Dhaka may get a big chunk from new US food aid fund
Thursday, 22 April 2010
FHM Humayan Kabir
The United States is going to launch a multi-billion dollar food aid fund for the developing countries, where Bangladesh might qualify to receive a significant amount of assistance, officials said Tuesday.
The USA invited finance minister AMA Muhith to its launching ceremony, to be held today (Thursday) in Washington.
Mr. Muhith left Dhaka Wednesday early morning for Washington to join the inaugural ceremony of the US government's "Agriculture and Food Security Fund".
Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the US government would launch the multi-billion dollar agriculture and food security fund for helping the developing nations.
"It is a great opportunity for Bangladesh to qualify for the fund. We are hopeful US will extend support to Bangladesh," he told the FE.
A senior ERD official said: "The finance minister is likely to appeal the US government to resume food support to Bangladesh."
The US government stopped food aid to the country a decade ago and shifted that to African countries.
Mr Bhuiyan said the USA invited only three finance ministers from across the world -Bangladesh's finance minister is one of them, to the fund launching ceremony in Washington.
Finance ministers from Haiti and Rwanda will also join the US food aid fund launching ceremony.
The agriculture-based Bangladesh quite often faces food crisis feeding its 150 million people when natural disasters strike. The country is one of the worst affected by global warming as it faces natural calamities almost every year.
Bangladesh received US$ 250 million worth of food aid on an average in the 70s from different bilateral and multilateral donors, which dropped to $50 million in the recent years, ERD officials said.
The USA was one of the major food aid providers to Bangladesh in 1991-92 financial year disbursing the assistance worth $104.88 billion. It stopped the support from FY2002.
A statistics said, USA is the largest food aid donor in the world surpassing the European Union (EU), Japan, Canada and Australia. In the late 1980s, the US provided about 7.0 million tonnes of food aid per year, nearly 60 per cent of global food aid donations during the period.
The US donations fell considerably from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, and its share of world food assistance slipped below 50 per cent in 1994-96.
Not only food, other assistances from US to Bangladesh has also shrunk considerably in the recent years as it disbursed only $14.57 million worth of aid in FY2008.
The Bangladesh government is trying to qualify for the US millennium challenge account (MCA) fund for about a decade, but it has yet to succeed due to the failure to fulfil some US administration's required social indicators.
The United States is going to launch a multi-billion dollar food aid fund for the developing countries, where Bangladesh might qualify to receive a significant amount of assistance, officials said Tuesday.
The USA invited finance minister AMA Muhith to its launching ceremony, to be held today (Thursday) in Washington.
Mr. Muhith left Dhaka Wednesday early morning for Washington to join the inaugural ceremony of the US government's "Agriculture and Food Security Fund".
Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the US government would launch the multi-billion dollar agriculture and food security fund for helping the developing nations.
"It is a great opportunity for Bangladesh to qualify for the fund. We are hopeful US will extend support to Bangladesh," he told the FE.
A senior ERD official said: "The finance minister is likely to appeal the US government to resume food support to Bangladesh."
The US government stopped food aid to the country a decade ago and shifted that to African countries.
Mr Bhuiyan said the USA invited only three finance ministers from across the world -Bangladesh's finance minister is one of them, to the fund launching ceremony in Washington.
Finance ministers from Haiti and Rwanda will also join the US food aid fund launching ceremony.
The agriculture-based Bangladesh quite often faces food crisis feeding its 150 million people when natural disasters strike. The country is one of the worst affected by global warming as it faces natural calamities almost every year.
Bangladesh received US$ 250 million worth of food aid on an average in the 70s from different bilateral and multilateral donors, which dropped to $50 million in the recent years, ERD officials said.
The USA was one of the major food aid providers to Bangladesh in 1991-92 financial year disbursing the assistance worth $104.88 billion. It stopped the support from FY2002.
A statistics said, USA is the largest food aid donor in the world surpassing the European Union (EU), Japan, Canada and Australia. In the late 1980s, the US provided about 7.0 million tonnes of food aid per year, nearly 60 per cent of global food aid donations during the period.
The US donations fell considerably from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, and its share of world food assistance slipped below 50 per cent in 1994-96.
Not only food, other assistances from US to Bangladesh has also shrunk considerably in the recent years as it disbursed only $14.57 million worth of aid in FY2008.
The Bangladesh government is trying to qualify for the US millennium challenge account (MCA) fund for about a decade, but it has yet to succeed due to the failure to fulfil some US administration's required social indicators.