In a letter to Rahman, seen by Reuters, the WFP said it had been trying to raise funds to keep the rations at $12.50 a month but had failed to find donors.
A cut in rations to anything less than $6 would “fall below the minimum survival level and fail to meet basic dietary needs”, it said.
In its statement to Reuters, WFP said $6 a month would still not allow refugees to meet the “minimum standard” for energy and nutrition and pregnant and breastfeeding women with higher nutrient needs were particularly at risk.
The funding gap was due to a broad shortfall in donations rather than a decision by the Trump administration in the US to cut foreign aid globally, the WFP said, adding that US support for food aid for the Rohingya had continued.
The US has been the top donor to the refugee response, supporting the UN in providing emergency food and nutrition assistance since 2017.
The head of the UN refugee agency Filippo Grandi said on Friday in a post on X during a visit to Cox's Bazar that if donor support to the camps “decreases dramatically — which may happen — the huge work done by the Bangladesh government, aid agencies and refugees will be impacted, putting thousands at risk of hunger, disease and insecurity”.
A previous round of ration cuts to Rohingya in 2023 that reduced the amount of food rations to $8 (R147) monthly led to a sharp increase in hunger and malnutrition, according to the UN.
Within months, they said, 90% of the camp population “struggled to access an adequate diet” and more than 15% of children suffered from malnutrition, the highest rate recorded.
The cut was later reversed.