German Development Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan opened a recent speech in the Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament, with a list of disasters unfolding around the world: a tsunami in Nepal, heatwaves, wildfires, drying rivers and crop failures caused by drought and lack of rainfall.
Millions of people are threatened with hunger, the Social Democrat politician told lawmakers. She said the climate crisis threatens the entire world and that no single country can stop it alone.
Budget Cuts for a Fifth Straight Year
Alabali-Radovan's assessment opened debate on the budget the federal government has planned for her ministry in 2027. It will mark the fifth consecutive year the ministry's budget has been reduced, falling from just over 10 billion euros to almost 9.5 billion euros. In 2022 the budget still stood at nearly 14 billion euros, meaning it has shrunk by roughly a third since then.
The scale of the reduction sits uneasily alongside the dramatic picture the minister herself painted, and the contradiction grows sharper when set against a new strategy she presented in January, which stated that development policy would become an even stronger pillar of German security, working alongside diplomacy and defense.
Humanitarian Aid Budget Stagnates
Aid organizations reacted to the shift in direction with skepticism, though without effect. Michael Herbst of VENRO, an umbrella organization representing about 150 non-governmental development and humanitarian groups, said the new cuts to international cooperation are worsening an already critical situation.
Herbst also criticized the stagnant budget for humanitarian aid, which falls under the responsibility of the Federal Foreign Office. That budget stood at more than 3 billion euros in 2022 but has been just 1 billion euros since 2025.
VENRO is calling for a complete reversal of the trend. Herbst said Germany should invest more in fighting hunger next year, because the war in Iran and a dry summer will lead to sharply reduced crop yields, a case he made in support of the group's demand for significantly more funding.
Ten Million People Without Support
VENRO says the effects of the cuts are already clearly visible, pointing to research carried out by its member organizations. The number of supported projects is falling significantly. A sample of 34 organizations shows their projects alone are now reaching more than 10 million fewer people, according to VENRO.
Herbst added that local partner organizations, which are crucial to successful development cooperation and humanitarian aid, are often no longer able to operate. He said the full impact of the sweeping cuts would only become clear in three to four years.
Defense Spending and the Debt Brake
The austerity measures affecting nearly every German government ministry stem from the "Zeitenwende", or turning point, declared by then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats after Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Germany has massively increased its military spending, raising its defense budget every year, while almost every other ministry has had to manage with significantly less money.
Herbst is appealing to the Bundestag to exempt both development cooperation and humanitarian aid from Germany's so-called debt brake in future, noting that this has already been done for the modernization of the German armed forces and military support for Ukraine. He said Germany could then take on greater responsibilities again.
A 'Blind Spot' in Security Policy
Jamila Schäfer, a member of parliament for the Greens, made a similar argument during the parliamentary debate on the budget for the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. She said climate protection and development cooperation are not charity but serve Germany's own interests.
Someone has to invest in defense capabilities, she said, but argued that security is not created through defense spending alone. Anyone who strengthens military security while simultaneously cutting funding for international stability has a blind spot in their security policy, she said.
A Different View From the CDU/CSU
Nikolas Tsipelius of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group takes a different view of the continued reduction in the development policy budget, arguing that every ministry must contribute to savings across the overall federal budget.
He said less funding does not automatically mean less influence, and should instead be a reason for more effective prioritization and a review of existing structures. Tsipelius rejected the call to exempt the Development Ministry from the debt brake, saying what matters is whether every euro spent achieves the greatest possible impact.
Warning of Millions of Deaths
Jan Sebastian Friedrich-Rust, chief executive of the humanitarian and development organization Action Against Hunger, takes a starkly different view. He described the planned cuts to the 2027 budget as shortsighted and dangerous, estimating in a written statement to Deutsche Welle that they could contribute to the deaths of up to 22.6 million people worldwide by 2030.
Cuts to development cooperation and humanitarian aid are also shortsighted from a fiscal standpoint, he said. Hunger, crises and instability generate far higher long-term costs than prevention does, he said, adding that those saving money today are merely deferring the bill and ultimately making it significantly more expensive.
To underline its concerns, the Action Against Hunger alliance submitted a petition to the leaders of the governing CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups in the Bundestag, calling on them not to reduce solidarity and to strengthen international aid instead. The petition was signed by about 100,000 people.
