Save the Children Urges U.S. to Update Food Security Strategy

Editorial Deep Dive & Context

Janti Soeripto, president and CEO of Save the Children, has issued a urgent call for the United States government to finalize its overdue Global Food Security Strategy, citing accelerating food insecurity across East Africa and other vulnerable regions. The organization highlights that nearly 1.9 million children in Somalia face acute malnutrition this year due to drought, conflict, displacement, and cuts to humanitarian assistance. Similar crises are worsening in Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, and Central America’s dry corridor, exacerbated by El Niño-induced erratic rainfall. While acknowledging the U.S. decision to resume publishing Famine Early Warning Systems Network analyses for Somalia, Afghanistan, and Yemen as positive, Soeripto argues that visibility must be matched with strategic action. Under the Global Food Security Act, the U.S. is required to produce this strategy every four years; the last iteration was released in 2022. The article emphasizes that waiting for formal famine declarations results in preventable deaths, referencing a past crisis where 133,000 children under five died before famine was declared. The proposed new strategy should prioritize prevention, early financing, and early action, leveraging data from frontline workers and technology. Save the Children advocates shifting funding models from reactive famine response to proactive prevention, noting that investing one dollar in preventative measures can save up to seven dollars in disaster-related losses. The ultimate goal is to protect children’s health and development by acting on known risks before they become catastrophes

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