This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

For decades, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), worked across many of the world’s most food-insecure and climate-besieged regions, funding thousands of humanitarian, healthcare, food, and disaster relief programs. That all changed last year when, days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, his administration issued a stop-work order that suspended nearly all of USAID’s overseas programs. Then, last July, the administration informally dissolved the agency—leading to the largest withdrawal of American international development aid in more than 60 years.

A new study published May 14 in the journal Science suggests the sudden USAID shutdown could have been linked to an uptick in violent conflict across much of Africa, with some of the most politically fragile regions seeing the largest spikes. Outside experts, however, caution that the findings are preliminary and may not capture the bigger picture.

“Who in their right mind would retract healthcare and food so abruptly?”

Farming and agricultural markets are easily disrupted by conflict, and when conflict occurs, food security worsens because fighting can limit communities’ access to food. At the same time, deepening food insecurity in fragile political states contributes to social unrest. Climate impacts then layer onto this fragility. Extreme weather is second only to conflict in having the greatest effect on global hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition, according to a UN report. That’s in part because it causes people to migrate as they flee places destroyed by rising seas and cataclysmic storms, which, in turn, can fuel conflict.

“It is undeniable that USAID........

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