“We’re concerned that the budget seems to signal declining importance, I guess, for aid,” said Foodgrains Bank public policy director Paul Hagerman.

The budget, released Nov. 4, announced $2.7 billion in cuts to Canada’s international assistance over four years. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank, an organization founded in the 1970s by Canadian farmers aiming to relieve world hunger, is among the charities that could be affected by this reduction.

Hagerman said the cuts are unlikely to have major impacts on the aid organization in the short-term but could compound over the years.

“The only time international development and aid is mentioned (in the 2025 budget) is ‘we’re going to cut here, we’re going to cut there, we’re going to cut somewhere else,” Hagerman said.

“It signals a shift away from seeing aid as a key part of Canada’s identity, and I think in the long term, that’s more worrisome.”

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank was one of a coalition of over 100 NGOs that expressed concern over the government cutting international assistance back to what it described as a baseline, pre-COVID level.

In a Nov. 4 written release, Cooperation Canada CEO Kate Higgins said the cuts would “erode Canada’s credibility with our global partners and blunt our capacity to shape outcomes that affect Canadians at home.”

Potential fundraising setback

While the Foodgrains Bank does receive funding from the Canadian government, most of its support comes from Canadian donors, including many farming communities.

“Farmers, either individually or in groups, they volunteer time, they volunteer their equipment, they put in cash, and collectively are contributing millions of dollars to our global efforts to reduce hunger, and we’re so grateful for that,” Hagerman said.

He said in meetings supporters will often refer to Foodgrains Bank as ‘we’ rather than ‘you guys’ or ‘them.’

“There’s a strong sense of ownership there. And many people have been supporters for decades. You know, the older generations of a family tend to encourage the younger ones to support.”

“We are working on reducing hunger,” he said. “I mean, it’s our business. It’s their business as well. They’re growing food, not only for families but for Canadians and for export and just recognize the life-giving nature of food production and food systems.”

While that support has been strong, budgetary cuts could weaken it. Currently, the government matches donations to the Foodgrains Bank’s food assistance projects 4:1, up to $25 million a year.

“People know ‘I’m giving money, it’s been matched by the government, so it’s going to have a bigger impact,” Hagerman said. “I think if we were not to get money from government, it would be a setback in our fundraising.”

The current grant supporting this donation-matching will last four years, but Hagerman said the end of those four years could bring a “very different fiscal environment.”

Canada’s reputation abroad

Hagerman said charities like the Foodgrains Bank have the potential to have impacts on Canadian agriculture beyond charity, as their work could help to strengthen Canada’s reputation abroad.

“If you look at some of the places where Canada was contributing aid 20-30 years ago, a lot of them are strong trading partners now,” he said. “It’s because we’ve helped to overcome poverty and build up prosperity in those countries to the point where they’re now interested in buying what we have to sell.”

“If we all live in a world where there’s constant wars, where there’s diseases moving across borders, where there’s conflict moving across borders, it’s not good for any of us. And that’s the root that we’re trying to address as a development in the humanitarian organization.”

Earlier this year, the Trump administration made sweeping cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which hurt some of the Foodgrains Bank’s partner organizations. Hagerman said it was disappointing to see the Canadian government not take the opportunity to step up and offer support where the U.S. had cut it.

“If you look at Prime Minister Carney, if you look at Minister Anand, who’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, they have been very vocal in the last few months … to say, as the U.S. retreats from the world, this is a good opportunity for Canada to step in and play a bigger role in the world stage,” he said. “We were hoping that we would see that in the budget, but it doesn’t look to be the case.”

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“These numbers aren’t just statistics – they represent seniors rationing food, parents skipping meals so their children can eat, and families being pushed to the brink of starvation,” said Stefan Epp-Koop, Foodgrains Bank senior manager for humanitarian programming, in a news release.

A U.N. report, released Monday, said 8.2 per cent of the world’s population experienced hunger — down from 8.5 per cent in 2023. Numbers continue to improve after spiking to 9.9 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2021 report.

Number of hungry people falls below 2019 levels

This means between 638 million and 720 million people faced hunger last year. With a midpoint estimate of 673 million people, this marks the first time the actual number of people facing hunger has fallen below 2019’s estimate of 690 million people, explained Laura Brookes, the Foodgrains Bank’s senior communications officer.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, jointly prepared by five U.N. agencies, focused on chronic, long-term issues and did not fully reflect impacts of acute crises brought on by specific events, such as war in Gaza.

Maximo Torero, the chief economist for the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, said improved access to food in South America and India had driven the overall decline but cautioned that conflict and other factors in places such as Africa and the Middle East risked undoing those gains.

“If conflict continues to grow, of course, if vulnerabilities continue to grow, and the debt stress continues to increase, the numbers will increase again,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of a U.N. food summit in Ethiopia.

“Conflict continues to drive hunger from Gaza to Sudan and beyond,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in remarks delivered by video link to the summit. “Hunger further feeds future instability and undermines peace.”

Food costs drive insecurity

Food affordability also continues to challenge food security, the Foodgrains Bank said.

“In Sudan, the average cost of a healthy diet has risen by over 28 per cent since 2017 due to the ongoing conflict,” said Epp-Koop. “That’s a burden many would find hard to carry. But for those who were already struggling due to poverty, it often feels impossible.

Funding cuts earlier this year to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) slashed funding for about 40 per cent of the world’s international aid programs, the Foodgrains Bank said. This, combined with cuts from other Western governments, mean the number of hungry people is expected to rise this year.

The Foodgrains Bank committed to reach more than 1.1 million people in 37 countries in 2024 and 2025 with food assistance and long-term livelihood and agriculture support.

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“We’re seeing some western governments walking away from people experiencing extreme hunger,” said Canadian Foodgrains Bank executive director Andy Harrington in a news release.

“This is not the time for us to turn our backs. If we do, people will die.”

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a Christian relief and development agency originally established by farmers.

Acute food insecurity and child malnutrition rose for a sixth consecutive year in 2024, affecting more than 295 million people across 53 countries and territories, according to a UN report released on Friday.

This marks a five per cent increase from 2023 levels, with 22.6 per cent of populations in worst-hit regions experiencing crisis-level hunger or worse.

“The sad and distressing fact is that so much of this hunger is completely preventable,” said Harrington.

“The 2025 Global Report on Food Crises paints a staggering picture,” said Rein Paulsen, director of emergencies and resilience at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The number of people facing famine-like conditions more than doubled to 1.9 million — the highest since monitoring for the global report began in 2016.

Nearly 38 million children under five were acutely malnourished across 26 nutrition crises, including in Sudan, Yemen, Mali and Gaza.

“Conflict, weather extremes and economic shocks are the main drivers, and they often overlap,” Paulsen said.

Sharp drop in funding to worsen conditions

Conflict was the leading cause of hunger, impacting nearly 140 million people across 20 countries in 2024, including areas facing “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity in Gaza, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali. Sudan has confirmed famine conditions.

Economic shocks, such as inflation and currency devaluation, helped push 59.4 million people into food crises in 15 countries — nearly double the levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic — including Syria and Yemen.

Extreme weather, particularly El Niño-induced droughts and floods, shunted 18 countries into crisis, affecting more than 96 million people, especially in Southern Africa, Southern Asia, and the Horn of Africa.

Forced displacement also exacerbated hunger. Nearly 95 million forcibly displaced people, including refugees and internally displaced persons, lived in countries facing food crises, such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia.

Looking ahead, the UN warned of worsening conditions this year, citing the steepest projected drop in humanitarian food funding since the report’s inception — put at anywhere between 10 per cent to more than 45 per cent.

Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump largely shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides aid to the world’s needy, cancelling more than 80 per cent of its humanitarian programs.

“Millions of hungry people have lost, or will soon lose, the critical lifeline we provide,” warned Cindy McCain, the head of the Rome-based World Food Programme.

Some progress seen

“It is a tragedy that for nearly 300 million people on our planet, extreme hunger is a reality through no fault of their own,” said Foodgrains Bank senior humanitarian manager Stefan Epp-Koop.

Epp-Koop travelled with Harrington to South Sudan in March to witness the devastation of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. He said Foodgrains Bank members and their partners are providing essential aid to people experiencing extreme hunger. New programing has also been approved in countries like Haiti and Myanmar.

Despite the grim overall trend, 2024 saw some progress. In 15 countries, including Ukraine, Kenya and Guatemala, food insecurity eased due to humanitarian aid, improved harvests, easing inflation and a decline in conflict.

To break the cycle of hunger, the report called for investment in local food systems. “Evidence shows that supporting local agriculture can help the most people, with dignity, at lower cost,” Paulsen said.

—With files from Glacier FarmMedia

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“Cutting aid in the way it’s been cut is going to cost tens of thousands of lives,” said Andy Harrington, executive director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

The U.S. government, in the early days of the Trump administration, put a 90-day freeze on funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development — the agency responsible for foreign aid, including funding humanitarian organizations.

While the U.S. State Department has given waivers to some groups for “lifesaving” humanitarian work, some organizations have said federal funding hasn’t arrived for exempted projects, the Associated Press reported on Feb. 12.

Faith-based humanitarian groups like Catholic Relief Services have told staff to expect “drastic reductions in their workforce,” the Associated Press report said. USAID funded nearly half of that organization’s US$1.2 billion budget.

The U.S. is the largest single aid donor worldwide, according to the United Nations, giving US$72 billion in aid in 2023.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a Christian relief and development agency originally established by farmers. It does not receive funding from USAID, said Harrington. However, it partners with organizations that do. Some of those groups are now ending programs and laying off staff.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is assessing how it might be able to fill gaps that open in its programs — such as when a partner organization can’t pay a staff salary. However, they can’t compensate for the withdrawal of billions in funding from the humanitarian ecosystem.

The recent weakening of the Canadian dollar has also reduced the Foodgrains Bank’s buying power as much aid spending is done in American dollars.

“You’re going to see massive, massive impacts,” said Harrington. “It’s not just going to be in the short term on humanitarian assistance, emergency assistance, urgent health programs, food security. It’s going to be in the longer-term impacts that you’re going to see across longer-term development programs as well.”

“What we can do will be a drop in the bucket, to be honest, but we do want to keep our programs running.”

Canadian cuts?

Earlier this month, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said that, if elected later this year, he will cut “wasteful foreign aid” and would not allow funding to go to “dictators, terrorists and multinational bureaucracies,” the Canadian Press reported. Poilievre signaled he would divert those funds towards defense spending.

Canada in 2023 spent US$7.97 billion on international aid, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics. This was 0.37 per cent of Canada’s gross national income. $1.5 billion supported refugees, asylum seekers and Ukrainians fleeing war during their first year in Canada, the Globe and Mail reported.

Harrington said many in the humanitarian community are concerned that people don’t understand how aid funding works.

“We don’t work through governments. Our money goes directly to our partners on the ground and local communities,” he said.

That’s not to say that there isn’t waste within the system, Harrington said. However, groups like his are subject to regular audits, monitoring and evaluation.

International aid also contributes to Canada’s influence around the world.

“It’s good to go around the world and see Canadian flags flying over great development projects that (local) people are extremely proud of,” said Harrington.

A call for advocacy

If supporters want to help, Harrington said they can contact their members of Parliament to tell them that Canadian aid and the work the Canadian Foodgrains Bank does is important — that it impacts nearly a million people per year and sees great results.

“In a backdrop where many voices are trying to tell us the aid doesn’t work, we’re telling you that it does, and we have the statistics, the facts.”

He also encouraged people to continue to do what they’re doing — praying, giving, learning and advocating.

“You’re making a difference, and it’s saving lives,” Harrington said.

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“This is a devastating situation for millions of civilians impacted by the conflict on both sides, and we are deeply aware of the escalating humanitarian need in Gaza,” said Foodgrains Bank executive director Andy Harrington in an Oct. 23 news release.

Over 6,000 men, women and children in Israel and Gaza have died in two weeks of conflict, the Foodgrains Bank said. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced.

As a member of the Humanitarian Coalition, the Foodgrains Bank is working with partner organizations and local groups to bring humanitarian assistance to the area.

“As a humanitarian organization with members and partners working in some of the most challenging regions of the world, we believe all people have a right to receive life-saving assistance, and ongoing access to basic necessities including food, water, medical care and shelter,” Harrington said. ”

“These necessities are quickly running out in Gaza, and an urgent humanitarian response is desperately needed.”

One of the greatest challenges groups face is the issue of access, said Stefan Epp-Koop, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank’s senior humanitarian manager.

“At this stage, there is almost no access into Gaza for humanitarian organizations to provide aid, or for local partners in Gaza to access desperately needed supplies. The provision of humanitarian assistance is also tremendously challenging given the risks involved amid the current conflict,” he said.

On Oct. 21 a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed into southern Gaza for the first time since Israel began the siege.

Twenty flatbed trucks, flying white flags and honking their horns, exited the Rafah crossing after checks and headed into Gaza’s southern area which includes the major towns of Rafah and Khan Younis where hundreds of thousands of people made homeless by Israel’s unrelenting air war are sheltering. 

Israel’s “total siege” of Gaza, launched after the Oct. 7 cross-border attack on southern Israel by militants of the Islamist movement Hamas, has left the enclave’s 2.3 million people running out of food, water, medicines and fuel. 

Palestinian officials were disappointed that fuel supplies were not included in the consignment of food, water and medical supplies and added that the aid was only 3% of what used to get into Gaza before the crisis. 

“Excluding the fuel from the humanitarian aid means the lives of patients and injured will remain at risk. Gaza hospitals are running out of the basic requirements to pursue medical interventions,” the Gaza health ministry said. 

The United Nations said the convoy included life-saving supplies would be received and distributed by the Palestinian Red Crescent, with the consent of Hamas, which rules Gaza. 

By Oct. 23, aid and security sources reported that two more convoys had arrived via the Rafah crossing from Egypt.

–with files from Reuters.

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