Introduction
Amid global aid cuts and growing humanitarian needs, this report examines the
funding landscape and partnership dynamics shaping the role of local and national
actors (LNAs) in responding to food and hunger crises in Kenya and South Sudan
between 2019 and 2025. It assesses the quantity and quality of funding to LNAs,
examines progress by donors, UN agencies, and INGOs in meeting commitments
to support local leadership, and offers key policy recommendations. The analysis
contributes to ongoing discussions on localisation, food systems transformation, and
aid system reform. The study used a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative
analysis of funding data with qualitative insights from 24 key informant interviews, and
a review of relevant literature.
Key messages
Food insecurity in East Africa1 remains alarmingly high, with South Sudan and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo bearing the heaviest burden. In 2024, South Sudan
recorded the highest proportion of its population affected—61%, or 7.1 million people.
The situation is set to deteriorate further, with 7.7 million people projected to face
crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above) between April and July 2025.i
This worsening
outlook is fuelled by the escalation of internal conflict in early March and compounded
by population displacement linked to the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Sudan. In
Kenya, 1.9 million people—approximately 3% of the population—were affected by
acute food insecurity in 2024. However, this figure is expected to rise sharply, with 2.8
million people projected to face IPC Phase 3 or above between April and June 2025.ii
The deterioration is largely driven by the impacts of the previous poor rainy season,
rising food prices, resource-based conflicts and human-wildlife interactions.
The recent aid freeze by the United States, alongside funding cuts by other
major donors, has intensified famine risks in parts of East Africa.These cuts
have severely disrupted food security efforts in Kenya and South Sudan—undermining
data systems, programme delivery, and humanitarian coordination. As a result,
the poorest communities are experiencing deepened hardship, with critical coping
mechanisms dismantled. Alarmingly, around 83,000 people in South Sudan are
expected to reach catastrophic levels of food insecurity between April and July 2025.
Two counties—Ulang and Nasir in Upper Nile State—are at risk of famine under
a worst-case scenario with a reasonable chance of occurring.iii Despite escalating
needs, humanitarian aid remains grossly inadequate. The World Food Programme
(WFP) warned that it would only be able to reach 4.5 million of the 7.7 million people
facing AFI in South Sudan due to funding shortfalls.iv In Kenya, budget constraints
forced WFP to reduce refugee food rations to 40% of the minimum food basket by
1 East Africa refers to East African Community – DRC, South Sudan, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, and
Tanzania – excluding Uganda and Somalia
