One of Myanmar’s most conflict-ravaged regions has witnessed a “dramatic rise in hunger” after U.S. aid cuts pushed by President Donald Trump during a punishing civil war, the World Food Programme said on Tuesday (August 12, 2025).
Western Rakhine State has seen some of the most intense fighting in Myanmar’s many-sided civil conflict, which was sparked by a 2021 military takeover that deposed the democratic government.
Junta forces have blockaded the state as they battle local ethnic fighters, throttling vital trade routes and squeezing agriculture in the coastal territory bordering Bangladesh.
The situation was exacerbated in April when the World Food Program (WFP) was forced to cut aid to one million people nationwide, after a global downturn in aid funding led by its largest donor Washington.
In central Rakhine, 57% of families are now unable to meet their basic food needs, a WFP statement said — a rise of 24% since December.
“A deadly combination of conflict, blockades, and funding cuts is driving a dramatic rise in hunger and malnutrition,” the statement added.
Fighting complicates access for aid and media organizations everywhere, but the WFP said it is believed “the situation in northern Rakhine is much worse due to active conflict and access issues.”
“People are trapped in a vicious cycle; cut off by conflict, stripped of livelihoods, and left with no humanitarian safety net,” said WFP Myanmar director Michael Dunford.
“Without urgent action, this crisis will spiral into a full-blown disaster.”
Washington was by far the WFP’s biggest donor in 2024 — funding nearly half of the $9.7 billion of contributions it secured from international donors.
Trump ordered a pause on all foreign aid projects to determine whether they match his “America first” agenda in one of his first acts back in office in January.
Washington’s cutbacks, however, are part of a global trend that has also seen countries like the UK and Germany rolling back aid budgets to boost defence spending.
