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Dakar, Senegal — <\/span>US President Donald Trump had suddenly decided to dissolve it last year. U.S. Agency for International Development<\/a> \u2014 once a leading global aid donor \u2014 has seen a significant increase in violence in several African countries the agency supported, according to a study published Thursday.<\/p>\n Although the authors did not blame USAID cuts for the increase in violence, they said the findings demonstrate that “large-scale, sudden aid cuts can destabilize fragile settings.” However, he said this is not evidence that more aid reduces conflict, but rather merely shows “the impact of sudden and unexpected disruption”.<\/p>\n For many years, USAID had provided significant support<\/a> For African countries devastated by conflict and violence. By eliminating more than 90% of foreign aid contracts, the Trump administration effectively cut nearly $60 billion in funding. <\/p>\n The study, conducted by researchers from several universities in Europe and the United States, said the sudden withdrawal of USAID resources also disrupted contracts, staffing, and aid procurement.<\/p>\n “USAID’s sudden withdrawal led to a significant and sustained increase in conflict in the most USAID-dependent areas of Africa,” said the study, published in the journal Science.<\/p>\n The researchers said they examined whether USAID’s sudden closure led to an increase in violence in areas of Africa that had historically received the most support and found that there was a connection.<\/p>\n Conflict experts say Africa faces the greatest threat from jihadists than any other region of the world. armed conflict location & Jihadists in the region have been engaged in widespread violence and have increasingly been targeting civilians over the past four years, Event Data, or ACLED, said in a new report on Wednesday.<\/p>\n USAID has long been a major funding partner for many African countries, providing funding that helps governments and aid groups respond to multiple crises in different regions. <\/p>\n For example in Nigeria, USAID support was Helped the victims of the militant Boko Haram group<\/a>which emerged in 2002 Ethiopia’s fragile Tigray region<\/a>Officials relied heavily on American money because full-scale recovery efforts had not yet begun after hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the war. <\/p>\n