Long Story Short

The U.S. State Department has signed a bilateral agreement with Kenya, its first in its ongoing efforts to overhaul how it provides global health assistance. The United States said it will invest up to $1.6 billion over five years in the East African country, with the Kenyan government cofinancing the agreement with $850 million. We take a look at how this controversial new approach could play out in practice, and how it could shape other agreements between the U.S. and other African states. On the topic of Kenya, we also dig into the Kenyan government’s debt-for-food swap deal with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, worth $1 billion. The innovative arrangement allows the country to reduce part of its external debt in exchange for redirecting the savings into food security programs. The State Department has decided to cut funding to organizations implementing programs to build resilience in chronically food-insecure regions, which will affect the budget of the U.S. government’s Food for