NAIROBI, Kenya – The world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump‘s proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States from its historic role as the world’s top emergency donor.

If the deep cuts are approved by Congress and the U.S. does not contribute to Africa’s current crisis, experts warn that the continent’s growing drought and famine could have far-ranging effects, including a new wave of migrants heading to Europe and possibly more support for Islamic extremist groups.

The conflict-fueled hunger crises in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan have culminated in a trio of potential famines hitting almost simultaneously. Nearly 16 million people in the three countries are at risk of dying within months.

In this photo taken Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, malnourished baby Ali Hassan, 9-months-old, is held by his mother Fadumo Abdi Ibrahim, who fled the drought in southern Somalia, at a feeding center in a camp in Mogadishu, Somalia. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

Famine already has been declared in two counties of South Sudan and 1 million people there are on the brink of dying from a lack of food, U.N. officials have said. Somalia has declared a state of emergency over drought and 2.9 million of its people face a food crisis that could become a famine, according to the U.N. And in northeastern Nigeria, severe malnutrition is widespread in areas affected by violence from Boko Haram extremists.

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“We are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations,” Stephen O’Brien, the U.N. humanitarian chief, told the U.N. Security Council after a visit this month to Somalia and South Sudan.

At least $4.4 billion is needed by the end of March to avert a hunger “catastrophe” in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in late February.

In this photo taken Monday, March 20, 2017, mothers wait with their children to receive therapeutic milk to help combat the malnutrition their children are suffering from, at Al Sabbah Children's Hospital in Juba, South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). In this photo taken Monday, March 20, 2017, nutrition officers measure out therapeutic milk designed to help combat malnutrition, at Al Sabbah Children's Hospital in Juba, South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). In this photo taken Monday, March 20, 2017, a malnourished young child clings to her mother as they wait in line to receive therapeutic milk designed to help combat malnutrition at Al Sabbah Children's Hospital in Juba, South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). In this photo taken Monday, March 20, 2017, a young mother tries to calm her son, who is suffering from severe acute malnutrition, as he has his arm circumference measured as an indicator of malnutrition at Al Sabbah Children's Hospital in Juba, South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). In this photo taken Monday, March 13, 2017, Nutrition Officer Judy Juru Michael kneels as she lowers 13-month-old baby girl Alakaii onto a board to measure her height, as she is screened for malnutrition at a UNICEF-supported outpatient therapeutic program for the malnourished, near Aweil, in South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). In this photo taken Monday, March 13, 2017, Iman Diing, 20, center, holds her 13-month-old baby daughter Alakaii at a UNICEF-supported outpatient therapeutic program for the malnourished, near Aweil, in South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). Story continues below advertisement In this photo taken Tuesday, March 14, 2017, a baby suffering from severe acute malnutrition is weighed as other mothers look on with their children at Al Sabbah Children's Hospital in Juba, South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). In this photo taken Tuesday, March 14, 2017, a mother, left, takes hold of her son after he was weighed and found to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition, at Al Sabbah Children's Hospital in Juba, South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). In this photo taken Saturday, March 11, 2017, a young mother cradles her malnourished child outside a UNICEF-supported nutrition stabilization center in Malualkon, near Aweil, in South Sudan. The world's largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States back from its historic role as the world's top emergency donor. (Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP). Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/UNICEF via AP

But according to U.N. data, only 10 per cent of the necessary funds have been received so far.

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Trump’s proposed budget would “absolutely” cut programs that help some of the most vulnerable people on Earth, Mick Mulvaney, the president’s budget director, told reporters last week. The budget would “spend less money on people overseas and more money on people back home,” he said.

The United States traditionally has been the largest donor to the U.N. and gives more foreign aid to Africa than any other continent. In 2016 it gave more than $2 billion to the U.N.’s World Food Program, or almost a quarter of its total budget. That is expected to be reduced under Trump’s proposed budget, according to former and current U.S. government officials.

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“I’ve never seen this kind of threat to what otherwise has been a bipartisan consensus that food aid and humanitarian assistance programs are morally essential and critical to our security,” Steven Feldstein, a former deputy assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration, told The Associated Press.

Any cuts at this time are extremely significant, WFP’s Africa spokesman, David Orr, told reporters last week.

“The more dramatic cuts in any aid budgets … the more suffering there is going to be.” Tweet This

The hunger crises in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan are all the more painful because they are man-made, experts said, though climate change has had some impact on Somalia and Nigeria’s situations, said J. Peter Pham, the head of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council.

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Acutely malnourished child Sacdiyo Mohamed, 9 months old, is treated at the Banadir Hospital after her mother Halima Hassan Mohamed fled the drought in southern Somalia and traveled by car to the capital Mogadishu, in Somalia Saturday, March 11, 2017. Somalia’s government has declared the drought a national disaster, and the United Nations estimates that 5 million people in this Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine. AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor

South Sudan has been entrenched in civil war since late 2013 that has killed tens of thousands and prevented widespread cultivation of food. In Nigeria and Somalia, extremist groups Boko Haram and al-Shabab have proven stubborn to defeat, and both Islamic organizations still hold territory that complicates aid efforts.

If Trump’s foreign aid cuts are approved, the humanitarian funding burden for the crises would shift to other large donors like Britain. But the U.S.’s influential role in rallying global support will slip.

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“Without significant contributions from the U.S. government, it is less able to catalyze contributions from other donors and meet even minimal life-saving needs,” Nancy Lindborg, president of the United States Institute of Peace, said in prepared remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

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In this photo taken Wednesday, March 1, 2017, Juang Gai Vol, 87, who hadn’t eaten for three days, lies down at a food distribution site in Padeah, South Sudan. South Sudanese who fled famine and fighting in Leer county emerged from South Sudan’s swamps after months in hiding to receive food aid being distributed by the World Food Program. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick).

Meanwhile, neighbouring African countries will feel the immediate consequences of famine, experts said. On Thursday, the U.N. refugee chief said Uganda was at a “breaking point” after more than 570,000 South Sudanese refugees had arrived since July alone.

Others fleeing hunger could aim for Europe instead.

“We are going to see pressure on neighbouring countries, in some cases people joining traditional migration routes both from the Sahel into Europe, or south into various destinations in Africa,” Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, told the AP.

“You have 19 countries facing some degree of food stress in Africa, and three of them are facing famine conditions. All three of them are facing conflict, and the vast majority of the countries facing more serious crises are non-democratic governments,” Siegle said. Tweet This

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He described a series of possible consequences. Most likely there will be increased flows of people migrating from Somalia and the vast Sahel region north into Libya, where trafficking routes are a valuable source of finance for the Islamic State, he said.

In this Monday, March 6, 2017 photo, South Sudanese men carry food distributed by the World Food Programme in Leer County Southern Leich State in South Sudan. An estimated 100,000 people are experiencing famine, and another 1 million people are on the brink of starvation, South Sudan's government and U.N. agencies said in late February. South Sudan is now Africa's largest migrant crisis as more than 3 million people have either fled the country or become internally displaced, according to the U.N. (AP Photo). In this photo taken Wednesday, March 1, 2017, bags of food dropped by air from a World Food Program (WFP) plane are sorted in Padeah, South Sudan. South Sudanese who fled famine and fighting in Leer county emerged from South Sudan's swamps after months in hiding to receive food aid being distributed by the World Food Program. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick). In this photo taken Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, displaced Somali girls who fled the drought in southern Somalia stand in a queue to receive food handouts at a feeding center in a camp in Mogadishu, Somalia. Thousands of desperate people are streaming into Somalia's capital seeking food as a result a prolonged drought, overwhelming local and international aid agencies, while the Somali government warns of a looming famine, compounded by the country's ongoing conflict against Islamic extremists. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh).

Closer to home, people from South Sudan and Somalia seeking food likely will strain the resources of neighbouring countries where political will and goodwill to refugees can be fleeting, said Mohammed Abdiker, director of operations and emergencies with the International Organization for Migration.

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The regional consequences will depend on how the international community responds, Abdiker said.

Alex De Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation, summed up the situation: “Famine can be prevented if we want.”

A young Somali girl stands outside her makeshift hut at a camp of people displaced from their homes elsewhere in the country by the drought, shortly after dawn in Qardho, Somalia Thursday, March 9, 2017. Somalia’s government has declared the drought a national disaster, and the United Nations estimates that 5 million people in this Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis).

Associated Press writer Stuart Graham in Johannesburg contributed.