26,000 tonnes of US food aid for school kids, Sidr victims arrive at Ctg

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A consignment of 26,000 tonnes of wheat as US food aid, worth approximately $17 million, has arrived at Chittagong seaport by a US-registered vessel, reports UNB.brThe food-grain, carried into the port Monday by the vessel 'ITB Philadelphia', will be used for the United Nation's World Food Programme's (WFP) national school feeding programme and to ensure food availability to the poorest of the poor living in the cyclone Sidr-affected areas, said a US Embassy release here Wednesday.brMore than half of the wheat from this shipment (14,887 MT) will be used to assist Sidr-affected families through general food-distribution programmes and Food for Work Programmes (FWP). brThese resources will ensure food availability for 1.5 million people affected by Cyclone Sidr in the twelve worst affected districts. The remaining wheat will be used to produce fortified high-energy biscuits that will be distributed to approximately 350,000 primary school students, it said. brThis US government assistance, administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is part of the additional $40 million of food aid announced by US Ambassador Moriarty in May. brThis food aid to victims of cyclone Sidr is a direct response to the food-security assessment completed by the WFP, said the release.brIn 2008, the US government will provide $176 million in development assistance to Bangladesh. brIt has provided more than $5 billion in development assistance to Bangladesh since 1971, more than a half of which was in the form of food aid. brThe US government's assistance to Bangladesh includes support for free, fair and credible elections and more transparent and accountable governance, assistance for a better educated, healthier and more productive population, funding to increase economic opportunities through equitable economic growth, food assistance, and support for disaster mitigation.