Foreign aid freeze halts University of Tennessee international agriculture program

by Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout
February 12, 2025

A University of Tennessee program supporting agriculture education in developing countries is on hold while President Donald Trump’s administration reviews U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending.

The university’s Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture leads the Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow (ALOFT) program for Southeast Asia. U.S. volunteers travel to Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines to provide 2-week technical training to support resilient food systems for institutions involving youth, according to the university’s website.

USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program awarded the Smith Center five years of funding for ALOFT in 2023, but the program is currently under a stop work order, said Tom Gill, the Smith Center’s director.

The 18-person ALOFT consortium gathered for a kickoff meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia in November to make plans for years 2-5 of the project, according to a blog post published in January.

Those plans are now in limbo.

Spending at USAID, an agency that oversees the bulk of U.S. foreign aid distribution, is being scrutinized by a newly branded Department of Government Efficiency under Trump adviser Elon Musk. The setup spurred a litany of legal questions over the limits of DOGE’s authority and its access to federal systems.

Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid last month, placed all USAID direct hires on leave and closed the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Unions representing USAID employees and nongovernmental organizations that receive USAID funding responded by filing lawsuits. 

While Trump has called for USAID’s closure on social media, a federal judge on Feb. 7 temporarily blocked the administration’s plans to put 2,200 workers on leave and withdraw USAID’s overseas presence.

“We continue to closely monitor the situation and evaluate any potential impact on the University as new information becomes available,” University of Tennessee spokesperson Melissa Tindell wrote in an email to the Tennessee Lookout on Tuesday.

USAID provides funding for research grants and other programs to many state universities, including University of Tennessee. The funding freeze also paused a $22 million University of Louisiana AgCenter research project to make climate resilient sorghum, millet, wheat and rice, the Louisiana Illuminator reported.

The University of Tennessee chronicles its participation in the Farmer-to-Farmer program with a series of blog posts featuring program volunteers. 

Kristen Johnson, an assistant professor and nutrition specialist, traveled to Cambodia in 2022 with a group of UT Extension volunteers.

“Having the opportunity to do international work is a valuable thing because it could help agents better serve the diverse communities in Tennessee,” Johnson said in one blog post. “When you can learn how individuals in other places approach the same concept, you find that the way they do things might enhance the way you’re doing things and vice-versa.”

In fiscal year 2023, the United States distributed nearly $72 billion in foreign aid — roughly 1.2% of the entire federal budget — according to federal records. USAID distributed around $43.8 billion of those funds.

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