by Hafizur Rahman
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh | 6 March 2026
The Government of Japan has donated 6.7 million dollars to the World Food Programme to support Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
According to the World Food Programme, the funding will help provide food assistance and nutrition support to Rohingya families living in the refugee camps, while also supporting small scale farmers from nearby Bangladeshi communities.
The assistance will be used to provide monthly food vouchers to Rohingya households so they can purchase essential food items such as rice, lentils, cooking oil, vegetables, and other basic products from selected shops inside the camps.
The funding will also support nutrition services for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children under the age of five. These services include treatment for malnutrition, nutrition education, child growth monitoring, and the provision of specialized nutrition products.
Part of the funding will also support farmers in the surrounding host communities. The project will establish and strengthen agricultural aggregation centres where farmers can collect and store agricultural products. These centres are expected to improve farmers’ access to markets while helping supply fresh food items such as vegetables, eggs, and rice to Rohingya families.
In addition, the project will repair agricultural roads and infrastructure damaged by floods and cyclones. Some centres will also receive cold storage facilities and modern food processing equipment to improve the quality and preservation of local food products.
Humanitarian agencies say that pressure on aid services has increased following new arrivals from Arakan State. Since early 2024, around 150,000 Rohingya people have newly arrived in the camps due to intensified fighting in Myanmar. As a result, the Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar camps has reached approximately 1.2 million people.
Despite ongoing assistance, humanitarian groups warn that funding shortages remain severe. The World Food Programme has stated that unless an additional 150 million dollars is secured soon, food and nutrition support for Rohingya refugees could face major disruptions starting in April 2026.
Since the Rohingya crisis escalated in 2017, Japan has remained one of the major donors supporting humanitarian operations. In total, the country has contributed more than 260 million dollars to agencies assisting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
