An authorization sets a level Congress may fund, but it does not require that funding. The Devex report does not state the authorized level.
Feed the Future Funding Without a Strategy
Devex reports it is not clear how much of the $720 million has been spent. The government spent at least $70 million on existing Feed the Future programs in 2025, according to the government's foreign assistance spending platform, and clawed back $5 million. In its final year, the program ran on a $1 billion budget. By the end of 2024, it had reached more than 34 million people through 543 active projects, according to a program report from that year.
Devex reports that much of that work was halted with the collapse of the US Agency for International Development, which had led Feed the Future since its inception. CRS reports the administration's decision to shutter USAID as of July 1, 2025, shifted the implementation of US international food assistance to State Department bureaus and potentially other agencies.
Emily Byers of Save the Children said: "There's money in the appropriations bill, there are directives there, and the numbers in the IPC reports are alarming." The IPC is a United Nations tracking system that measures the severity of the world's hunger crises. A State Department spokesperson told Devex the department would "aim to deliver the Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) as soon as we are able." The spokesperson also told Devex the department had nothing to preview about the strategy's content or rollout. Devex reports the State Department told Congress in a recent report that the strategy would prioritize cutting reliance on aid and promoting agriculture-led economic growth.
Innovation Labs Are Slated for One Tenth of the $720 Million
Devex reports that Congress mandated $720 million for food security and agricultural development programs. Of that, $175 million is slated for international agricultural research, and $72 million of that research money is for Feed the Future Innovation Labs, a network of American universities. That makes the labs' share 10% of the $720 million. Devex also reports that the government cancelled the vast majority of existing Feed the Future programs, including all but one of 17 Innovation Labs. The week before its report, the State Department announced seven new awards and one existing award for the labs, using fiscal year 2025 money.
FY2026 Budget and the Rescissions Record
CRS reports that the administration requested $31.14 billion in new budget authority, the legal power to commit federal money, for State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) accounts in FY2026. It also proposed $22.30 billion in rescissions and cancellations of previously appropriated funds. For most of that amount, CRS says, "the Administration did not specify from which appropriations accounts the proposed rescissions and cancellations were requested."
The CRS report says Congress enacted the NSRP Appropriations Act, 2026 in February 2026. The act includes $50.07 billion for NSRP, net of rescissions, and CRS puts that total 3.5% below FY2025 enacted SFOPS funding.
People Also Ask
Has the State Department released its Global Food Security Strategy?
Not as of late October 2026, according to Devex. The five-year Global Food Security Strategy was first expected in July and will cover 2027 to 2031.
How much funding is tied to the US plan to fight global hunger?
Devex reports Congress allocated $720 million to Feed the Future for fiscal year 2026, and that the money expires Sept. 30, 2027.
What is a rescission in the FY2026 foreign aid budget?
A rescission cancels money Congress has already provided. CRS reports the administration proposed $22.30 billion in rescissions and cancellations for FY2026, and did not specify the accounts for most of it.
Sources: Devex, CRS report, CRS primer, 22 U.S.C. 9304.