The United Nations’ World Food Programme, which gets much of its funding from the US, is closing its Southern African bureau at a time when the agency is leading a response to the worst drought in the region in four decades.

The decision, which was communicated to staff around the world in an email on Friday from Global Executive Director Cindy McCain, comes as 26-million people across seven countries in the region run short of food ahead of this year’s harvest in May. President Donald Trump has been dismantling US foreign aid affecting everything from health care to food supplies — Washington provides nearly half of WFP’s $9.7-billion budget.

“We have reached the difficult decision to close WFP’s regional bureau for southern Africa in Johannesburg,” McCain said in the email seen by Bloomberg. “Challenging times demand some difficult choices.”

The southern Africa bureau buys and transports hundreds of thousands of tons from South Africa and other countries. It procures more than 60% of its food, goods and services locally, WFP said on its website. The region is regularly hit by droughts because it’s periodically affected by the El Nino weather phenomenon, as it was last year.

The WFP’s regional director and media team didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.

The WFP has been instrumental in raising funds for countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique as they contend with the impact of the worst drought in at least four decades, which slashed corn harvests by as much as 70%.

Some of the responsibilities of the bureau, which manages the response and deals with WFP country offices in a region spanning from South Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be taken over by the East African bureau in Nairobi, McCain said in the email.

McCain said the agency remains committed to southern Africa, adding that “a transition and integration team” will be established to implement the changes over the course of the year.

The 160 employees in the Johannesburg office were initially told their bureau might be combined with the one in Nairobi, a person familiar with the situation said. On February 27, Carl Skau, McCain’s deputy, was in Johannesburg and told staff that a decision had been taken to close the office, surprising everyone including senior management, the person said. McCain’s email arrived a day later.

South Africa’s Department of International Relations & Cooperation has been informed, the person said. The department said it will respond to Bloomberg’s query later.