In response to an urgent international appeal, the U.S. Government this fall will provide 35,000 tons of new food and commodities worth $43 million USD to ensure that the most vulnerable Afghans receive adequate food this winter. This contribution of oil, lentils, corn-soy flour, and wheat will be distributed to those Afghans most affected this year by drought and increased food prices.
This new donation of critical food and commodities, combined with a U.S. Government donation two weeks ago of 50,000 tons of wheat, means that the U.S. has now supplied nearly half of the emergency food aid requested in a joint emergency appeal made this summer by the Government of Afghanistan and the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA.
This July 9 appeal requested 200,000 tons of food over one year to support five million vulnerable Afghans, as well as resources to increase agricultural production, nutritional support, and other emergency assistance. According to U.S. Ambassador William B. Wood, їThe United States is committed to ensuring that all Afghans get enough to eat this winter, and in the future.
Our food aid to the Afghan people is part of U.S. and Afghan efforts to support health, nutrition, water, sanitation, and increased licit agriculture production across Afghanistan.ї Since October 2007, the U.S. Government has contributed 192,000 tons of food and commodities worth $205 million USD to improve food security in Afghanistan. The latest round of donations by the U.S. amounts to 42 percent of the aid requested in the July 9 international appeal. (USAID)