Author(s) :

Mark Mu Lowe.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Humanitarian food assistance faces renewed scrutiny as acute hunger reaches its highest global level in decades. This study evaluates how emergency aid financed by the United States and the European Union, and coordinated by the United Nations, in Yemen and South Sudan (2020–2024) aligned with Sphere Handbook standards for daily calories (2,100 kcal), protein share (10–12%), and micronutrient adequacy. Drawing on Integrated Food Security Phase Classification data, agency monitoring records, financial trackers, and peer-reviewed efficiency studies, the research applies a quantitative and qualitative comparative design to quantify delivery shortfalls and diagnose systemic constraints. Findings show that large-scale operations averted famine for more than 20 million people, yet provided only 1,050–1,500 kcal on average; protein goals were inconsistently met, while micronutrient diversity remained scarce, sustaining crisis-level malnutrition. Six interlocking barriers explain these gaps: persistent funding deficits, limited efficiency gains from cash and local procurement, uneven accountability and targeting, politicized access restrictions, the under-prioritization of nutrient-dense commodities, and the limited scale of forecast-based anticipatory financing. The paper concludes that multi-year flexible funding, mandatory nutrition metrics, unified access diplomacy, scaled biometric oversight, and mainstream anticipatory action could markedly raise the marginal social benefit of each humanitarian dollar and shift food aid from triage toward standards-based nutrition security.