Tania Karas

Athens

Senior Editor at Devex

Senior editor, @Devex. Food systems, humanitarian aid, (im)migration & book nerd. Alum @TheWorld, @RefugeesDeeply, @NYLawJournal, @UniofOxford IHRL. Deaf AF 🤟

Articles

Devex Dish: World Food Programme cuts come at worst possible time

2 weeks ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for the World Food Programme. The agency will slash 25% to 30% of its workforce, or up to 6,000 jobs, by next year, according to an all-staff email sent last Thursday and seen by Devex. The world’s largest humanitarian agency has been struggling with a financial crisis for years as international support has waned. It’s funded entirely through voluntary contributions from governments, individuals, and the private sector.
Devex Dish: Why were 7 World Central Kitchen staffers killed in Gaza?

4 weeks ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

Celebrity chef José Andrés’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen was designed to be different from other humanitarian agencies. It describes itself as a “team of food first responders,” bringing chefs to the scene of natural disasters and conflict zones to cook food in massive paella pans and distribute it to tens of thousands of people. “Feed everybody as quick as you can,” Andrés says in a WCK promotional video. “Don’t tell me you are waiting to do it until you have everything ready to do it.
UN food agency caught in Trump administration’s crosshairs

1 month ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

The Food and Agriculture Organization is the latest United Nations agency to face pressure from the Trump administration to reform into a conservative mold and immediately halt initiatives that do not align with an “America First” foreign policy.
Devex Dish: A dose of hope as Nutrition for Growth exceeds expectations

1 month ago | devex.com | Ayenat Mersie |Tania Karas

In an era when so much in the foreign aid world feels grim, last week’s Nutrition for Growth summit in Paris was a much-needed dose of good news. One NGO leader told Tania he feels “rejuvenated by hope,” a sentiment echoed by many attendees. It was the first major global pledging conference since the Trump administration announced in January that it would cut the majority of U.S. humanitarian and development aid.
Nutrition for Growth summit raises $27B to end malnutrition

1 month ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

The Nutrition for Growth, or N4G, summit in Paris, France, has garnered $27.55 billion in commitments from donors to end malnutrition globally — breaking the record set at the previous N4G summit in Tokyo in 2021. The amount surprised many attendees: It comes amid a difficult time for fundraising as major Western donors are slashing foreign aid budgets.
Devex Dish: Nutrition for Growth summit faces funding headwinds

1 month ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

Bonjour from Paris! I’m here for the Nutrition for Growth, or N4G, summit, an event four years in the making that aims to put nutrition at the center of sustainable development — and garner political and financial commitments toward ending malnutrition in all its forms. The N4G summit is typically organized by the same country that most recently hosted the Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Why the US aid freeze could be a moment to reform food aid

1 month ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

The Trump administration's freeze of U.S. foreign aid has disrupted malnutrition treatment for children. Experts say it's forcing a rethink of the entire humanitarian aid system. The Trump administration’s freeze on U.S. foreign aid is threatening child malnutrition treatment in some of the world’s worst hunger crises.
Devex Dish: US aid cuts create perfect storm for child malnutrition crisis

2 months ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

These days, “How are you?” is a loaded question for anyone who works in humanitarian aid or development. Hundreds of programs are being shuttered worldwide as the Trump administration terminates USAID grants and contracts on a massive scale as it dismantles an agency that was once the world’s biggest aid donor.
The Trump administration's flip-flop on treating malnourished children

2 months ago | devex.com | Tania Karas |Elissa Miolene

Companies making specialized food for malnourished children saw their USAID contracts canceled, then reinstated. But the damage to the rest of the system for treating them may already be done. For two U.S.-based producers of lifesaving peanut paste to feed severely malnourished children, the past week has been whiplash.
Beyond the Green Revolution: How AGRA evolved under Agnes Kalibata

2 months ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

For the past decade, Agnes Kalibata has led AGRA with one focus: Every individual farmer matters. “When people come to you and they tell you, ‘Oh, we are doing this experiment with 10,000 farmers,’ that was not going to work with me,” she said in an interview with Devex. She thinks on a much larger scale, in terms of resources and tools that will improve millions of farmers’ individual livelihoods and the whole continent’s economy.