US to provide 90,000 MT food aid

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide approximately 90,000 metric tons of food aid worth $67.8 million to Bangladesh this year.
One third of the food aid will be used to assist Cyclone Sidr affected people of Barguna and Bagerhat districts and the rest will be distributed as part of the USAID's regular food aid programmes in the flood-prone and seasonally food insecure areas of the country, a US Embassy press release yesterday said.
It said the USAID-supported food aid programmes target the poorest of the poor who live in the most food insecure and vulnerable areas of the country.
The food aid assistance is designed to bridge the gap between disaster response and development by supporting planning and preparedness activities.
The USAID has helped build 245 multi-purpose disaster shelters, developed about 4,000 community-based disaster mitigation structures, and established a stockpile of emergency disaster kits for 30,000 families.
It provided training for local disaster committees, volunteers and schoolteachers in 271 of the country's 277 disaster-prone upazilas. The programme focuses on protection of assets by raising homesteads and building raised access roads to markets and schools.
The programme develops alternative livelihood options for the ultra-poor through activities such as poultry raising, dairy farming, and vegetable gardening. The programme also provides a safety net for the poor through food- and cash-for-work projects.
In all, programme activities are helping four million people in more than 3,000 villages. The USAID's $167 million Food Security and Disaster Management Program addresses disaster risk mitigation and adaptation to climate change threats over the next five years.