Inside the ‘America First’ makeover of a global hunger program

This story is about global food aid, not home energy upgrades, but here's a summary for context.

The Trump administration dismantled USAID's Feed the Future Innovation Labs, which had funded agricultural research to help farmers worldwide fight crop pests and diseases worsened by climate change. In Niger, a program teaching farmers to spot and control pests like the millet head miner lost its funding in January 2025, along with nearly all 17 similar labs at U.S. universities. The White House later formally canceled $72 million in this funding, calling the spending "woke, weaponized, and wasteful."

The State Department has since relaunched the program with new rules. Applications had to drop references to "climate change" and shift focus away from Africa toward other regions. Of the proposals that advanced to a final review round, nearly all come from universities in Republican-led states, including Kansas, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. Researchers say this pest and disease research also benefits American farmers directly — for example, a South Carolina bean grower dealing with a destructive weevil could use surveillance tools similar to those developed for African farmers, since pests spread across borders as the climate warms.

None of this involves home energy programs, rebates, or efficiency upgrades, so there's no direct action for homeowners here. It's a look at how U.S. foreign aid priorities are shifting under the current administration, with research funding increasingly tied to political geography rather than where the agricultural need is greatest.