Food aid interventions can curb climate change-induced hardship. But should they do more?

abcnews.go.com:

The United States foreign food aid program can be a big help when extreme weather fueled by climate change hammers communities

CHIPINGE, Zimbabwe — Gertrude Siduna appears to have little appetite for corn farming season.

Rather than prepare her land in Zimbabwe’s arid southeastern Chipinge district for the crop that has fed her family for generations, the 49-year-old — bitter at repeated droughts that have decimated yields — turns her thoughts to the prices and farming techniques of chilies.

“I pick my chilies from the fields and take them to the processing center close to my home. It’s simple," she said. She's received about $400 from the drought-resistant crop, and plans to grow some more. “Chilies are far better than corn.”

Siduna has been growing chilies for a year since being trained under a climate-smart agriculture program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The program was designed to strengthen small-scale farmers' resilience to climate change-induced droughts, many requiring food assistance from the government or international donors. But as climate change worsens droughts and floods worldwide, government agencies and local operators have found that aid efforts can still be made more effective and financially sustainable.

Experts say rich nations like the United States, which have been the biggest contributors of planet-warming emissions historically, have a responsibility to fund humanitarian aid in the countries that are experiencing its effects first and most severely.

The U.S. is the world’s largest international donor of food aid, reaching over 60 million people in about 70 countries annually with direct contributions of food or via programs to help farmers adapt to extreme weather.