Whatever happened to the U.S. famine alert system that Trump shut down, then reopened

A child is screened for malnutrition at a health clinic in Baidoa, Somalia, where drought and other conditions have sparked concerns about famine. Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket/via Getty Images hide caption

In February 2025, we reported that "A respected U.S. famine warning system is 'currently unavailable.' " That system is known as FEWS NET and ran a database that could pinpoint areas where the risk of famine is high, enabling aid groups to prepare for relief. As NPR noted: "The website that once served up detailed, color-coded maps of hunger hot spots around the world now bears a stark message: The site and its data are "currently unavailable."

Over the next week, we'll be looking back at some of our past global health and development stories to see "whatever happened to ..."

FEWS NET did eventually come back online. But now there have been some new developments. This is the first story in our annual series of follow-ups.

Jeremy Konyndyk was on a flight to Somalia in early August, when he checked a U.S. database routinely used by aid workers to predict and respond to hunger crises across the globe: The Famine Early Warning System (FEWS NET).

To his surprise, a map of East Africa on the website's landing page showed a gray outline where Somalia's color-coded famine report should be.

"I was reading this stuff on the flight over, and I thought oh that's weird – why isn't there anything since June?" Konyndyk says.

Despite Somalia's worsening food crisis affecting an estimated 6.5 million people, the country's profile did not show any updates after July . Additionally, Somalia as well as Afghanistan and Yemen were eliminated from a regular "Peak Food Assistance Needs Outlook Brief," published on August 14, 2026.